Since 1977, France has maintained a continuous, state-funded body dedicated to investigating Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena. GEIPAN — the Groupe d’Études et d’Information sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non identifiés — operates under CNES, France’s national space agency. It is the only national UAP investigation body in the world that publicly releases all of its investigated cases in a searchable online database.
The History
The programme has operated under three names across five decades:
- GEPAN (Groupe d’Étude des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non identifiés) — founded 1977. France became the first country in the world to establish an official government UAP investigation body under a scientific institution.
- SEPRA (Service d’Études des Phénomènes de Rentrées Atmosphériques) — 1988 to 2005. Broader atmospheric re-entry monitoring mandate.
- GEIPAN — 2005 to present. Following a 2005 audit, the CNES president restructured the programme. The new name added “I” for Information — a formal commitment to public transparency. Case archives began publication in 2007.
What GEIPAN Does
GEIPAN’s operational process has four stages: collecting witness testimonies from across French territory and verifying their authenticity; analysing each report against known phenomena using a network of investigators and external experts; anonymising and archiving each case into a full dossier for potential future scientific study; and publishing all findings publicly on the web. As of 31 March 2026, GEIPAN has 3,336 published cases online at cnes-geipan.fr, searchable by date, region, and classification.
The Scale
Over 49 years, GEIPAN has recorded more than 9,897 testimonies representing approximately 5,170 observed cases. Roughly 10% of cases receive full field investigations — meaning a GEIPAN investigator meets the witness in person. The programme currently receives more than 1,000 contacts per year, of which 150 to 200 lead to formal investigations with published conclusions. The IPACO® image authentication software, adopted by GEIPAN for photo and video analysis, was publicly highlighted in May 2025 as the programme’s primary forensic imaging tool.
The Oracle Assessment
GEIPAN is the global benchmark for what national UAP investigation looks like when done publicly and scientifically. The US AARO exists but does not publish individual case files. The UK MoD Desk was closed in 2009. Germany’s CENAP is a private, unregistered organisation with a hidden archive. France’s GEIPAN has been running continuously since 1977, publishes everything, and uses a peer-reviewed classification methodology. Whatever 3.2% of its cases represent — and that percentage is genuinely unexplained after full investigation — it was reached through a process rigorous enough to stand up to scientific scrutiny.
Source: cnes-geipan.fr. GEIPAN Mission page, History page, Classification page. Data current as of 31/03/2026.