Sighting in Oise, January 5, 1980

At around 6:30 pm, several witnesses noticed a very bright sphere in a clear sky, and it puzzled them. At first it stayed motionless, then it moved slowly across the sky without making any noise. Accounts differed: the color and apparent size of the object varied from one witness to another, and some thought it was spinning on itself. Based on where the witnesses were standing and the direction they were looking, the phenomenon lay to the southwest. It disappeared at about 7:30 pm.

GEIPAN's investigation relied on a sky chart for that date and time. It shows that the witnesses had simply watched the planet Venus, which was particularly visible and bright at that time of year (magnitude -3.8). Venus was in fact setting at 7:30 pm, the very time the witnesses saw the phenomenon vanish. The case was classified A, meaning identified.