Sighting in Aunay-sur-Odon, April 13, 1983

Between 10:45 and 11:05 p.m., two motorists noticed a very bright ball in the sky, which they took to be at very high altitude. It was about the size of a handball and yellowish-green, and its brightness varied. Through binoculars it seemed to move up and down rapidly, but it never strayed more than 40 to 50 cm from its starting position, to which it always returned. The glare became unbearable, so the two witnesses stopped watching.

The investigation checked the sky chart for the day of the sighting. It shows Venus fairly low on the horizon, less than 5° up, in the direction of 300°, which matches the angle at which the witnesses were looking. GEIPAN therefore classified the case as B: the witnesses were probably struck by the strong brightness of the planet Venus.