Sighting in Leucate, August 24, 2015

The witness and their spouse were on a beach facing the sea when they noticed eight large, round green lights, each estimated at about half the size of the Moon. The lights were arranged in two lines, one of five points and one of three. They blinked slowly at first, then faster, and were never all lit at the same time. The sky was slightly cloudy, stars were visible and the Moon was in the southwest; the Cap Leucate weather station confirmed the light cloud cover. After about an hour, the couple moved to view the lights from another angle. The lights seemed to come from the clouds and not from the ground.

The phenomenon then stopped abruptly and was replaced by an immense fluorescent green flow of light sweeping across the horizon at high speed. The witness described it as stretching over about ten kilometres, at a height of roughly 10 km, with no sound and no trail. The observation lasted from 10:30 pm until about 12:30 am, when the witness went to bed while the phenomenon was still going on. Only the witness filled in a questionnaire. The three videos provided do not show the phenomenon: the audio mostly picks up wind, surf, handling of the phone and a few exchanges between the two people. The photos are reconstructions.

The site is a seaside resort busy in August, with restaurants nearby at dinnertime. No other witness came forward. GEIPAN noted that nightlife venues project lasers into the sky at that hour to attract customers. The dots and the green beam could have come from such lasers, and their reflection on the base of the clouds would explain the impression that the light was behind them. The strangeness was judged rather low and the consistency medium. The case is classified B: probable laser projections on the base of the clouds.