The UFO Phenomenon

France maintains state-run UFO research unit

By T.K. Randall
November 4, 2014 ·  61 comments

France's official UFO group receives around two reports each day. Image Credit: CC BY 2.0 Gerhard Uhlhorn Britain's Ministry of Defence might have shut down its official UFO desk back in 2009 but elsewhere in Europe France's own state-run UFO group is still going strong.

Known as Geipan, which stands for Study Group and Information on Non-Identified Aerospace Phenomenon, the team of four staff members and one dozen volunteers continues to accept and investigate reports of UFOs from across the country.

On average the group receives around two new reports each day and requires that witnesses fill in an eleven-page form about their sighting to help provide as much information as possible.Hoaxers and time wasters are typically filtered out fairly quickly and investigations usually begin by checking flight paths close to the location of the sighting to rule out conventional air traffic.

Many of the sightings can also be attributed to Chinese lanterns, drones and kites.

Despite this however the team continues to maintain a vigilant eye on the skies in the off-chance that the next UFO they investigate turns out to have come from somewhere a little further afield.

Source: BBC News | Comments (61)

Tags: UFO, France