An account in Tarn-et-Garonne, 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) that 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 in classification. This observation case, previously classified D (and also known as MONTAUBAN (82) 1980), is part of a set of cases recently re-examined. FACTS On October 6, 1980, at 6 a.m., a female motorist stopped in her car spotted at low altitude a luminous object emitting a white neon-type light. Shaped like a rocket, this craft moved in an arc over the houses. After a pause, the object went vertical and appeared to the witness like an upside-down plate. The object then disappeared completely. No noise was heard during the observation, which lasted a few seconds. No other testimony was collected on this phenomenon. ANALYSIS The witness gave many unusable indications (size or diameter of 1.5 meters, distance of about 50 meters, speed of movement comparable to that of a watch's second hand) in the absence of angular reference points or known landmarks in the landscape. If we exclude these indications from the analysis, not much remains of the testimony that can be used; it is thus possible to summarize it as follows: - observation for a few seconds of a white luminous UAP shaped like a "rocket" moving silently in an arc, then pausing, going back up vertically while taking a "upside-down plate" shape, and disappearing. We can also deduce from the testimony that the UAP was probably at a low angular height above the horizon: "it was at the height of the trees or the roofs of the houses." Although the gendarmes went to the scene, no other usable information was collected. It would have been useful to clarify the following points: - exact position of the witness in their car. Were they in front of their home or somewhere else? - exact azimuths of appearance and disappearance of the UAP; - starting and ending elevation; - angular size of the UAP; - in what exact manner did the UAP disappear? Did it go out on the spot suddenly, gradually? Or did the witness lose sight of the UAP? Given the unknown due to the missing parameters, one cannot rule out a helicopter maneuvering on the horizon, or the movement of a bird illuminated because placed in the field of some spotlight, or a much stranger phenomenon. This lack of data does not allow going further in the analysis. Consequently, GEIPAN classifies the case as "C": lack of reliable information.