Sighting in Barrême, May 9, 1983

During the night, between 10:30 and 11:30 pm, seven witnesses watched a light in the sky, first with the naked eye and then through binoculars. It came from a ball-like shape that moved slowly and several times vanished into the landscape. Through binoculars, the shape looked triangular and lights of different colours became visible. The witnesses placed its movement towards the north-west, or towards Saint-Jacques, meaning to their right as they faced the object. All of them were interviewed by the gendarmerie. On the map attached to their statements, the red arrow labelled "direction taken by the phenomenon" actually showed the direction of observation.

Contact with the Saint-Michel observatory confirmed that a comet passed that night, but the astronomers considered that the witnesses' descriptions did not match it.

GEIPAN re-examined this case, which GEPAN had classed as "C" in 1983. It judges the case consistent, with seven witnesses and a fairly precise description, and the witnesses' sincerity was never questioned. The phenomenon described shares many features with Venus: long observation time, shape, size and colour. Venus was also exactly at the angular height (17.5°) and azimuth (290°) the witnesses gave. The witnesses' perception is therefore not in question, but rather their interpretation, shaped by how they felt (tiredness, surprise, the presence of terrain relief). The case, of low strangeness, is classified A: a misidentification of Venus.