GEIPAN Case 2013-05-08459 — MENIL-HUBERT-SUR-ORNE (61) 29.05.2013

Brief

A single civilian witness driving at night in the Orne département stopped when he noticed a dark, flat object — roughly 25–30 meters across but barely 1 meter tall — hovering approximately 30 meters above the road with four non-blinking red lights and a low buzzing sound. After a stationary interval the object drifted slowly northwest toward Pont d'Ouilly and disappeared behind a hedgerow before the witness could film it on his phone. No other witnesses were present, no instruments were used, and the sky was clear. GEIPAN classified the case D1: unexplained, moderately strange, of good internal consistency.

Metadata

Agency

GEIPAN / CNES

Release

2007-03-22

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

12 pages

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED

Programs

GEIPAN

Tags

pebble-shaped, disc-flat, dark, red lights, hovering, low altitude 30m, NW trajectory, Normandy France, 2013, GEIPAN D1, solo civilian witness, buzzing hum, no film captured

Key points

• Object estimated at a minimum 25–30 meters in diameter but potentially under 1 meter in height — described as enormous and flat.p.2
• Four non-blinking red lights: two at the forward end and two at the rear of the pebble-shaped object.p.5
• Altitude approximately 30 meters above the road; horizontal distance from the road surface approximately 5 meters, adjacent to where the witness parked.p.6
• Object first hovered, then moved in a straight line toward Pont d'Ouilly (northwest) at an estimated 15–20 km/h — far below the stall speed of any known fixed-wing aircraft.p.2
• Observation duration approximately 1 minute; ended when trees or a hedgerow blocked the witness's line of sight.p.3
• Sound described as 'bourdonnement bizarre' (strange buzzing); no other ambient noise noted beyond the UAP itself.p.5
• Sole witness; no other observers. Clear sky; observation unaided — no optical instruments used.p.3
• Witness attempted to retrieve his mobile phone to film the object but could not do so before it disappeared, despite the object moving at walking pace.p.10
• Witness disclosed a prior sighting of a triangular object in the sky some years earlier — a second anomalous aerial sighting by the same individual.p.10
• Questionnaire signed at Potigny on 30 May 2013; the witness recorded the event date as May 30 but GEIPAN's case record corrects it to 29 May 2013.p.12

Verbatim

• J'ai vu un objet volant a environ 30 metre de haut je pouvais apercevoir qu'il avait un enorme diametre au moin 25 metres environ au plus large mais en hauteur je ne sais meme pas s'il depassait 1 metre donc Il était enorme et plat.

  p.2

• il était en forme de galet, arrondi a l'avant et plus large a l'arriere arrondi aussi avec 4 lumieres rouge qui ne clignotait pas 2 devant et 2 derriere il stagné puis au moment ou je suis sorti de ma voiture il a commencé a avancé très lentement pas dans la direction mais à l'opposé a moi ‐ même.

  p.2

• son bruit était comme un bourdonnement je tremblais et avais le cœur qui battait a fond je me demande meme pourquoi je n'avais pas peur mais j'avais qu'une idées sortir mon portable pour filmer

  p.2

• Comme la plupart des cas il a du disparaitre a une vitesse fulgurante sans le moindre bruit pendant que je reculé en voiture et que je monte sur ce tallu

  p.2

• Tremblement et cœur qui batter a fond et frissons

  p.9

• Impossible pour un phenomene connu ça aller trop doucement est c'était trop enorme

  p.9

• Non j'avais déjà vu un triangle bizarre dans le ciel auparavant il y a quelques années

  p.10

• A quelque seconde prés j'aurais pu filmer j'ai sortimon portable mais trop tard le temp que je sorte et que je me gare ça a eu le temp de disparaitre dommage ça aurait été un cliché incroyable

  p.10

Most interesting

• GEIPAN's own case description corrects the witness's self-reported date from May 30 to May 29, 2013 — an internal discrepancy preserved in the questionnaire itself.
• The witness estimated a diameter of at least 25–30 meters against a height possibly under 1 meter, implying an aspect ratio closer to a coin than any recognized aircraft type.
• The object moved at 15–20 km/h while hovering at 30 meters — below walking pace for an object the size of a two-story building footprint — and did so silently except for a hum.
• After the object disappeared behind a hedgerow the witness reversed and climbed a nearby embankment within roughly 50 seconds; the sky was already clear, implying either immediate concealment or instantaneous acceleration.
• The witness reported classic physiological stress markers (trembling, racing heart, chills) while explicitly denying subjective fear — an unusual dissociation that GEIPAN records without comment.
• No gendarmerie, police, or any other authority is checked on the prior-reporting form, making the GEIPAN questionnaire the sole official record of the event.
• The description in the GEIPAN case summary mentions 'deux lumières rouges à l'avant et à l'arrière' (two red lights front and back), while the witness consistently specifies four lights total — a minor discrepancy between the case abstract and the primary source.
• GEIPAN's D1 classification is its highest-confidence unexplained tier, indicating the case was actively investigated and still found to have no conventional explanation.