  We are interested in bounding probabilities of rare events in the context of
computer experiments. These rare events depend on the output of a physical
model with random input variables. Since the model is only known through an
expensive black box function, standard efficient Monte Carlo methods designed
for rare events cannot be used. We then propose a strategy to deal with this
difficulty based on importance sampling methods. This proposal relies on
Kriging metamodeling and is able to achieve sharp upper confidence bounds on
the rare event probabilities. The variability due to the Kriging metamodeling
step is properly taken into account. The proposed methodology is applied to a
toy example and compared to more standard Bayesian bounds. Finally, a
challenging real case study is analyzed. It consists of finding an upper bound
of the probability that the trajectory of an airborne load will collide with
the aircraft that has released it.
