When we think of UFOs, we often think of the United States. From Roswell to Area 51, American society and culture are filled with stories of unidentified flying objects, sparking numerous fantasies. France is not exempt from these phenomena. What is less known is that they are taken very seriously and subject to rigorous investigations, which in most cases result in a perfectly rational explanation. Behind these investigations is a service affiliated with Cnes, the French space agency: the Geipan, which stands for the Study and Information Group on Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena, based in Toulouse.
Comprised of three employees and twelve volunteers spread across the country, this group plays an essential role: “Collect, study, and investigate strange observation cases reported by citizens in an attempt to provide an answer to what they saw, based on a technical and scientific process,” summarized Frédéric Courtade, the Geipan’s head.
It all starts with reports from witnesses of curious phenomena. Among them are strange lights in the sky, orange triangles moving, slowly fading white shapes, objects with unusual trajectories or movements. These observations are reported through forms on the service’s website, letters, as well as testimonies from gendarmeries based on established procedures or reports from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, allowing pilots and aviation personnel to testify about unexplainable events.
About a hundred in-depth investigations per year
Once a report is received, investigation follows. This process is very serious: it is not about proving the presence of extraterrestrial beings but trying to explain, in a rational manner and following a perfectly procedural methodology, what the witness may have seen. Not all cases require a thorough investigation as some are obvious or recurring. Out of the thousand reports received by Geipan each year, only 80 to 120 require further investigations, as estimated by its head. For these more complex cases, the same methodology is deployed each time, with results and complete case files published on the service’s database once the investigation is completed.
Many phenomena are often explained
Investigations also take place in the field, with the help of a group of volunteer investigators. “Trustworthy and highly committed,” they are carefully selected and trained in Geipan’s methods to conduct investigations, interviews, and form hypotheses. Their role is closely supervised: volunteers receive a mission letter stamped Geipan/Cnes, which they can present to witnesses and authorities.
At the end of the investigation, cases are classified into several categories: A when the observed phenomenon is perfectly identified; B when it is likely identified (for example, when it has been established that it was a balloon but the origin is unknown); C when it remains unidentified due to a lack of data; and D when its nature is still unknown after the investigation. As of March 3, out of the 3,320 phenomena investigated in depth since 1977, 66.5% have been perfectly or likely identified by Geipan. In more than half of the cases, they turned out to be balloons, lanterns, aircraft (excluding drones), or astronomical phenomena.
Unidentified Phenomena, a “semi-failure”
While Frédéric Courtade does not see any emblematic cases in Geipan’s work, some cases hold a special place for investigators. These include phenomena observed before Geipan’s creation in 1977, classified as unidentified after investigation. The oldest available case in the database dates back to 1951 in Vaucluse, where two pilots reported seeing “a very bright phenomenon stationary then moving in the sky.”
According to the Geipan head, “the emblematic cases are mainly those that we have managed to solve,” referring to the challenge of investigating based on a questionnaire with about ten questions, sometimes vague answers from witnesses, without photos or other evidence. On the contrary, phenomena classified as D, unidentified after investigation, are seen as a “semi-failure” by the teams.
These cases often spark fantasies among the public: “People associate a lot of things with UFOs,” explains Frédéric Courtade. “There are the extraterrestrials, of course, but also the idea of being lied to, being spied on…”. Hence the importance of Geipan’s mission. And good news for those interested: Geipan is currently recruiting four volunteers to expand its team of volunteers to 16 people. Space enthusiasts or investigation enthusiasts, send in your resumes!
