Sighting in Saint-Prix, January 31, 2016

On a Sunday at around 6:45 p.m., a witness saw a cluster of white lights in the sky. The lights looked like halogen lamps and formed a motionless bar. The witness heard no noise. The phenomenon quickly vanished behind a cloud. No other witness account was collected for that day. While doing their own research, the witness found that a similar object had been seen in Vichy in 2012.

Several features made the case unusual: the shape (a white luminous bar about 5° wide), the high elevation in the sky (70°), the angular stillness, and the fact that clouds could pass in front of it. Celestial bodies, aircraft, balloons and lanterns appeared to be ruled out. A construction helicopter carrying a beam or a lit boom remained a possibility. The gendarmerie reported that helicopters had been inspecting EDF power lines in the preceding days or weeks, but never on a Sunday.

The witness did not go to the gendarmerie as GEIPAN had asked, and did not respond to two requests to meet the GEIPAN investigator. The account therefore could not be understood any better or fully analysed. GEIPAN classified the case as C: no response from the witness and a lack of reliable information.