Sighting in Toulon, August 7, 2023

The main witness and their mother were crossing the Toulon roadstead by boat, on line 18, heading for Les Sablettes, a trip of about twenty minutes. Above the bay, they noticed an object moving in zigzags across the sky. It was elongated and white, even silvery, and sometimes looked like two points according to the main witness, or three according to their mother. Shortly before the boat reached the landing stage, around 14:15, the main witness took two photos and shot a video. This sighting lasted about fifteen minutes.

The witness then left the boat, walked to their car and saw nothing during the 15-minute drive home. Five minutes after arriving, they saw the object again, low on the horizon toward the east, passing behind a neighbouring house. This second sighting lasted less than a minute. The mother sent an incomplete account to the GEIPAN.

The GEIPAN judged the case consistent, thanks to the video and photos, which were analysed with the IPACO software. The investigation concluded that the witness had seen several aircraft one after another and took them for a single object despite the interruptions. Using the CAPCODA map and FlightRadar24, the reconstructed trajectories matched the positions and elevations the witness recorded. They were a Dash Milan 80 aircraft on forest-fire surveillance over the Toulon massifs (phases 1 bis and 3) and a scheduled flight, EWG6838, photographed and filmed around 14:15 (phase 2). The elongated white shapes, seen from far away, fit these aircraft. The case is classified B. The initial phase remains classified C: it could not be clearly identified for lack of sufficient information.