UFO hunting: The 3-step process one space agency uses to investigate mysteries

Set up in 1977, GEIPAN is a team of four experts tasked with gathering witness accounts, conducting surveys, publishing studies, managing computer systems and overseeing the organization’s operations. A technical department at CNES, it relies on outside personnel, expertise and talent, liaising with numerous investigators, experts and institutions, including France’s Air Force, National Gendarmerie and Police Force, the Directorate General for Civil Aviation, the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the weather service Météo-France.

The existence of a “UFO Force” in France has entered the country’s popular imagination in recent years, with the Canal+ comedy drama series Ovni(s) – the French term for UFOs. In its quest for realism, the series depicts equipment used for GEIPAN investigations, including the “SimOvni”, which we use to create simulations of the phenomena described in eyewitness accounts.

What exactly is a UAP?

Unidentified aerial phenomena are unusual events observed by eyewitnesses that are seemingly inexplicable. They most often take the form of a bright light.

Simple explanations can be found for over 60% of UAPs – they are usually paper lanterns, party balloons, hot air balloons, aircraft, satellites, meteorites, stars, planets and so forth. While these occurrences may seem straightforward or banal, it is important to remember that every one of these recorded sightings presents some strange, unique, or noteworthy aspect. GEIPAN gathers 700 eyewitness reports annually, with 150 to 200 remaining as open investigations. Anyone is able to submit a report using the form on the GEIPAN website.

An event’s apparent peculiarity may be dependent on the environment and conditions of the sighting. These might involve low-light conditions, an absence of sound, atmospheric turbulence causing a star to twinkle strangely, or sunlight reflecting off a distant aeroplane.