Sighting in Tarbes, November 6, 2018

At around 11:19 pm, the witness saw a dark, triangular object pass slowly and silently over the city at night. The sighting lasted 10 to 15 seconds. Five dim lights arranged in a V were visible on it. The witness described it as a solid shape, rather small, that was not moving fast.

The witness reported this more than a year later, relying on an account written earlier and on a statement posted on a website. Neither document is dated, so some uncertainty remains about the exact date. The witness spoke of a clear sky with visible stars, but weather data show a heavily overcast sky (6/8 oktas) with a cloud ceiling about 2,500 m above the city. There was only one witness, so no comparison with other accounts was possible, but the account is fairly complete and the case is reasonably consistent.

The GEIPAN favored a misidentification of birds lit by urban street lighting. A group of birds in flight can look like a single object made of several points of light, and the V shape is typical of such formations. The blurry, faint points fit plumage reflecting the city's lights. The sighting took place in early November, at the height of the migration season, in an area crossed by many migration routes (cranes and greylag geese, among others). The lack of noise is consistent, as is an altitude limited by the cloud ceiling. A duration of 10 to 15 seconds seems short for migrating birds, but the witness may have underestimated it. The case was classified B: probable misidentification of birds.