GEIPAN Case 2022-03-51336 — DOUAI (59) 27.03.2022

Brief

On 27 March 2022 at 21h30 local time, a female civilian in Douai (Nord, France) observed a silent triangular aerial phenomenon for approximately 15 seconds as it traversed the sky from azimuth 182° to 330° at elevations declining from 54° to 34°. The object displayed round yellow lights arranged in a V pattern along its leading edges and was suffused with a soft orange-pink glow, showing no variation in shape, color, luminosity, speed, or apparent size throughout. GEIPAN investigators conducted an on-site reconstruction in April 2023 and cross-referenced CAPCODA radar data; two commercial airliners confirmed in the area at the time — Ryanair FR4796 and KLM KL1676 — were eliminated as explanations through trajectory analysis. The case carries GEIPAN classification D1: unidentified after investigation.

Metadata

Agency

GEIPAN / CNES

Release

2007-03-22

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

32 pages

Classification

Non sensible

Programs

GEIPAN, CAPCODA

Tags

triangular UAP, silent, orange-pink illumination, yellow lights V-pattern, rectilinear trajectory, nocturnal, low apparent altitude, France, 2022, GEIPAN D1

Key points

• Single female civilian witness observed the UAP from her garden in Douai (59) on 27 March 2022 at 21h30 during a routine dog walk; she submitted a GEIPAN technical questionnaire the following day and a field investigation was organized on 07 April 2023.p.2
• The UAP was described as an equilateral triangle viewed from below, with approximately five round yellow lights arranged in a V pattern along its perimeter from edges toward the leading apex, and an overall soft orange-pink ambient glow described variously as salmon and coral.p.2
• The observation lasted approximately 15 seconds as reconstructed on-site by witness re-enactment; the UAP showed no variation in shape, color, luminosity, speed, or apparent size throughout.p.15
• On-site measurements fixed the trajectory: azimuth 182° (initial, just right of neighbor's television antenna) to 330° (final, at a row of dense fir trees), elevation declining from 54° to 40° at midpoint to 34° at disappearance; apparent angular size measured at 4.5 cm at arm's length.p.15
• CAPCODA radar reconstruction identified two commercial airliners in the observation corridor — Ryanair FR4796 (Castellon–Brussels, Boeing 737-8AS) and KLM KL1676 (Barcelona–Amsterdam, Boeing 737-8K2) — but both were eliminated via trajectory analysis detailed in Annexes 1a, 1b, and 1c.p.13
• Meteorological data from four nearby stations confirmed clear skies, temperatures of 10.1–12.3°C, light NNE wind at azimuth 30°, and horizontal visibility of 5–8 km — entirely consistent with the witness's own description.p.7
• Stellarium reconstruction for Douai at 21h30 on 27 March 2022 confirmed no moon and no naked-eye planets in the observation corridor, ruling out celestial body misidentification.p.7
• The witness noted her dogs showed no reaction to the UAP, and she confirmed no lights were active in her garden during the observation.p.9
• During the field interview the witness located the UAP's color on Pantone swatches as a blend of 163U (salmon) and 121U (yellow) with 'un côté un peu corail,' an unusually systematic attempt at color calibration in a civilian sighting report.p.14
• MUFON placed a witness-call in the local press seeking corroborating observers; no response was received, leaving the case single-witness.p.12

Verbatim

• Non j'étais seule. Mes chiens n'ont pas réagi.

  p.9

• Je pense qu'il ne peut s'agir d'une illusion (j'étais en pleine forme, pas fatiguée et pas sous influence d'alcool ou de drogues que je ne consomme jamais). Ce n'était certainement selon moi ni un avion ou satellite, ni un phénomène météo ou spatial type météorite, ni des lanternes thaïlandaises, ni un éclairage laser ou un drone même si l'aspect se rapproche de ce type d'appareil (j'en ai déjà observé des très gros) tout en étant vraiment autre chose.

  p.11

• Soit c'est un avion militaire triangulaire d'un genre non conventionnel soit c'est autre chose qui ne m'est pas connu. C'était à la fois trop gros, trop près, trop détaillé pour que je l'interprète de façon erronée.

  p.11

• je me dis c'est entre de l'orange et du rose, j'ai le temps de me dire tout ça quand même, c'est du saumon, c'est du rose, c'est de l'orange, c'est vraiment beau, comment on peut reproduire cette couleur ?

  p.14

• Je m'intéresse (de manière scientifique et non ésotérique) au sujet des PAN mais cela n'a pas influencé ce témoignage que je rédige de façon très sincère, objective sans affabulation ni surinterprétation.

  p.12

• Le PAN n'a absolument pas varié d'aspect (forme, couleur, luminosité, vitesse, taille apparente…) tout au long de l'observation.

  p.17

Most interesting

• The witness was actively searching for Orion's Belt when she first noticed three small lights that 'moved a little' and were 'a little too triangular' — the investigators noted these may have been the UAP's leading lights resolving into the full triangle as it approached.
• GEIPAN's field investigation took place more than a year after the observation (April 2023 vs. March 2022), yet the on-site reconstruction achieved enough precision to fix azimuth and elevation to single-degree resolution.
• The witness located the UAP's color on Pantone swatches during the field interview: a blend of 163U (salmon) and 121U (yellow) with a 'coral side' — an unusually systematic approach to color calibration for a civilian sighting report.
• The witness specifically declined to discuss the sighting with family or coworkers beyond her husband and son, stating her words could not convey what she observed 'without being misinterpreted,' while simultaneously describing herself as someone seen by acquaintances as 'reliable, serious, and in no way eccentric or a fabricator.'
• The daylight saving time change occurred on the same date as the observation (02h00 that morning), a detail GEIPAN flagged explicitly in the report to ensure correct UTC/local time reconciliation for the radar analysis.
• The apparent angular size of the UAP did not change measurably from the start to the end of the observation, a geometric constraint GEIPAN used when modeling the range of possible distances and altitudes.
• The witness re-entered her kitchen immediately after the sighting to check the time, using a television program she recognized as a temporal anchor to estimate she had been outside for 5–6 minutes in total.