Sighting in Sainghin-en-Mélantois, March 5, 2015

Two people were travelling by car when they noticed several phenomena of different shapes in the sky, which they could not explain. Only one account was collected. The witness actually described three successive observations.

The first was an elongated object, a dark, matte mass with several white lights at different heights and a visible fin. A check of civil air traffic showed an aircraft flying at low altitude, on approach to Lille-Lesquin airfield, in the direction the witness was looking. Its yellow-orange tail fin matched what the witness had noted. This phenomenon was therefore an aircraft, identified with certainty.

The witness then saw a yellow light fairly high in the sky, close to the direction of the Moon. At that time of year, sunlight can reflect off geostationary satellites in exactly that direction. The hypothesis could not be confirmed with certainty, so this was classed as a probable satellite reflection.

Finally, the witness saw a cigar-shaped object, similar to the first but without a fin. Civil air traffic records showed no low-altitude aircraft in that direction. Given the resemblance to the first object, an aircraft was considered the most likely explanation. It may have been a military aircraft, less brightly lit than a civil one. Because the case showed little strangeness, the GEIPAN did not request a search of military air traffic. The case as a whole was classified A.