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

Brief

On 27 March 2022 at 21:30 local time, a woman walking her dogs in her urban garden in Douai observed a triangular aerial phenomenon moving silently on a rectilinear trajectory from southeast to northwest. The object displayed a soft orange-pink underside glow and approximately five yellow round lights arranged in a V formation along its leading edges, subtending roughly 8 cm at arm's length and passing overhead at about 60 degrees elevation. The witness, a habitual nighttime sky-watcher with a stated scientific interest in UAP, systematically ruled out aircraft, drone, satellite, meteor, and optical artifact. GEIPAN assigned classification D1, indicating the observation remained unexplained after formal inquiry.

Metadata

Agency

GEIPAN / CNES

Release

2007-03-22

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

11 pages

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED (GEIPAN D1 — Unexplained after investigation)

Programs

GEIPAN

Tags

triangular UAP, silent flight, colored lights, V-pattern illumination, orange-pink glow, rectilinear trajectory, low altitude, Douai Nord France, 2022, GEIPAN D1, case 2022-03-51336

Key points

• Date and time: Sunday 27 March 2022 at 21:30 local summer time; location: Douai (59), Nord, Hauts-de-France.p.3
• Shape described as a single equilateral triangle with clearly defined edges visible from directly below; apparent angular size at arm's length was 8 cm per side.p.5
• Coloring: a soft, non-dazzling orange-pink ambient glow on the underside; approximately five yellow round lights arranged in a V formation along the leading edges only, absent from the rear of the triangle.p.2
• Complete absence of sound — no engine noise, no drone sound — despite the witness's stated familiarity with frequent overflying aircraft at the location.p.4
• Rectilinear, level trajectory from SE to NW; passed overhead at approximately 60 degrees elevation; observation lasted 10-20 seconds before the phenomenon disappeared behind dense conifers.p.6
• Single witness; companion dogs present in the garden showed no reaction to the phenomenon.p.3
• No blinking lights, no trail, no halo, no ground-effect traces reported.p.5
• Sky conditions: clear, moonless, stars visible, mild spring temperature; no clouds.p.4
• Witness made an outdoor sketch immediately after the sighting and filed the GEIPAN questionnaire online the same evening, citing a desire for archival and scientific analysis.p.9
• Witness's explicit hypothesis: 'Soit c'est un avion militaire triangulaire d'un genre non conventionnel soit c'est autre chose qui ne m'est pas connu.'p.9

Verbatim

• J'ai vu passer très distinctement au dessus des toits de la maison de mon voisin mitoyen puis de mon toit et ensuite au dessus des arbres du jardin un OVNI de forme triangulaire.

  p.2

• Il avançait assez vite en trajectoire rectiligne.

  p.2

• Je n'ai pas entendu de bruits provenant de cet OVNI contrairement au bruit habituel des avions très fréquent au dessus de chez moi.

  p.2

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

  p.3

• triangle équilatéral de 8 centimètres de côté si je tends mon bras.

  p.5

• 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).

  p.9

• Soit c'est un avion militaire triangulaire d'un genre non conventionnel soit c'est autre chose qui ne m'est pas connu.

  p.9

• C'était à la fois trop gros, trop près, trop détaillé pour que je l'interprète de façon erronée.

  p.9

Most interesting

• The witness spontaneously produced a sketch in her garden immediately after the sighting, before filing her written account on the GEIPAN website — behavior consistent with deliberate, methodical documentation.
• Her dogs, present throughout the observation, showed no reaction whatsoever, removing one common secondary-witness proxy.
• The apparent angular size — an equilateral triangle 8 cm per side at arm's length — is exceptionally large for an unresolved aerial phenomenon, implying either very low altitude or substantial physical dimensions.
• The illumination was asymmetric: yellow V-pattern lights ran only along the two leading edges toward the forward tip, not along the rear edge, a configuration inconsistent with standard aircraft navigation lighting.
• Despite scanning the sky nightly during dog walks, this was the witness's first UAP sighting and first formal report in her life.
• GEIPAN retains testimony in its database for 99 years under EU GDPR Article 13 provisions, making this a century-duration official record.
• The witness explicitly declined to discuss the sighting with family or professional contacts beyond her husband and son, citing concern that words alone could not accurately convey what she observed without risking misinterpretation.