GEIPAN Case 2015-10-09361 — MONTAYRAL (47) 23.10.2015

Brief

On 23 October 2015 at approximately 17:31, a single civilian witness at the Fumel aerodrome observed a round, opaque black object surrounded by a diffuse 'black fog' in a clear blue sky. The phenomenon remained perfectly stationary for roughly 27 minutes before vanishing instantaneously when the witness briefly looked away. GEIPAN investigators conducted a cognitive interview, field reconstruction, and cross-analysis of meteorological, aeronautical, and astronomical data. Five hypotheses — rubber balloon, solar balloon, hot air balloon, ophthalmic defect, and stationary helicopter — were all found to conflict with at least one key characteristic; the hot air balloon hypothesis was judged most probable at 30% but was still rejected as below 50%, leaving the case officially unexplained with consistency score 0.75 and strangeness score 0.7.

Metadata

Agency

GEIPAN / CNES

Release

2007-03-22

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

13 pages

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED

Programs

GEIPAN

Tags

black sphere, stationary 20+ min, distortion halo, single witness, daytime, France, 2015, D1 classification, GEIPAN, aerodrome proximity

Key points

• Single witness observed the phenomenon from the Fumel aerodrome plateau, duration 17:31 to 17:58 — approximately 27 minutes of continuous observation.p.7
• The UAP was described as a round, opaque black center surrounded by a uniform 'black fog' with a distortion effect on its edges, and a lateral arc-like protrusion noticed after 10 minutes of focused attention.p.2
• GPS observation coordinates recorded via the Theodolite app: +044.46253° / +001.01197° / 207m, elevation 7.3°, azimuth 44° NE.p.4
• Angular size estimated by the witness at half a lunar diameter (0.25°); distance/size table shows that at 10 m diameter the object would have been ~281 m high at ~2.3 km distance.p.4
• Meteorological data from stations at Lhospitalet and Agen confirmed a cloudless sky with excellent visibility and only light wind at the time of observation.p.5
• Aeronautical radar records showed no stationary or slow-moving tracks corresponding to the observation, though the same radar did detect other aircraft at low altitude (below 400 m) in the sector.p.6
• Hot air balloon hypothesis received the highest probability score (30%) but was ultimately rejected because the sudden disappearance is difficult to reconcile unless multiple measurement uncertainties and a precise timing coincidence are all assumed simultaneously.p.13
• GEIPAN submitted the case to its college of experts before issuing the D1 classification.p.13
• Final numerical scores: Consistency (C = I x F) = 0.75; Strangeness (E) = 0.7.p.13

Verbatim

• il aperçoit « une tâche noire dans un brouillard noir » dans le ciel. Le PAN lui paraît « haut et loin ».

  p.2

• le brouillard est « uniforme », « pas de dégradé ». Cela dessine comme un « effet de distorsion » sur les bords, comme un « effet de loupe ».

  p.2

• Le PAN est comme un « soleil noir », comme un « trou » qui « attire l'œil », comme un « trou noir »

  p.3

• au milieu du ciel bleu, ce « phénomène qui n'aurait pas dû être là »

  p.3

• le phénomène était « presque irréel » et lui apparaît « loin de la réalité »

  p.3

• Le témoin est précis et crédible. Un entretien cognitif a permis de compléter les éléments du questionnaire.

  p.12

• Au total l'hypothèse de la montgolfière est la plus forte mais sa probabilité est bien inférieure à 50 % et ne peut donc être retenue.

  p.13

• le GEIPAN classe le cas en D1 : Phénomène inexpliqué d'étrangeté moyenne.

  p.13

Most interesting

• The witness expected the event to appear in local press the following day, attributed to other observers — no corroborating reports emerged.
• The witness described the edge distortion as resembling the surface-tension effect seen on water, and compared the center to a missing-pixel cluster on a screen or a Photoshop-placed black dot — metaphors that suggest careful, systematic self-observation.
• Both the sun and the moon were simultaneously visible and lower on the horizon than the UAP at the time of observation, which the witness noted and which was independently confirmed via Stellarium.
• The lateral protrusion ('anse') was noticed only after 10 minutes of concentrated effort and was consequently given lower evidentiary weight by investigators.
• Hot-air-balloon pilots in the department were contacted as part of the investigation; none responded, a non-result the report explicitly notes does not constitute evidence against the hypothesis.
• The aerodrome radar detected low-altitude aircraft during the observation window but returned no track consistent with a stationary or slowly moving object in the direction the witness indicated.
• The report was authored in October 2016, approximately one year after the observation, following a January 2016 field reconstruction at the exact observation site.