An account in Paris, France

On Saturday, May 20, 2017 between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., a witness is intrigued by a bright point in the Parisian sky. Seen through binoculars, the bright glow seems to come from an oblong gray-silver shape. The object seems motionless during the 15 seconds of observation. Only one testimony is collected. It is likely that the witness saw an airplane in a fleeting condition of mirror reflection of the sun. The witness first thinks of an airplane: "The light intensity suggested the approach of an airplane head-on, headlight pointed in my direction, but the bright point seemed motionless," ... "Motionless, it seemed solid, suggesting a metallic body." The airplane is seen at an elevation of 20° or 30°, maybe at 20 or 30 km; the sky is indeed clear. In 15 seconds of observation, its movement is about 3 km, which for a movement transverse to the line of sight gives an angular change of 6 to 9° (depending on distance), not easily detectable. The witness describes the observation through binoculars: "The flash of light came from an oblong, gray-silver shape. The brightness and color were close to what the moon can have in broad daylight. Certain areas of the shape were darker than others, notably a small circular part." The sun is present in the west-northwest, at the horizon. Many airplanes are moving in the southeast. It is possible that one of them had a heading positioning the fuselage as an exact mirror of the sun toward the witness. The precise geometric condition linking the sun's direction, the witness's position, the airplane's position, and its heading produces a strong light intensity (only a bright point to the naked eye because the airplane is far away) and is by nature fleeting: a particular airplane and a given brief moment. The view through binoculars makes it possible to specify the content of the bright point (it is indeed not a star); the oblong shape then visible ("Motionless, it seemed solid, suggesting a metallic body") comes from the fuselage, and the darker circular part probably comes from the wing (seen edge-on on the witness's side) and its attachment to the fuselage: the whole constitutes a geometric body distinct from the fuselage, not meeting the reflection conditions, and superimposed on the oblong shape. This type of misidentification with an airplane is not strange. Consequently, GEIPAN classifies the case as B: observation of an airplane.