Sighting in Marolles-lès-Saint-Calais, November 21, 1978

Shortly after 6:15 a.m., two witnesses saw a round, red, glowing phenomenon rising over the horizon. It moved slowly and then grew fainter. The gendarmerie, sent to the location at 8 a.m., concluded that the witnesses had seen the planet Venus.

The GEIPAN left the case in category C for a long time because the exact time of the sighting was uncertain: Venus did not rise that day until 6:29 a.m. The file, formerly known as Saint-Calais after the gendarmerie involved, was one of the older cases rated C by the GEPAN, which are now being re-examined using software tools and the investigative experience gained over the years. Only in 2013 did the GEIPAN confirm the gendarmerie's explanation and reclassify the case as A: the witnesses had seen Venus.