The Polished-Metal Mass over the Forest

Early on the morning of 29 July 1987, at about a quarter to seven, two men in a car saw a large white mass moving fast above the communal forest. It shone, and it had the colour of polished metal. They put its length at about 20 metres. The sighting lasted only a few seconds. They heard nothing and smelt nothing. Then the mass dropped below the horizon and was gone.

What is on the record

The source is GEIPAN's file, held as TOULON SUR ARROUX (71) 1987. It is brief: a short description and two testimony sheets, with no documents attached. The sheets carry the name of Sanvignes-les-Mines, a commune about twelve kilometres to the east. The file does not say which commune's forest is meant or where the car was. The sheets give two men aged 20 and 40, by a road in open country. Both describe a single fast object of no set shape, and both heard total silence. GEIPAN's one-line summary reads "Objet se déplaçant rapidement au-dessus des arbres. Aucun bruit." (An object moving fast above the trees. No noise.)

GEIPAN offers no hypothesis, tested or rejected. Its description ends "Aucune explication n'a pu être avancée" (no explanation could be put forward). It classes the case D, which means it was investigated and not explained, and rates it strange to very strange with medium to strong consistency. A few seconds of sighting and a short file leave little to test either way.

Why it sits where it does

L0 · SINGLE ACCOUNT. GEIPAN withholds the identities of its witnesses, so the released record carries no identified witness, even though two men saw the object. The tier measures sourcing, not the quality of the investigation. What crossed the forest that morning is not resolved here.