Sighting in Hombourg-Haut, January 27, 1982

A whole family was driving along the CD 910 at around 7:15 pm when they noticed a luminous object in the cloudy sky. For about two minutes it moved slowly and without any noise. It was shaped like a half-sphere. Two of the witnesses went back to the spot at around 7:30 pm, but the object was gone.

The investigation plotted the car's route and the direction of observation on a map. The line of sight lay roughly along the road, slightly to the left or right at different moments, with an azimuth between 242 and 244°. An astronomical check for Nancy at 7:15 pm showed the Moon at azimuth 244°, 4.5° above the horizon, as a thin tilted crescent. The witnesses never mentioned the Moon even though it was right in their field of view. GEIPAN concluded that this is what they saw, misled by its low elevation and by a few low clouds that hid part of it, giving it a cigar or half-sphere shape. Their account fits this explanation: a tilted plate shape, an object moving from the right to the left of the road depending on the vehicle's progress and direction, and stopping when the vehicle stopped. Only the size estimates do not match. The disappearance matches the gradual setting of the Moon and/or a passing cloud. Initially classed D, the case is now classed A: observation of the Moon at moonset.