Sighting in Saint-Lary, August 6, 1991

Shortly after midnight, a couple reported to the Jegun gendarmerie that an unusual glow was visible in the sky. The duty gendarme noticed it too, around 12:35 a.m., and watched it closely through binoculars until 1:29 a.m. In all, three people, one of them a gendarme, saw the point of light, which changed color. Their description was fairly precise, and their sincerity and credibility were never questioned.

The case was classified C by SEPRA in 1991. GEIPAN later reexamined it, using new software tools and the investigative experience gained since then. The review found that the duration of the sighting, the apparent size and the color of the phenomenon matched those of the star Capella, whose color fits what the witnesses described. Their eyesight was not at issue. What shaped the account was how they interpreted what they saw, influenced by their state of mind (surprise, tiredness, observing at night). GEIPAN now classifies this low-strangeness case as A: a misidentification of the star Capella.