Sighting in Blain (44) 28.03.2016 T2, March 28, 2016

A storm was affecting the area that night. The main witness had gone back to bed after phoning EDF to report a power cut when, at about 3:30 a.m., they noticed a white light coming from outside. Through the window they saw a white ball about 2 m above the ground. They went upstairs to get a better view through a roof window, and their family joined them: everyone saw the white light. It moved slowly sideways without any particular noise. When the witness went outside, it had gone.

Staying outside, the witness saw a blue-green light on one side of their farm, a single flash about 100 m above the ground. Five minutes later, an orange, coral-yellow light appeared on the other side, also as a single flash. Three witnesses saw a cast shadow on the property, and then the coloured flashes reappeared. The witnesses were frightened and remained puzzled.

The GEIPAN split the case into two phases, separated by an interruption and a radical change in appearance. The first phase, the white light, closely matches experts' descriptions of ball lightning, and the stormy conditions favour its occurrence. It was classed B. The second phase could involve a distant thunderstorm and reflections of light on the clouds, or even the Moon, but no hypothesis was judged probable enough. The descriptions in this phase were vaguer and sometimes contradictory, emotions ran higher, and one witness differed on the colour of the glows. The interview had to be held with the family together, as they were very close-knit in their shared emotion, so the consistency of the accounts could not be assessed. Phase 2 was classed C, for lack of reliable information.