GEIPAN Case 2022-05-51350 — MONTLUEL (01) 14.05.2022
GEIPAN case 2022-05-51350 is a French national UAP investigative file documenting an 8-second nocturnal sighting of a silent, rectangular, anthracite-gray object over Montluel (Ain), classified D — genuinely unidentified after investigation.
Brief
On 14 May 2022 at approximately 03:10 local time, a single civilian witness observed from an apartment balcony in Montluel (Ain, France) a dark rectangular object traverse the sky from west to east at low altitude over roughly 8 seconds. The object showed no lights, no exhaust or contrail, and no audible signature; its angular size was estimated at 20x40 mm at arm's length, implying a roughly 2:1 width-to-height aspect ratio. GEIPAN — the UAP investigation unit of French space agency CNES, successor to GEPAN and SEPRA — conducted a formal inquiry and assigned classification D, its designation for phenomena that remain unidentified after full investigation. Supporting materials reportedly include gendarmerie procès-verbaux and technical notes.
Metadata
- Agency
- GEIPAN / CNES
- Release
- 2007-03-22
- Type
- PDF • .pdf
- Length
- 1 pages
- Classification
- D (GEIPAN scale — unidentified after investigation)
- Programs
- GEIPAN, CNES, GEPAN, SEPRA
- Tags
- rectangular, silent, no-lights, no-trail, low-altitude, nocturnal, anthracite-gray, single-witness, France, Montluel, Ain, 2022, GEIPAN
Key points
- GEIPAN classification D: the phenomenon could not be identified after investigation, the agency's highest-confidence unidentified designation.
- Observation window was approximately 8 seconds, with the object traveling west to east while the witness faced south from a residential balcony.
- Object described as anthracite gray (gris anthracite), rectangular, with no lights and no trail of any kind.
- Angular size estimate of 20x40 mm at arm's length provides a 2:1 aspect ratio datum for size modeling if slant range can be inferred.
- Sighting occurred at 03:10 — deep night — reducing the likelihood of misidentification from solar or ambient reflection artifacts.
- Single witness; no corroborating sensor data or additional witnesses are noted in the public description.
- Attached gendarmerie procès-verbaux suggest a formal law-enforcement interview was conducted as part of the GEIPAN investigative protocol.
Most interesting
- GEIPAN's classification scale runs A (identified) through D (unidentified after investigation); a D rating is rare and signals the case survived the full elimination checklist for conventional explanations.
- The listed release date of 2007-03-22 predates the 2022 incident by five years — this appears to be a catalog or metadata artifact, possibly GEIPAN's own database-entry date or a system default, not a declassification date.
- A 20x40 mm object at arm's length subtends roughly 2.3° x 1.1° of arc — comparable to an index finger's width held at arm's length — placing it within the range of easily visible but geometrically ambiguous angular sizes.
- GEIPAN is the third iteration of France's official UAP program: GEPAN (1977–1988), SEPRA (1988–2004), GEIPAN (2005–present), all housed within CNES, making France one of the few countries with an unbroken institutional UAP investigation record.
- The silent, unlit, low-altitude profile with no detectable propulsion signature eliminates standard fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and most known drone categories operating under French civil aviation rules for nighttime flight.
- The balcony vantage point facing south with westward origin constrains the object's ground track, potentially allowing cross-reference with radar, ADS-B, or other sensor archives for the Ain department corridor.