Sighting in Rentree Atmospherique — National, June 6, 1983

At around 11 p.m., many witnesses spread across the south of France, from the Alps to the Pyrénées-Orientales, saw a glow race across the sky at roughly the same moment. It was brief: usually under 20 seconds, and at most a minute or two. In all, 29 accounts were collected, and the shape was often described as elongated.

Another account was added later. The witness had seen, at about 11 p.m., a yellowish, elongated luminous phenomenon at low altitude that passed and vanished very quickly. They heard no sound. The questionnaire was completed by the witness's spouse and came with two press articles.

GEIPAN classified the case as B. The summary table of locations and times shows both a wide geographic spread and a close match in timing, which points to a single event at high altitude (above 50 km), visible from a great distance. Together with the elongated glow and short duration, this matches the atmospheric entry of a meteoroid. A longer duration would also have raised the possibility of a spacecraft re-entering. A 2016 event recorded more than 20 times offers a similar comparison, and the witnesses' descriptions convey a fast-moving elongated shape.