GEIPAN Case 2008-07-02443 — BARRET-DE-LIOURE (26) 08.07.2008

Brief

At 21h25 local time (19h25 UTC) on 8 July 2008, an electronics technician with 14 years of amateur astronomy experience and a second witness observed a luminous point of high magnitude from the 1,367-meter summit of Montagne de Bergiès near Barret-de-Lioure. Viewed through a 9x50 finder scope, the object presented as ovoid and metallic gray, with an apparent angular diameter of 1° and movement described as imperceptible; brightness was estimated at approximately -4 magnitude at peak. GEIPAN classified the case D1 — unexplained, moderately strange, of good consistency — and the questionnaire was submitted to CNES/GEIPAN on 12 August 2008. The primary witness's closing sentiment: the frustration of not knowing the nature or origin of what he had seen.

Metadata

Agency

GEIPAN / CNES

Release

2007-03-22

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

7 pages

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED (GEIPAN internal case classification: D1 — unexplained)

Programs

GEIPAN, GEPAN, SEPRA

Tags

ovoid, metallic gray, daylight sighting, magnitude -4, optical/finder-scope, intermittent luminosity, Barret-de-Lioure France, Drôme, 2008, GEIPAN D1

Key points

• Observation occurred at 21h25 legal time (19h25 UTC) on Tuesday 8 July 2008 from the summit of Montagne de Bergiès, commune of Barret-de-Lioure (Drôme), at an altitude of 1,367 meters.p.3
• The primary witness is an electronics technician with 14 years of amateur astronomy practice and a member of the D.I.O.N.E. association; a second witness also observed the phenomenon and was flagged for a separate questionnaire.p.3
• Object described as ovoid in shape, metallic gray, with no variation in shape or color throughout the observation.p.4
• Peak apparent magnitude estimated at approximately -4 at naked-eye detection and maximum brightness; apparent angular size recorded as 1° through the 9x50 finder scope at 9x magnification.p.4
• Movement was imperceptible; azimuth 315°, elevation approximately 30°; no sound and no odor reported.p.5
• Duration approximately five minutes (19h25 to ~19h30 UTC); the primary witness did not see the beginning or end of the phenomenon, though the second witness saw both.p.4
• No photographic or video equipment was used; the sole instrument was the 9x50 finder scope of an astronomical refractor.p.5
• Aircraft were present lower in the sky toward the south/west; no iridium flare, ISS pass, or artificial satellite was confirmed by the primary witness.p.4
• GEIPAN is presented as France's sole official, civilian, public, and independent UAP study body, active since 1977 under successive names GEPAN, SEPRA, and GEIPAN.p.1

Verbatim

• La France est la première (et sans doute la seule) nation à s'être doté d'un organisme officiel civil, public et indépendant, d'études des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non identifiés (PAN).

  p.1

• Les analyses sont menées grâce à une méthodologie scientifique rigoureuse mise au point dès 1980 et affinée au fil des années.

  p.1

• Les résultats des enquêtes menées par le GEIPAN sont rendus publics à travers le portail d'information du GEIPAN.

  p.2

• Les témoins sont également personnellement informés du résultat de l'enquête et leur anonymat est strictement préservé.

  p.2

• Oui, - 4 (environ) lors de la détection à l'œil nu et à son maximum d'éclat.

  p.4

• La frustration de ne pas savoir la nature et l'origine de ce que j'ai vu

  p.5

Most interesting

• The document itself confirms the observation was made in full daylight — the witness noted in parentheses on page 4: 'l'observation a été faite de jour : 21h25 légale' — making a naked-eye object at approximately -4 magnitude (comparable to Venus at maximum elongation) a daylight-visible UAP report.
• The 9x50 finder scope, a wide-field, low-power instrument normally used for telescope alignment rather than detailed observation, registered an apparent angular diameter of 1° — roughly twice the apparent diameter of the full Moon — implying either a physically large object or proximity at an unresolved distance.
• The primary witness rated the limiting stellar magnitude at 6 during the night following the sighting, confirming excellent sky transparency at that mountain site and strengthening the credibility of magnitude estimates made during the earlier daylight observation.
• Movement was logged as 'imperceptible' despite the description blurb's account that the object appeared and disappeared multiple times — a detail consistent with occlusion or luminosity cycling rather than sustained flight.
• GEIPAN's call-to-astronomers form explicitly warns that radar data is available only for a short window before erasure, reflecting institutional awareness that corroborating sensor evidence is time-perishable.
• The witness systematically ruled out satellites, iridium flares, and the ISS before filing, drawing on 14 years of observational experience — a structured negative-identification process that GEIPAN's D1 classification credits as contributing to the case's 'good consistency' rating.