An account in Essonne, France

GEIPAN continues to publish all of its archives on its public website www.geipan.fr. Among its publications are old cases classified at the time (A, B, C or D) which are now being re-examined, for the sole purpose of being more relevant in their conclusions. Thanks to new technical means (software) and the investigative experience gained over all these recent years, this re-examination sometimes leads to new remarks or even a change in classification. This observation case, previously classified D and named PALAISEAU (91) 1982, is part of a set of cases recently re-examined. On September 6, 1982 at 10:30 PM, a couple on their balcony on the 3rd floor noticed a large orange-colored luminous phenomenon in the direction of the Orly runways. The witnesses compared the object to a saucer or an airship. The observation lasted two minutes, during which the phenomenon gradually disappeared. No noise was heard during the observation. The gendarmerie investigation with various air surveillance services or fire stations in the area yielded no additional information. Of medium strangeness and consistency (2 dependent witnesses, no photo), this case turned out to be a misidentification with the Moon near its rise (see the investigation report). The description of the UAP and the details of the gendarmerie investigation strongly suggest a misidentification with the Moon: oval UAP of large diameter, orange color, bright light, hypothesis of a fire. The witnesses, although having an excellent view from their balcony toward the East, say they did not see the Moon in the sky described as cloudless, while it was indeed present in the direction they indicate, at a low angular height that could explain its orange color. The fact that an airplane passed between the UAP and the witnesses shows that the UAP was slightly to the right of the Orly airport runways, which corresponds perfectly to the position of the Moon. The presence of clouds on the eastern horizon, not mentioned by the witnesses but deduced from meteorological data, explains (for T2) the disappearance of the UAP by shrinking following the progressive blocking by a cloud, just as it explains (for T1) a "departure toward the East," because T1 interprets the shrinking as a distant flight that is indeed toward the East. During the first investigation, GEIPAN did not have the same means to assess the presence of clouds and did not yet have this feedback on the movement illusions that clouds can create in front of the Moon or a celestial body. The case is classified A: observation of the Moon.