Sighting in Saint-Sylvain-d'Anjou, April 24, 1995

Around 9:30 p.m., three witnesses were outdoors when they noticed a large oval mass, a concrete-like grey, above an uncultivated field. It hovered motionless at an estimated height of 10 to 15 metres. A small red point of light, smaller than the mass, was seen during the brief observation. The mass then moved off at very high speed towards the north-east and vanished, with no sound heard at any point. The witnesses immediately went into the field to the spot where it had been but found nothing unusual.

The gendarmerie was contacted and took statements from the witnesses. A newspaper article appeared the next day, but it was not attached to the report. According to the gendarmes, it suggested that a nightclub had carried out a laser lighting test at the same time. This could not be checked: the article was never supplied, and the nightclub owner did not come forward despite several summonses.

The investigation considered a plausible explanation to be a misidentification of the beam of a mobile nightclub searchlight, a "skytracker" type, striking the low cloud layer. The appearance, at first diffuse and later sharper, compact and coloured, and the shift from immobility to rapid movement, fit this idea. The red point, however, remains a residual oddity that nothing explains, and important data are missing: azimuths, elevations, angular size, and the sketches that the gendarmes asked for but never received. The case has poor consistency, and GEIPAN classified it C, for lack of reliable information.