OVNI (s), the new series of Canal +, gives a nice spotlight to Geipan, this service of Cnes, in charge of studying strange phenomena in the sky, from Toulouse.
Does Geipan really exist, this service? The question comes up often in the first episode of the crazy UFO series, broadcast since January 11 on Canal +. The fiction, with Melvil Poupaud as headliner, takes place at the end of the 70s and is inspired by this Cnes entity, shortly after its creation in Toulouse. Because yes, it really exists, the Study and Information Group on Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena. Citizens who witness strange lights or weirdos persuaded to have crossed a flying saucer, they are 8000 to have brought him reports since 1977.
“The paranormal is not our thing”, tempers Roger Baldacchino, the manager of this service of 5 people, which relies on a network of experts and volunteer investigators, throughout France. In their Rangueil offices, they indeed prefer to talk about PAN (Unidentified Aerospace Phenomenon) than UFOs. Only 3.5% of the cases they analyze remain unexplained, and that does not mean that they are proof of an extraterrestrial existence. “Some witnesses may feel frustrated,” continues Roger Baldacchino. We are sometimes dream breakers, who seek to solve puzzles with pragmatism. Regularly the subject of documentaries, Geipan finds itself for the first time the object of entertainment.
Roger Baldacchino has been responsible for Geipan since September 2019.
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Entertainment object
The series is humorous, its characters are crazy, but despite its comic springs, it transcribes the methodology of specialists rather well, apart from a few anachronisms. These were consulted during the development of the script, but did not validate anything. “We only demanded that the Cnes, the Geipan and the witnesses not be ridiculed. It’s a very enjoyable series, a comedy with suspense. It takes a bit of self-mockery, and that’s not a problem !, smiles Mr. Baldacchino. The characters were invented but the verified phenomena are taken from reality, just like the verification methods used at the time. “
A publicity stunt for the only official structure dedicated to the mysteries of the sky. “It’s recognition, confirms its manager. This can lead people to have more confidence in us. If the majority of testimonies receive answers in a few days, it sometimes takes several months for Geipan to complete an investigation into a more delicate report. Enough to dismantle the maxim of the X-Files, which claims that the truth is elsewhere. It is discovered, in large part, at Geipan…!
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2020, the record year for reports
The year 2020 will have been exceptional, including for the number of testimonies on strange phenomena. From 600 recorded per year on average at Geipan, the counter rose to more than 1000 reports last year. Only 180 of them have been translated into investigations. The others were quickly sorted out. But how to explain this explosion?
First of all, it must be linked to the deployment of Starlink, the constellation of satellites from the manufacturer Space X, which is growing larger every month, and offered a visual shock to many citizens when they saw this light rail scrolling at low. altitude for the first time. Hundreds of reports related to Starlink have indeed been noted.
Then there was undeniably a Covid effect, according to members of Geipan. The period of forced inactivity in confinement prompted some French people to try their hand at astronomy as amateurs. Associated with a beautiful clear sky, a feeling of general anxiety, and even sometimes with slightly delusional conspiracy theories, we obtain a coronavirus period conducive to questions about the sky.
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