Air France flight 3532
The crew of a Nice–London airliner saw a huge brownish-red disc near Paris, and military radar reportedly recorded a matching track.
1994 CE · 48.82, 3.08 · status: unexplained
The account
On 28 January 1994 Captain Jean-Charles Duboc and his co-pilot saw an object they first took for a weather balloon, then estimated as very large, some 45–50 km away near Coulommiers, which changed shape and vanished. The Taverny air defence centre said it had a radar track that crossed the plane's path. GEIPAN files it as unexplained (class D) and the 1999 COMETA report featured it.
The sceptical view
Size and distance estimates of a lone object are unreliable, and a large stratospheric balloon or a cloud phenomenon has been suggested; the radar link is disputed.
The researched reading
An airline crew saw a huge disc and military radar recorded a track nearby. A balloon or cloud may explain the sight, but the radar keeps it among the stronger unexplained French cases.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Genuinely anomalous | 35% | The Taverny air defence centre reported a 50-second radar track at the right place and time, which a balloon would hardly produce in that way, and GEIPAN files the case as unexplained; but the link between track and sighting is disputed. |
| Something known, misidentified | 30% | The crew first took the object for a weather balloon; a large stratospheric balloon seen in profile can look like a dark disc, and estimating size from a distance of tens of kilometres is unreliable. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 14% | A dense lens-shaped cloud changing shape and fading would match the description of the object dissolving rather than flying off. |
| Secret human technology | 10% | A military balloon or test is possible near Paris, though nothing was identified. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 6% | A rare atmospheric effect is possible but unspecified. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 4% | Three crew members saw it, so misperception alone is weak. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 1% | Reported through official channels by an experienced crew. |
Official position: GEIPAN classes the case as unexplained; it featured in the 1999 COMETA report.
Connections in the atlas
- Caselle airport sighting, Turin
- The COMETA report (France)
- Manises 'UFO landing'
- GEPAN → SEPRA → GEIPAN (France)