Sighting in Faget-Abbatial, July 17, 1978

The report reached the GEIPAN in 2016 and concerned an observation made much earlier. At around 11:30 pm, several people were standing in a farmyard. Above the house, they saw a perfectly shaped disc, fluorescent green, hanging motionless. It then vanished at lightning speed. The whole sighting lasted about three seconds, and no sound was reported. Only one witness account was collected.

The investigation considered a bolide, meaning a meteorite entering the atmosphere, whose sudden disappearance and colour could echo some of its features. The initial stillness is surprising for that explanation, but a phenomenon seen almost head-on can give an illusion of immobility, and an apparent change of direction can result from the relative geometry between the phenomenon and the witness. However, no luminous trail was observed, which sets this case apart from usual bolide sightings, and no other similar observation was found, which would be surprising for such an event. Given the age of the account, the GEIPAN could carry out only basic checks. The case is classified C because of insufficient information and cross-checking.