Sighting in Saint-Paul, August 17, 1980

At around 1:30 in the morning, two people were driving along the nationale 1 when they reached the Cap Houssaye area. For a few seconds, in the glow of the headlights, they saw three motionless human-like shapes on a mound overlooking the sea, about fifteen metres from the edge of the road. The witnesses described them as roughly 2 metres tall and very stocky, with oval, orange swellings on their heads. No particular noise was heard.

The following evening, one of the witnesses noticed from home a very bright blue light over the ocean, in the direction of Cap Houssaye and the place of the sighting. The two witnesses did not tell the gendarmerie until 30 August. Gendarmes went to the site immediately but found no trace.

The case, first classified D, was re-examined by the GEIPAN. The original classification could be explained by one witness's objection to the idea of divers, for which no justification was given. Yet the shapes, apart from their shine under the headlights and the large orange eyes, looked like ordinary human figures, which fits that hypothesis. Divers at the water's edge in the middle of the night in August on Réunion is plausible, even with no parked vehicle apparent. The frightened witnesses did not stop to watch the shapes or look for a vehicle nearby. The GEIPAN also notes that a ground-level phenomenon with no associated sky phenomenon falls outside its remit. It therefore considers the case unusable and classifies it C, for insufficient data.