Sighting in Saint-Geniès-des-Mourgues, August 23, 1976

At around 11:30 p.m., a witness riding a moped noticed a bright red luminous object in the sky, moving toward the south-west. After getting home, the witness was intrigued by a very high-pitched noise like an electric motor and went outside. They then saw a luminous, egg-shaped object with white and red lights pass about 15 metres away, heading north-west. After covering roughly 80 metres, the object stopped and hovered, then rose rapidly at very high speed and disappeared.

The gendarmerie investigation found no other witness to the event that evening. The witness did say, however, that because they often finished work late, they had already seen moving light sources on several occasions. The local press had also reported various sightings in June and August 1976 that might be related to this one.

The case, formerly classified D, was re-examined by the GEIPAN. The sighting has a low degree of strangeness: most of the characteristics described match a helicopter, an interpretation that is plausible but not certain. Identifying the specific flight would be difficult for a case this old. There is only one witness and the case has low consistency. It is therefore classified B, probable observation of a helicopter.