Sighting in Bayonne, December 28, 1978

The account was collected in 2016 and concerns an old observation whose exact date is uncertain. On 28 December 1978, between 9 and 10 p.m., three people on a terrace noticed a point of light in the sky. For 20 to 30 minutes it followed an irregular, angular path, with changes of direction that seemed random. The witnesses went indoors while the phenomenon was still moving. Only one testimony was collected.

GEIPAN noted that the description could fit an aircraft, civil or otherwise, flying an unusual path. This cannot be ruled out, since it is not possible to investigate air traffic from so long ago. It could also fit a satellite: GEIPAN has encountered cases where satellites with non-straight trajectories looked strange. Zigzag motion can come from perceptual effects, such as the autokinetic effect. It can also result from one satellite leaving sunlight just as another enters it, giving the impression of a single object making a sharp change of course.

Because of the age of the observation and the lack of tools and databases going back that far, no conclusion could be reached. GEIPAN therefore classified the case as C, insufficient data.