An account in Eure-et-Loir, 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, with the sole aim of being more relevant in the conclusions. Thanks to new technical means (software) and the investigation experience acquired over all these recent years, this re-examination sometimes leads to new remarks or even a change of classification explained in an investigation note. This observation case, previously classified D and named THIVARS (28) 25.10.1979, is part of a set of cases recently re-examined. On 25 October 1979 at around 7:30 a.m., a female motorist and her two passengers were travelling on the D137 towards Chartres. Near the entrance to the locality of Fresnay-le-Comte, they saw above a wood a luminous object that intrigued them. This object was red in colour, not dazzling but rather phosphorescent (W2). According to the witnesses, it had the shape of an isosceles trapezoid (W1) or a bowl (W2). No particular noise was heard during the observation, which lasted 15 to 20 seconds. The object rose while changing shape (rectangular, then a simple line) before disappearing completely. Two testimonies were filed with the gendarmerie. The details provided by the witnesses allow for the possibility of a misidentification with the rising Sun, insofar as the UAP is described as phosphorescent and is compared to a sunset: "like when the sun is very red in the evening" (W2), "this shape had the colour of the sun when it is red and not dazzling, like when it will rain the next day" (W1). It is verified that the sun was perfectly in the direction of the observation and was in the process of rising. The confirmed presence of cloud cover very likely prevented the witnesses from identifying the Sun. This same cloud cover, with the probable presence of small holes or clearings, all in motion due to the wind present (> 15 km/h), can moreover perfectly explain the evolution of the UAP's shape as well as its disappearance, the Sun gradually disappearing behind a cloud. It should also be noted that the UAP "gave off a brightness that lit up the wood", which is consistent with the Sun. The witnesses do not mention at any moment having seen the Sun, while it was rising on the horizon, exactly in the direction they indicate. The perfect consistency between the true position of the Sun and the location and description of the UAP leaves no doubt about the misidentification. It is not the witnesses' visual perception that is at issue, but the interpretation that the witnesses make of their observation through their feelings (driving, surprise, bad weather conditions). Consequently, this case of low strangeness is classified by GEIPAN as UAP A: observation linked to a misidentification with the Sun at sunrise.