Sighting in Apt-Saint-Christol, September 20, 1980

During one night in September 1980, a large number of witnesses, all of them military personnel, noticed glowing balls in the sky on several occasions. The balls moved along changing paths and vanished suddenly before reappearing. The sky was heavily overcast and the weather very stormy.

That same night, a car race was taking place on the slopes of nearby Mont Ventoux. The investigation could not prove it, but GEIPAN considers it a serious possibility that the lights were reflections of the cars' headlights in the night and on the low clouds. The layout of the racing circuit would then account for the varied trajectories and the repeated disappearances and reappearances. The case was classified B (probably identified): the lights were most likely from a night-time car race.