GEIPAN — France's 45-Year Official Government UAP Investigation

Since 1977, the French space agency CNES has operated an official government program to investigate UAP reports. Originally called GEPAN, then SEPRA, and now GEIPAN (Groupe d'Études et d'Informations sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés), it is the longest-running, most transparent government UAP investigation program in the world. THE DATABASE: GEIPAN has investigated over 3,000 cases and made its entire database publicly available online in 2007 — decades before the US acknowledged any investigation existed. Cases are classified into four categories: A (fully explained), B (probably explained), C (insufficient data), and D (unexplained despite thorough investigation). Approximately 22% of cases fall into Category D — unexplained. THE METHODOLOGY: Unlike AARO's approach of assuming conventional explanations, GEIPAN applies rigorous scientific methodology with a team that includes physicists, engineers, astronomers, and military analysts. They conduct field investigations, collect physical evidence, interview witnesses using structured protocols, and publish their analysis. Cases that cannot be explained are labeled as such without forcing a conventional explanation. THE SIGNIFICANCE: France has been doing openly and scientifically what the United States has been doing covertly and denying. For 45+ years, a NATO ally has maintained a government-funded, scientifically rigorous UAP investigation program and published its findings. 22% of thoroughly investigated cases remain unexplained. When the US claims there's 'no evidence,' France's own government data contradicts that claim with decades of documented unknowns. GEIPAN's existence proves two things: UAP investigation can be conducted transparently without causing public panic, and a significant percentage of sightings cannot be explained by any known phenomenon even after rigorous scientific analysis.