Sighting in Plérin, December 29, 1994

Several people went to the gendarmerie in the Côtes-d'Armor to report lights seen between 28 and 31 December 1994, in the evening or early in the morning. Four witnesses gave statements, all recorded in a single report. The descriptions were vague and lacked consistency. When the file was re-examined, three separate sets of phenomena were identified.

The first was seen by two witnesses on 29 December between 7:00 and 7:30 pm: white and blue glows at low altitude, which they compared to lightning or to flashes much bigger than normal. One of the flashes seemed to move. The witnesses placed the glows out toward the sea, in the direction of Binic. The gendarmerie inquiry confirmed that a thunderstorm was present over the sea, visible from the coast, in the early evening of that day. GEIPAN classified this sighting B: probably a thunderstorm.

The second set involved bright white lights seen by one witness on 29, 30 and 31 December between 6:00 and 6:45 am, joined by another witness on the 31st. They appeared at the same times, stayed motionless, sometimes lasted more than 40 minutes, and always lay in the same direction, seen through the kitchen window facing southeast. A reconstruction places Venus in that direction, about ten degrees above the horizon. GEIPAN classified these sightings B: probably Venus.

The remaining sightings, on 31 December for two witnesses and on 28 December for another, were too brief, too imprecise and inconsistent with one another. GEIPAN classified them C, for lack of reliable information. It suggested possible confusion with ordinary lights, in a context shaped by the earlier sightings.