Sighting in Venus — Plerin, December 31, 1994

Four witnesses reported to the gendarmerie, between 28 and 31 December 1994, several sightings of luminous phenomena, all recorded in a single report. The descriptions were vague and not very consistent. When the file was re-examined, the GEIPAN sorted them into three groups.

The first phenomenon was seen by two witnesses on 29 December, between 7:00 and 7:30 pm, in the direction of the sea. They described long, flat flashes, flashes much bigger than usual, and a huge bright blue light over the sea. The gendarmerie inquiry confirmed that a storm was present out at sea, visible from the coast, in the early evening of that day. The GEIPAN classified it B: probable observation of a thunderstorm.

The next three phenomena were seen by one witness on 29, 30 and 31 December between 6:00 and 6:45 am, with a second witness joining on the 31st. They were bright white lights, motionless, visible for more than 40 minutes in two of the cases, always in the same direction, through the kitchen window facing south-east. A reconstruction shows that Venus (magnitude -4.24) was then at about 130° azimuth, roughly ten degrees above the horizon. These sightings are classified B: probable observations of Venus.

The last two phenomena, seen on 31 December by two witnesses and on 28 December by one of them, were too brief, too imprecise, and the accounts were inconsistent with each other. The GEIPAN considers that they may have been confused with car headlights or urban lights, in a context shaped by the earlier sightings. They are classified C, for lack of reliable information.