GEIPAN
GEIPAN (Groupe d'Études et d'Information sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés) is an official body operating within CNES, the French space agency, that investigates and documents unidentified aerial phenomena reported in France.
GEIPAN is an official institution under the French CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales) that collects, investigates and documents reports of unidentified aerial or airspace phenomena (UAP) in France.
History
The organization's predecessor was established in 1977 under the name GEPAN; it was renamed SEPRA in 1988 and then given its current name, GEIPAN, in 2005. It operates with the institutional backing of CNES and collects reports from the public in cooperation with the French gendarmerie.
How it works
GEIPAN sorts the cases it receives according to a four-level classification system: category A covers identified phenomena, B those that are probably identified, C those that cannot be classified because of insufficient data, and D those cases for which good-quality data are available yet which remain unexplained.
Public access and data handling
GEIPAN's work is also known for making its case files publicly accessible online, including older cases, even ones dating back decades, which by international comparison is considered a rare practice among official investigations of this kind.
Significance for the topic
GEIPAN is often cited as an example by those who argue that a government organization can also conduct transparent, scientifically rigorous investigations of UAP phenomena. The organization itself refrains from classifying the unexplained category D cases as being of supernatural or extraterrestrial origin, and places its emphasis on methodical data collection.