Sighting in Pleudihen-sur-Rance, December 22, 2024

Two witnesses were on their terrace when they noticed a luminous phenomenon in the sky: a large, glowing orange-yellow sphere followed by a trail that was probably yellow. The object followed a curved path from west to east, reached about 75° above the horizon, then vanished behind trees after five seconds. No sound was heard. Its apparent size was that of a ping-pong ball held at arm's length. The witnesses thought it might be a meteorite falling to earth or a burning object coming down. Only one of them completed a GEIPAN Technical Questionnaire, and there is no photo or video, so the case's consistency is rated medium and its strangeness level low.

The investigation concluded that this was the atmospheric re-entry of a bolide. At the time of the sighting, the IMO (International meteor organization) FIREBALL site had received 73 reports from southern England and from central-western and western France, including one from the same commune. Despite some differences, notably in colour, most described a very bright, yellowish object leaving a trail and visible only briefly. Estimates of direction varied, but several also gave a west-to-east path, and the trajectory calculated by the IMO, from south-west to north-east, broadly matched the one observed. Given the very short visibility, a natural bolide is considered more likely than an artificial object. GEIPAN classified the case as A.