Sighting in Le Loroux-Bottereau, January 20, 1980

Between 6:05 and 6:25 p.m., a witness saw an unidentified flying object arrive and later leave. At first, it looked cylindrical to them, with two small dark fins on its sides. It then came closer and stopped at about 200 metres up, roughly 300 metres east of a water tower. At that point the witness saw that the object was oval and glowing a bright yellow-orange, and the fins were no longer visible.

During the observation, which lasted 7 minutes, the witness's radio-telephone crackled abnormally. They also swept a portable spotlight across the object several times. The object then moved off abruptly, climbing rapidly. Frightened, the witness went to alert the gendarmerie. A malfunction in the electrical circuit of the dashboard of their vehicle was later noted.

No further information was gathered. GEIPAN classified the case as D: the phenomenon remains unexplained.