Sighting in Les Sables-d'Olonne, February 24, 1980

A group of young people noticed an orange glow through the pine trees, toward the beach, at around 3:15 a.m. They moved to get a better view and then saw a very large object in the direction of the Île d'Yeu. It looked about three-quarters spherical, orange and without any brightness. It was moving straight down, slowly and at a constant speed. After about ten minutes it sank gradually into the ocean, leaving a whitish glow behind. No sound was heard.

At about 3:05 a.m., a gendarme on patrol had also seen a half-spherical object, bigger than a quarter moon, red-orange and without brightness. It descended slowly and vertically, with no change in shape or colour.

The GEIPAN investigation concluded that all these witnesses had watched the moon setting, which happened at exactly 3:12 a.m. Its low position on the horizon accounts for its large size and orange colour. The moon was in its first quarter, which gave it the look of a half-disc with the flat side facing down. The case is classified A.