Pascal Pezzani – Director of the Blayais Nuclear Power Plant «Here, we didn’t see a drone. We saw a UFO.» 21/01/2015

Pascal Pezzani – Director of the Blayais (France) Nuclear Power Plant:

Here, we didn't see a drone. We saw a UFO and there was no impact on the security of our sites. Our position is clear: when there is an overflight of the site, we file a complaint and communicate.

2014 – In four months, two-thirds of France's 19 nuclear power plants were flown over one or more times. And the power plants were not the only targets of these worrying aerial inspections: on the night of January 26 to 27, the military site of Île Longue in the Brest harbor, which houses France's four nuclear-armed submarines, was also visited.

On the evening of October 31, 2014 alone, no fewer than six sites were visited between 6 PM and 10 PM: the Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux (Loir-et-Cher), Dampierre-en-Burly (Loiret), Belleville-sur-Loire (Cher), Fessenheim (Haut-Rhin), Flamanville (Manche), and Penly (Seine-Maritime) power plants.

Surveillance of nuclear power plants is prohibited within a perimeter of five kilometers and up to 1,000 meters altitude around the sites. The airspace above nuclear plants is monitored by the Air Force under a protocol with EDF," recalls AFP.

However, despite three months of overflights raising concerns about the security of the French nuclear facilities, no arrests have been made, no drones have been shot down, and no serious leads are being pursued, at least publicly. Even the types of devices being used are unknown: 'Witness accounts from gendarmes at the Crès-Malville site describe overflights in weather conditions with 70 km/h winds and rain. There are helicopters at Golfech tracking these drones for 9 km. There’s a drone traveling between Flamanville and La Hague over 18 km. The theory of small drones piloted nose-on against fences doesn't hold up,' summarizes Yannick Rousselet of Greenpeace, speaking to Science et Avenir, responsible for their nuclear campaign.

"The military is facing a strategy supported by 'exogenous' technology."

These intrusions were taken seriously and extensively covered by the media. The official narrative was that they were small drones. Greenpeace was immediately pointed out, but they strongly refuted any involvement.

Questioned on France Culture about these overflights, Xavier Passot (An engineer at CNES, the French Space Agency, was responsible for GEIPAN from 2011 to 2016.) confirms but expresses some doubts about the official version:

I haven't personally received any testimonies. All the witnesses of these overflights are nuclear power plant employees. But I know that one person saw something near Golfech and contacted the gendarmes. The observation was classified as a drone (…) I don't even know on what criteria all these objects were identified as drones. I hope it is based on good criteria, but I am not absolutely certain.'

This testimony, published on the 'Mystères des OVNIs' forum, is the only one to our knowledge in which a witness outside EDF corroborates the overflight of a nuclear power plant and provides a detailed description of the object involved, assuming it is the same object reported by the power plant management. However, the account from the witness, Marc T., adds further uncertainty regarding the exact nature of this flying object.

Observation of October 30, 2014, between 8:50 PM and 9:00 PM. The house where I was located is on a hill, on one of the slopes of the commune… with an unobstructed view of the Golfech power plant. (…)

We only saw a large white light (without color) on the horizon, northeast towards Donzac (more precisely, above Donzac). Approximately 4 to 5 kilometers from us and at an altitude of about 200 meters (not much higher than the power plant towers themselves). (…)

Then it started to move slowly at a very low speed, while rotating on itself as if initiating a turn. At that moment, through binoculars (and my friend with the naked eye), I could see a second light, like a flash, similar to a strobe light. (…)

Then, it started moving faster and faster, at the speed of a small plane like a Cessna. It was heading more towards St. Loup, then making a sharp turn towards our direction. As it got closer to us, I could see through binoculars a fairly distinct red light, quite bright as well. (…)

About 300 meters from us, facing us, still with its large white spot, it remained almost stationary for about 15 to 20 seconds. My friend and I had enough time to see its shape from the front. It was at this point that it was closest to us. It had a "plane" shape. It made no noise… nothing at all. We could hear the harvester on the neighboring slope (to our right) but nothing from this object. I could see two wings. Its wingspan was about 6 to 7 meters.
"I observed a triangular, matte black UFO with three flashing lights"

(…) Still with binoculars, now 500 meters from me, but this time in profile, I was very surprised because although I followed it (it wasn't moving very fast), I couldn't give it a precise shape. I had seen these wings just before, but this time almost in profile, I couldn't clearly see the contours of the object. It was a bit like a mirage in the desert."

To summarize: a large object with a wingspan of six to seven meters, flashing lights, a blurry shape "like a mirage," a variable speed ranging from stationary to that of a light aircraft, no noise, strobe flashes that the witness interpreted as camera flashes… It is clear that this type of "drone" is not found at the local supermarket.

Below is a reconstruction of the object seen by the witnesses:

https://i.servimg.com/u/f59/14/58/03/89/14153611.jpg

https://i.servimg.com/u/f59/14/58/03/89/14153610.jpg

But there is something even more surprising. The witness reported his observation to the gendarmes, who allegedly told him that they too had seen something:

While talking to the gendarmes, who were very attentive, they told me they had seen something later that evening around 9:50 PM, near one of the Garonne bridges (…), something even bigger, much more imposing, almost like a commercial airplane but with a square shape…

This is not the first time the Golfech power plant has been overflown by a mysterious craft. In 2010, two power plant employees observed and filmed a rather unusual object, according to this description in an investigation by ufologist Christophe Albiero:

This occurred on October 6, 2010, between 8:15 PM and 8:17 PM at the Golfech nuclear power plant, a few meters from the site's security building. The weather was very clear, no wind, no clouds, perfect visibility, no trees, completely unobstructed view. I observed a triangular, matte black UFO with three white flashing lights at each tip, and a red flashing light in the center. The object was flying at a low altitude, and I could see it very closely. It was quite large and moving very slowly. I could follow it on foot, walking parallel to its trajectory. At one point, I found myself practically under the object.

"The object therefore passed very close to the two nuclear reactors."

It made no noise (engine, whistling, etc.), there was no draft, no smell. The object continued its route in silence, then about thirty meters to my left, it turned to the right and then slowly ascended, heading towards a hill. (…)

I work at the Golfech nuclear power plant. The object was so low that for us it wasn't above the plant but rather inside it, as high as the plant's chimneys, about 150/200 meters. The object therefore passed very close to the two nuclear reactors. It flew over the central alley, the site's security building without triggering any alarms, much to our astonishment.

The two witnesses, Pascal and Sofiane, aged 44 and 20 at the time, contacted GEIPAN, but they completely disagree with the rather terse conclusion of the public body's report: 'Probable observation of a plane.'

"In 2003, Geos conducted an audit on the EDF tower at La Défense. Various weaknesses in the internal security of the premises were reported. During a nighttime inspection, investigators came across a confidential report of 260 pages dedicated to… extraterrestrials."

It was published in a respected newspaper and has never been denied. There has been no follow-up either.

To this day, the drone swarm of 2014 remains a mystery. Does it remind you of something?

Sources 1, 2, 3.