Sighting in Novy-Chevrières, March 29, 2016

A motorist was driving on the A34 toward Charleville-Mézières at 7:19 a.m. under a clear sky when a bright point of light caught their attention. Some time later, the witness made out a black shape that could have been an aircraft. It seemed motionless and appeared to be releasing some material, possibly a mix of smoke and water. The witness drove beneath the object and took photos and a video. They then saw a triangular shape with two large wings and a red light at its center. The object eventually passed out of their view.

The investigation identified an Airbus A380 flying from Singapore to Paris-CDG, seen under particular conditions. The apparent stillness, or slow speed, came from a pivot effect: the witness and the aircraft were moving in opposing directions, so the line of sight rotated around a fixed point, and the witness, unable to judge how the distance was changing, thought the object was nearly stationary. The material that seemed to pour out was intermittent condensation trails, as the aircraft was at an altitude where conditions for contrail formation varied. The changes in brightness and color came from sunlight, which the witness could not see directly, reflecting off different parts of the aircraft. As the plane descended, the sun as seen from the aircraft drew closer to the horizon and turned reddish, which also tinted the reflection. A simulation reproduced these reflections. GEIPAN therefore classified the case as A: observation of an airliner.