An account in Alpes-Maritimes, France

On August 1, 2011 at around 12:25 p.m., a motorist and his passenger had their attention drawn to a luminous object in the sky. The object seemed stationary, then suddenly disappeared. The phenomenon was observed for 4 to 5 seconds. Cases of observing temporary luminous points in broad daylight are generally explained by flashes from Iridium satellites or by approaching aircraft seen head-on. In our case, the Air Navigation Service indicates a Falcon 900 on approach to Cannes airport exactly where the witness saw it and at the stated time. It is possible that the light observed, besides the aircraft's landing light, was also a reflection of the sun on the aircraft. When the aircraft turned to line up with the runway axis, the witness was no longer in line with the landing lights and the light seemed to disappear. When a luminous point disappears from the sky (as in the case of satellites passing into the earth's shadow), witnesses often interpret its disappearance as a sudden departure. Due to the identification of the aircraft as the source of the luminous phenomenon, this case is classified "A": perfectly identified.