Sighting in Cussey-sur-l'Ognon, February 17, 1980

At around 8:45 p.m., a witness who was looking at the sky noticed a very bright point of light that caught their attention. The round point stayed fixed and looked bigger and more yellow than the surrounding stars. The sighting lasted more than ten minutes, and the point did not appear to move.

The gendarmerie did not find any other witness who could provide further information. The local press did report, however, that other people in the area had seen the same thing.

GEIPAN checked a sky chart: in the direction the witness indicated, Venus was very conspicuous at the time (magnitude -4.01). It stood 8° above the horizon, whereas the witness had mentioned about 20°. That difference could be explained by an error in estimating the height. The preferred hypothesis is therefore that the witness saw Venus, and the case is classified B (probably identified). Many sightings had also been reported during that period.