Sighting in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, August 28, 2020

Around 9 p.m., the first witness noticed a faintly luminous white patch in the sky, about the apparent size of a football. It moved fairly fast in every direction, looping and zigzagging, passing in front of and then behind them over a wide area. The sky was mostly overcast, with a little wind. The witness thought of a lighthouse or a pointer, but saw no trail and no beam. The observation lasted about ten minutes. A second witness, called over by the first, initially took it for a bird darting about in all directions, then changed their mind. They described a veil-shaped light, then a round one, both bright and pale white, seen through the clouds, with no trail, beam or ray. The first witness's videos could not be used: the sky was very noisy in them, and only at times could a blurry bright patch be made out.

The GEIPAN queried MétéoFrance. Around 19:00 UT, the Nîmes-Garons and Montpellier airport stations, 35 and 40 km away, reported three cloud layers, one of them very low, and a heavily overcast sky. The same situation was likely at the witnesses' location. These conditions favor seeing the spot of a skyrose (sky-tracer), a powerful outdoor searchlight that sweeps the sky, often used to mark an event. The spot changes with the sweep and the shapes of the clouds. The lack of a visible beam from the ground can be explained by an atmosphere with few scattering particles, or by low clouds hiding the beam. The town hall could not confirm that a skyrose was used, but 28 August was a festival period and several restaurant owners have them. The source was not identified. The case is classified B: probable observation of a skyrose, a powerful outdoor searchlight or laser sweeping the sky.