Triangular lights with a red centre identified as an aircraft in Les Essarts

Summary

On 26 November 2007, a woman and her son were driving when they saw three luminous points arranged in a triangle with a red light at the centre. The phenomenon appeared stationary at low altitude and both heard a rumbling sound. The boy opened the window for a better look but suffered a severe headache and a nervous episode that alarmed his mother.

With help from the DGAC, air traffic in the area was reconstructed and an aircraft en route to La Roche-sur-Yon airport was identified. GEIPAN concluded the observed object was that plane. No medical cause was found for the child's episode, which was likely triggered by stress and confusion in the face of what he perceived as something unexplainable.