Sighting in Le Thillot, February 15, 1980
Vosges, Grand Est, France
Sighting on February 15, 1980 in Le Thillot (Vosges, France). GEIPAN considers the phenomenon probably identified (class B).
What happened
At around 8:35 p.m., the witness noticed a luminous sphere to the southwest, sitting just above a building. Leaning against a wall to look at it through binoculars, they made out two balls: a red one, and a white one above it. The balls moved about without actually travelling anywhere. Their positions then swapped, and the whole thing vanished after tracing a fairly wide "Z" across the sky.
The sighting lasted about ten minutes under a perfectly clear sky. No other witness came forward to the gendarmerie, and GEIPAN acknowledged that it lacked data on the case.
GEIPAN classified the case as B: the witness had probably observed the planet Venus (magnitude -4) very low on the horizon, where it was fading into the urban landscape.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- February 15, 1980
- Location
- Le Thillot · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- B
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 1980-02-00735
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.