An account in Gard, France

On April 14, 2015 at around 9:50 PM, a witness observed for one minute the passage toward the southwest of two blinking points moving fairly quickly. In the final direction of observation (West), the "Flightradar" civilian flight data shows, at the time indicated by the witness, 3 aircraft located about 80 km away, two of which are very close together but at different altitudes, which can give the impression of being superimposed. At that distance, they appear to the witness at an elevation of about 10° (20 times the lunar diameter). At that distance, one can still clearly see the condensation trails of the aircraft (at sunset time), but not necessarily the strobe lights. But the witness describes a movement from the South toward his West, at an apparent speed faster than high-altitude airliners (10 to 12 km). It is more likely that he saw two military aircraft, at a distance on the order of 4 to 8 km. The area is a frequent maneuvering zone, and Tuesday is a fairly favorable day. The Météociel report for Nîmes indicates very clear weather, and a light wind from the South to Southwest (see the weather). The silence perceived by the witness is not incompatible with an aircraft more than 4 km away; the noise perceived depends on the type of aircraft, the engine power setting, the relative wind, and the ambient sound environment where the witness is. The video made by the witness at the end of the observation clearly shows 2 sources of blinking lights once per second, typical of "strobe" lights (see the observation video). The red or green position lights were not seen by the witness: on the one hand, they are not necessarily turned on during military operations; on the other hand, beyond a certain distance, these low-power lights are difficult to perceive next to the powerful strobes. GEIPAN classifies this case "B": probable observation of two aircraft.