Sighting in Murat-sur-Vèbre, July 30, 1978

In the night of 29 to 30 July 1978, at around 3:45 a.m., a witness was riding home from a party on a moped when they noticed an immense orange glow in the sky. They were at a place known locally by name. A second witness, standing at the same spot, also saw the phenomenon. The sighting lasted five minutes, after which the phenomenon disappeared at a moderate speed. The first witness described a complex shape, with a disc and domes, and a swaying motion. They first mentioned a final movement to the right.

A gendarmerie patrol learned of the case on 1 August 1978 and questioned both witnesses straight away. The on-site investigation found no other witness and no trace on the ground.

The GEIPAN re-examined this case, originally classified D. The direction given by both witnesses matches that of the Moon to within one or two degrees. A low, reddish Moon is a frequent source of misidentification, especially when clouds hide it and let its glow through gaps that can take odd shapes. The described shape and the swaying can thus be explained by moving clouds. The available weather data can neither confirm nor rule out this cloud configuration. When contacted again, the first witness said the phenomenon vanished all at once, mostly "straight ahead", with a little movement to the right. The investigation sees a drop in brightness caused by the cloud veil closing, interpreted as the object moving away. The witnesses were independent and their sincerity was never questioned. They described what they saw precisely, but misinterpreted an observation of the Moon. The GEIPAN classified the case A.