An account in Pyrénées-Orientales, France

In March 2012, GEIPAN received a questionnaire reporting an observation made on January 15, 1981 at 5:50 a.m. in Perpignan. That morning, just before starting work, a witness was intrigued by the South-to-North passage, in a clear sky, of three luminous points strictly aligned and equally spaced from each other. The observation lasted 3 minutes before the points disappeared from the witness's field of vision. Only one testimony was collected. This is a testimony given 35 years after the observation. The case represents little strangeness. The time, duration, and trajectory are compatible with satellites. What surprised the witness results from a satellite group effect, which can result either from a cluster of closely spaced, collaborative satellites, or from completely distinct satellites moving on parallel orbital planes. The second hypothesis is the most likely because clusters did not exist in 1981 (except perhaps in confidential US programs). This hypothesis in principle assumes a larger angular separation between objects than in the case of a cluster, but this is difficult to clarify given how old the testimony is. Consequently, GEIPAN classifies the case as B: satellites.