Sighting in Pontvallain, September 5, 1981

At around 11 p.m., four people noticed an unusual light in a clump of pine trees close to their home. It was trapezoid-shaped and very bright. The witnesses watched it for about ten minutes before it suddenly went out. No sound was heard during the sighting.

The gendarmerie brigade reached the spot at 11:45 p.m. and saw no light. The next day, an investigation on site turned up a circle of ferns, 20 to 30 cm across, all flattened in the same direction. The following evening, gendarmes stationed themselves at the same place and found that the phenomenon came from moonlight shining through the pines. It was later established that the marks on the ground had been made by a piece of forestry machinery.

The GEIPAN classified the case as A: the trapezoid-shaped glow was caused by the moon.