Sighting in Guise, October 24, 1977

Between 5:15 and 6:00 pm (the times differ from one witness to another), three local residents saw a red, fire-colored ball on the horizon, with small streaks of flame coming off it. It stayed in view for five to ten minutes and then gradually faded away at the horizon.

The witnesses went to the gendarmerie on 25 and 27 October. The gendarmes patrolled for several days in a row, noticed nothing unusual and gathered no other testimony. The newspaper L'Union ran an article on the case on 26 October 1977.

GEIPAN re-examined the file, which had previously been rated C, as part of its review of older cases. It considers the case consistent, with three witnesses and a fairly precise description, and never questioned their sincerity or credibility. The phenomenon they described shares many features (duration, shape, size, color) with the setting Sun, which was indeed setting in the direction the witnesses indicated. Their visual perception was not at issue; rather, their interpretation of what they saw, shaped by their sense of surprise, was. The case, of low strangeness, is therefore classified A: a misidentification of the setting Sun.