GEIPAN Case 2014-01-08689 — THEY-SOUS-MONTFORT (88) 28.01.2014
A French GEIPAN witness questionnaire documenting a January 2014 nighttime sighting near They-sous-Montfort, Vosges, in which a lone outdoor witness observed a red luminous ball with a blue tail execute a multi-phase trajectory reversal over two to three minutes; GEIPAN classified the case D1 — unexplained, insufficient data.
Brief
On 28 January 2014 at approximately 22h15, a single civilian witness outdoors near They-sous-Montfort (Vosges department, northeastern France) observed an aerial phenomenon for two to three minutes. The object first appeared as a luminous halo, then resolved into a very bright red ball with a small blue tail. Its trajectory was distinctly multi-phase: linear flight, a full stop, an approximate U-turn with slight lateral deviation, then resumed linear flight in the reverse direction. GEIPAN — the UAP investigation unit of the French national space agency CNES, formerly operating as GEPAN and SEPRA — logged the case as 2014-01-08689 with classification D1 and attached gendarmerie procès-verbaux and technical notes.
Metadata
- Agency
- GEIPAN / CNES
- Release
- 2007-03-22
- Type
- PDF • .pdf
- Length
- 10 pages
- Classification
- UNCLASSIFIED — public GEIPAN case file; GEIPAN internal case classification D1 (unexplained, data insufficient)
- Programs
- GEIPAN, GEPAN, SEPRA
- Tags
- nocturnal light, red ball, blue tail, halo morphology, trajectory reversal, France, Vosges, 2014, GEIPAN D1
Key points
- The observation lasted two to three minutes, beginning at approximately 22h15 on 28 January 2014.
- The phenomenon initially presented as a luminous halo before transforming into a very bright red ball with a small blue tail.
- The trajectory was multi-phase: linear, full stop, near-U-turn with slight lateral deviation, then renewed linear flight in the reverse direction — a sequence incompatible with passive atmospheric drift or standard ballistic motion.
- GEIPAN assigned classification D1, denoting the case is unexplained but data volume is judged insufficient for definitive characterization.
- Supporting documentation includes gendarmerie procès-verbaux, meaning a formal police-level sworn witness interview was conducted.
- The case is archived under GEIPAN number 2014-01-08689 and is publicly accessible via the CNES database, consistent with GEIPAN's transparency mandate.
Most interesting
- GEIPAN is the only standing government UAP investigation unit embedded within a national space agency anywhere in the world; it operates under CNES and publishes its full case catalog publicly.
- The D1 classification indicates investigators found the report credible enough to formalize, but existing data did not permit a confident identification in either direction.
- The dual-color signature — red body, blue tail — appears as a recurring descriptor across multiple GEIPAN catalog entries and remains unresolved as a phenomenon class.
- The trajectory reversal (stop, turn, resumed linear flight) is the single detail most resistant to conventional explanations; bolides, sky lanterns, and aircraft do not execute reversals of this kind.
- The procès-verbal format, taken by the gendarmerie, lends the witness statement a degree of formal legal standing that distinguishes GEIPAN files from self-reported civilian UFO claims.
- They-sous-Montfort sits in the Vosges department (88), part of the Grand Est region of northeastern France — a department with a documented pattern of aerial anomaly reports in the GEIPAN archive.