An account in Marne, France

This observation case is one of the cases classified as "D" in 1982 by GEPAN. It was the subject of a new investigation (see the document: Investigation Note). On May 16, 1982, around 3:45 a.m., a female driver and her female passenger were intrigued by the presence of a luminous mass in the sky described as a half-moon, "orange in color." After remaining motionless above the town of Suippes, the UAP seemed to follow the witnesses while making horizontal leaps, and this continued until the village of Somme Suippes. No noise was heard during the observation. The two witnesses lost sight of the UAP upon their arrival, because it was hidden by the landscape or by buildings. No other information about this phenomenon was collected by the gendarmerie. The described phenomenon shares many common characteristics (observation duration, shape, size, color...) with a known astronomical phenomenon: the Moon at moonrise. Furthermore, the Moon was indeed present in the area of sky observed, while the witnesses do not mention it, except to say that they first thought of the Moon (which indicates that the UAP resembles our natural satellite). It is not the witnesses' visual perception that is in question, but the interpretation the witnesses make of their observation through their feelings (fatigue and worry). In the current GEIPAN classification, this case of low strangeness is classified as UAP A: astronomical misidentification of the Moon.