Sighting in Broyes, January 10, 2000

Between 9:00 and 9:05 p.m., a driver on a departmental road near a water tower was suddenly dazzled by a very intense light that came into the car through the sunroof. The engine and car radio stopped abruptly while the ignition stayed on. According to the witness, after a minute the phenomenon faded, the radio came back on and the engine could be restarted, and the driver went home terrified. The gendarmes, who came immediately, found a clear, starry sky, heavy air traffic, no disturbance on the power line, no street lighting, and no military flight reported. A reconstruction established a duration of 15 to 30 seconds at most. Another witness, a driver on a national road, had experienced ten days earlier, between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m., a whitish flash with no noise, all dashboard warning lights on and the engine stopped, before it restarted by itself.

GEIPAN notes the strangeness of both cases, especially the first, for which no physical hypothesis can be retained. It mentions strangeness possibly amplified by the witness, who may have been influenced by a TV series seen shortly before and possibly by a personal state. For the second, a meteor, a flash or a firework are possible, with nothing to decide between them. Consistency is poor: a brief inquiry report, a non-spontaneous statement and no in-depth investigation. Both cases are classified C, for lack of reliable information.