Sighting in Saint-Vérand, September 12, 1976

At about 10:50 p.m., a family saw a luminous phenomenon close to their home. One of the witnesses, standing in the doorway, felt an intense heat all around, and then noticed an elliptical shape, incandescent white, surrounded by a luminous halo. The phenomenon, seen behind some trees, lasted roughly two minutes as it moved down toward the ground, and then vanished abruptly.

A few moments earlier, the television screen had been disturbed and an animal had suddenly been frightened. A neighbour saw nothing of the phenomenon, but heard what sounded like a clap of thunder around 11 p.m. and experienced a power cut lasting a few minutes. The next day, the gendarmerie found no traces on the ground in the area.

The case was classed C for a long time because of a lack of information. It was recently submitted to an expert on lightning phenomena, who found that the weather conditions and the described behaviour fit ball lightning, a manifestation of atmospheric electricity. The case is therefore classed B: probable observation of a ball lightning phenomenon.