Sighting in Orthez, December 2, 2008

At 22:15, two witnesses driving in a car were surprised to see a large black mass in the sky, carrying green, red or orange, and whitish lights arranged in a triangle. The object was at very low altitude and seemed to be stationary. Trees then suddenly hid it from view. The driver kept going, then turned around a few hundred metres further on. When the witnesses got back to the spot where they had made the sighting, the object was gone.

The gendarmerie report records statements from three witnesses whose accounts were consistent. After checking with various authorities, the gendarmerie concluded that the witnesses had most likely seen a C160 TRANSALL flying a planned low-altitude mission, with radar records attached to the report. GEIPAN classified the case as A: the witnesses had certainly mistaken an aircraft for something else.