Sighting in Valence d'Agen, April 9, 2023

In the late afternoon, a couple was walking in a garden when one of the two witnesses noticed two white unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) moving in circles in the sky. The sighting lasted about two minutes. Around twenty minutes later, the same witness spotted a third one, similar in appearance and behavior to the first two, and managed to film it.

Only this witness reported the sighting to GEIPAN, along with the video. The case was rated as moderately strange and of good consistency.

The investigation looked at two hypotheses: balloons and birds. Balloons matched the white color and the brightness, but the circular path was problematic, since it would require swirling winds that Météo-France's "AROME" data did not confirm. The bird hypothesis was judged more plausible: the white could match the white underside plumage of some birds, and the circles resemble the "circling" birds use to take advantage of rising air currents, alternating with straight stretches. A bird expert did find the circles smaller than usual, but the movements are hard to assess in the video because of the camera's own motion. Wing beats seem to be visible, though this is not certain. GEIPAN classified the case as B: probably birds flying at fairly high altitude.