Sighting in Tanneron, July 18, 2011
Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Sighting on July 18, 2011 in Tanneron (Var, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably an aircraft (plane, helicopter…) (class B).
What happened
From their home at around 9:15 pm, a witness noticed several orange glowing balls and white flashes of light above a hill in the Tanneron massif. Some of the balls vanished very quickly, while other spheres suddenly appeared. The witness heard no noise at any point during the sighting and took many photographs.
GEIPAN rated the case as having low strangeness and good consistency. The photographic part was definitely a misidentification of aircraft moving around Nice airport, whose traffic pattern was unusual that evening because of a strong westerly wind. The other elements the witness described also pointed to civil aircraft, although the vagueness of the account meant this could not be stated with certainty. The case was classified B: probable sighting of aircraft close to landing.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- July 18, 2011
- Location
- Tanneron · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- B
- Explanation
- Aircraft
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2011-07-02797
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.