Sighting in Trouville-sur-Mer, January 11, 2014

The witness saw a colored trail in the sky at 4:50 pm, in the late afternoon, and photographed it. The photo and the description show all the characteristics of an aircraft contrail seen in the light of the setting sun.

FlightRadar data showed heavy air traffic in the witness's field of view, so several aircraft could have produced this condensation trail. Weather records indicated a north wind and very good visibility of 60 km. The trail was probably 100 to 120 km away. It remained visible because of its altitude, about 10,000 m, and above all because of the lighting from the setting sun. These excellent conditions and an unusual vantage point probably explain why the witness was surprised by a fairly common phenomenon.

GEIPAN classified the case as A: the sighting was an aircraft condensation trail. It also noted that comets are visible only at night, since their trails are not very bright.