(DPT) SEINE-MARITIME (76) 08.04.1956

On 8 April 1956 at about 23:40–23:45, three witnesses in La Londe, Seine-Maritime, saw a red ball to the west on a clear, moonless night. It appeared stationary for several minutes, then seemed to move as the witnesses moved. It disappeared behind trees. Their observation lasted about 20 minutes. The gendarmerie collected three other accounts for the same date, placing a brief sighting between 23:30 and 23:45. These witnesses were travelling by car at Elbeuf and described a moving round red shape toward Orival. Their observation lasted only four or five seconds. The available information did not establish that the two groups had seen the same phenomenon. An astronomical check placed Venus near the horizon, about 45 degrees north of the first group's reported viewing direction. No particular celestial object was identified in the northerly direction viewed by the second group. GEIPAN considered the case of low strangeness and the information too imprecise, classifying it C.