Sighting in Niergnies, October 8, 1978

Two witnesses saw a fire-colored luminous sphere hanging motionless in the sky at around 10:20 p.m., above the fields facing their home. An incomplete red circle surrounded the object, and its brightness varied. The phenomenon lasted about ten minutes, then faded gradually into the night. No noise was heard, either during the sighting or when the light disappeared. No other witness account was collected.

GEIPAN had first classed the case as C in 2010, then reopened the investigation. It found that the description (duration, shape, size, color) matches in many respects a well-known astronomical phenomenon, the Moon setting. The Moon was indeed present in the part of the sky that was observed, yet the witness did not mention it. The issue is not what the witness saw, but how they interpreted it based on their impression. The case, of low strangeness, is now classed A: a misidentification of the setting Moon.