Sighting in Toulouse, July 13, 2023

One evening, the witness was outside in front of their apartment building, talking on the phone, when they noticed an object in the sky that they could not identify. They took two photographs and a video of it. The object was elongated, described as "elliptical", and white-grey in colour. The witness was the only person to see it.

The GEIPAN considers the case well documented, since the photos and video could be used in the analysis. The investigation concluded that it was an airliner: the elongated shape matches a fuselage, the white-grey colour matches an airframe lit by the setting sun, and the straight, constant-speed movement fits an airliner's flight. Several oddities were explained. The lack of noise was due to the distance (over 30 km) and the traffic noise around the witness. The wings were not visible because of the distance, a viewing angle of 35°, atmospheric scattering and the aircraft's geometry, which reflects light mainly off the fuselage. The absence of a contrail is possible depending on the temperature and humidity at altitude, which could not be determined.

A reconstruction of air traffic showed that two airliners crossed the line of sight at that time. By combining an analysis in Google Earth with flight data, the GEIPAN identified the object as one of them, flight EXS4LX. The case is classified A.