An account in La R�union, France

On Sunday, December 11, 2016 at around 6:30–6:45 PM, a female driver notices in the clear sky a red-orange phenomenon shaped like two trails topped by a sort of rectangle. The UAP seems motionless, then rises and fades slowly until it disappears completely. The observation lasted 3 to 5 minutes. Only one testimony was collected. The witness's initial feeling ("I think it's an atmospheric phenomenon, but I don't have enough knowledge to verify it") is a priori the right one. It is probably clouds lit by the setting sun. Indeed, in the indicated direction ("toward the west or southwest of my position") the sun is setting (sunset at 6:45 PM, azimuth 250°) and may not have been visible to the witness before (who is driving her car). The witness indicates a clear sky, but a few cloud traces can be strongly lit (like a mirror) by the setting sun and form sometimes unusual orange geometric configurations (here, trails topped by a rectangle) and finally "fade." Venus and Mercury were shining in the sky in the indicated direction for the UAP, especially Venus (high magnitude of -4.2) at 35° elevation. Either the witness did not notice it (that can happen) or Venus was hidden by a cloud. In both cases, that means the phenomenon was not seen at 40° elevation as indicated. Errors in judging absolute elevation (without reference to a local geographic landmark) are very common. Consequently, GEIPAN classifies this case as B: observation of clouds.