Sighting in Port-Gentil, June 1, 1952

Two members of the crew of a ship lying at anchor in the roadstead saw a luminous phenomenon in the sky at 2:40 a.m. The first mate initially saw an object very clearly, coming in from inland. Twice it stopped, turned to the right and then picked up its original course again; the second turn took place directly above the ship.

The first mate then phoned the captain, who looked through binoculars and, for three minutes, saw an orange circular glow that was extremely bright and phosphorescent. It moved at very high speed along a roughly straight path, and the captain eventually lost sight of it. The captain later reported the sighting. A sketch exists, but its author is unknown. No other witness accounts were collected.

A bolide (meteor) or a missile launch was suggested, but neither hypothesis was confirmed. GEIPAN classified the case as D (unexplained): a strange to very strange phenomenon, of medium to strong consistency.