Sighting in Ardennes, October 30, 1957

Between 11:30 pm on 30 October and 1:30 am the next day, several groups of witnesses reported luminous phenomena in the sky over the Ardennes. The first group looked west at 11:40 pm and saw a large red disc hanging motionless. Around 11:50 pm it seemed to split into two parts and then vanished. An astronomical check puts the Moon at an azimuth of 245° and an elevation of 30°, appearing as a tilted half-disc. This matches the description poorly, in both elevation and shape.

A second group, on the RN46 road, watched a small object with green glints speed from the southeast toward the northwest for a few tens of seconds. Their account suggests the passage of a bolide (a meteorite fall).

A third group, about 100 metres from a level crossing, saw a red luminous object cross an overcast sky at 11:50 pm, with no sound. The witnesses may have mistaken the Moon, which lay in that exact direction, with clouds possibly drifting across it, but this fits poorly with the movement they described. A fourth group saw a red glow pass in the same direction at the same time. This could also have been the Moon briefly visible through a gap in the clouds.

The GEIPAN classified these cases as C: a mistaken Moon and a passing bolide are possible, but the information lacks the precision and cross-checking needed to confirm either.