GEIPAN: France's Public-Facing, Evidence-Based UFO Investigation under CNES
GEIPAN (Groupe d’Études et d’Informations sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non identifiés) is France’s official UFO investigation office, operating under the civilian space agency CNES. It collects reports from the public, pilots, police, and aviation authorities, and analyzes them using witness statements, radar data, weather, flight records, and astronomical data. Cases are categorized as A: Identified, B: Probably identified but with missing data, C: Insufficient information, and D: Unidentified after investigation. Category D comprises cases that remain unexplained after review and are published publicly without spin. France’s approach reflects a lack of Cold War panic, treating UFOs as aviation and scientific problems rather than psychological threats, with ongoing study rather than dismissal. Most cases are resolved as mundane explanations (planes, balloons, atmospheric effects), but a small, stable portion stay in Category D, with no claim of extraterrestrial origin though they are not dismissed either. GEIPAN is notably more transparent and public-facing than many other programs, described as closer to a public service than a secrecy machine, and it is contrasted with other programs as being more open than AARO, more persistent than Project Magnet, less dismissive than the Condon Report, and more public-facing than Cold War-era U.S. efforts.
Source: otherworlders.com
