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Sighting in Toulouse, December 11, 2007

Haute-Garonne, Occitanie, France

Sighting on December 11, 2007 in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably a light from the ground (searchlight, laser, vehicle…) (class B).

What happened

At around 8:40 pm, two witnesses noticed glimmers of light in a sky heavy with cloud. One of them described white, opaque, slightly oval shapes moving quickly across the clouds and forming various geometric patterns. This witness watched for 25 minutes and filmed a few minutes of it on a mobile phone. No particular noise was heard during the sighting.

The gendarmes viewed the video and did make out some movements in it, which are recorded in the report.

GEIPAN ruled out an astronomical misidentification. Given the descriptions and the long duration of the phenomenon, it considered it probable that the witnesses had seen a light display. Moving patches of light on a cloud ceiling like this are a frequent cause of misidentification. Depending on the weather, the beams may not be visible, so it is hard to pinpoint the source: it could be close to the observation area or much farther away, depending on the range of the projectors. The case was classified B, probably identified.

Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.

Date
December 11, 2007
Location
Toulouse · town centre
Type of sighting
From the ground
Source classification
B
Explanation
Ground lights and lasers

Sources

Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.