GEIPAN Case 2012-07-08299 — MONTCHABOUD (38) 26.07.2012

Brief

An 82-year-old resident of Montchaboud, Isere, reported a dimly luminous, vaporous ball with luminous points below it and small trailing jets, moving on a straight south-to-north trajectory over the Laffrey area at 22:20 on 26 July 2012. The sighting lasted 3-6 seconds; the witness was stationary on a south-facing balcony 283 meters above Vizille with fully unobstructed naked-eye visibility and a clear, well-starred sky. No photographs or video of the phenomenon were captured; three hand-drawn sketches and one environmental photograph were submitted with the questionnaire. GEIPAN assigned classification D1, indicating the phenomenon remained unexplained after investigation.

Metadata

Agency

GEIPAN / CNES

Release

2007-03-22

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

26 pages

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED (GEIPAN case classification D1 — unexplained)

Programs

GEIPAN, GEPAN, SEPRA

Tags

vaporous sphere, luminous trail, silent, rectilinear trajectory, south-to-north, Montchaboud, Isere, France, 2012, GEIPAN D1, naked eye

Key points

• Single civilian witness, 82 years old, observed from a south-facing balcony on Chemin du Cray, Montchaboud (38220).p.4
• Observation occurred at 22h20 on 26 July 2012 and lasted between 3 and 6 seconds.p.4
• Object traveled on a straight south-to-north axis, described in the case heading as an 'objet étrange'; the description blurb characterizes it as a dimly luminous, vaporous sphere with luminous points beneath and small trailing jets at the rear.p.4
• Sky was completely clear except for minor cloud cover below L'Alpe du Grand Serre, with a crescent moon to the west and a well-starred sky confirmed on the questionnaire.p.6
• Observer's balcony offered a 283-meter elevation above Vizille with unobstructed sightlines east to Chamrousse, south to L'Alpe du Grand Serre, and west to the Vercors massif.p.8
• No photographs or video of the phenomenon were captured; materials submitted were one environmental photo, three sketches, and one Google Map.p.5
• Visibility was reported as excellent with nothing between the observer and the object; no optical aids were used and the observation was continuous.p.12
• Distance to the phenomenon was impossible to evaluate by the witness.p.13
• Within 20 km: hydroelectric plants, a 400,000-volt power line from Grand Maison to Champagnier, the Vizille paper mill, and the Jarrie chemical site.p.11
• Object speed was unquantifiable by the witness, entered as '????' in the single-sequence trajectory table.p.15

Verbatim

• Ciel complètement dégagé à l'exception de quelques petits nuages au dessous de L'Alpe du Grand Serre

  p.6

• J'étai sur mon balcon exposé plein sud sans aucun vie-à -vie Je surplombe Vizille de 283 mètres

  p.8

• Emplacement idéal pour une bonne observation du ciel nocturne mis à part la pollution lumineuse de Vizille.

  p.8

• Excellente: rien entre moi et l'objet étrange

  p.12

• Impossible à évaluer

  p.13

• Centrales hydroélectriques . Zone commerciale de Cornage - Stade de l'école de Vizille - Ligne électrique de 400.000 volts de Grand Maison vers Champagnier - Papeterie de Vizille - Site chimique de Jarrie.

  p.11

Most interesting

• GEIPAN's D1 classification is its highest unexplained rating, indicating the phenomenon could not be attributed to any known natural or man-made cause after full investigation.
• The witness was 82 years old — a detail that GEIPAN records as part of its standard credibility and perception-reliability profile.
• The observation point sat 283 meters above Vizille with clear sightlines to three distinct mountain massifs, making it an unusually well-positioned sky-watch location by any standard.
• A 400,000-volt high-voltage transmission line from Grand Maison to Champagnier passes within the 20 km reporting radius — electromagnetic infrastructure that GEIPAN routinely logs as a potential confounding factor.
• The war.gov release date of 2007-03-22 predates the 2012 observation by nearly five years, suggesting either a questionnaire template creation date or a cataloging anomaly in the disclosure listing.
• Despite clear skies, a well-starred environment, and an elevated unobstructed vantage, the 3-6 second duration gave the witness no time to photograph or video the phenomenon.