Sighting in Pithiviers, January 24, 1981

At around 9:10 a.m., the witness was driving through fog when they made out a fire-yellow ball. High in the sky, it moved from northwest to southeast and seemed to spin on itself. It then vanished into the landscape.

The case rested on a single witness, which made it only moderately consistent. Their description was nonetheless precise, and their sincerity and credibility were never questioned. GEPAN classed it C in 1981, and GEIPAN later re-examined it using new software tools and the investigative experience gained since. The phenomenon described (duration, shape, size, color) matches the Sun seen through fog, and both the Sun and the fog were indeed present in that part of the sky. The witness's perception was not at fault; rather, it was their interpretation of what they saw, shaped by their astonishment and by driving in fog. The case, of low strangeness, is now classed A: a misidentification of the Sun seen through fog.