(DPT) VENDEE (85) 09.02.1976

On 9 February 1976 at 02:05, a driver and his passengers noticed a luminous mass in a lightly clouded sky while leaving Luçon (85), becoming intrigued and then frightened. They stopped outside Beugne-L'Abbé, in Les Magnils-Reigniers (85), and watched from inside the car for 2–3 minutes. They described 2 deep plates stacked together, about 20 m in diameter. Initially stationary at tree height, it slowly gained altitude. No particular sound was heard. They resumed driving toward Les Sables-d'Olonne (85), continued watching and saw it disappear to the west. The gendarmerie was notified immediately but found no traces in the indicated area. No other reports of an unusual phenomenon at that time were collected, and EDF recorded no local electrical-network disturbance. A separate witness reported 2 silent, unusual craft crossing the sky on Sunday, 8 February 1976 at 20:00. GEIPAN continues publishing its archives at www.geipan.fr, including reviews of older Category D cases. These reviews seek more relevant conclusions rather than changing the size of any classification category. New software and accumulated investigative experience can yield new observations or reclassifications explained in investigation notes. GEPAN classified this case D in 1978 under the former name LUCON (85). It was published in 2011 as Les Sables d'Olonne (85) 09.02.1976 and reclassified A as a Moon misidentification. The 2018 republication changed only its name. The case was well substantiated, with 3 witnesses and precise descriptions of the location and UAP. Their sincerity and credibility were never questioned. Duration, shape, color, size and other features matched the Moon, which was in the observed sector but was not mentioned by the witnesses. GEIPAN attributed the mistake to interpretation influenced by fatigue, anxiety, fear and belief in UFOs, rather than faulty visual perception. Under its current system, this explained case of low strangeness is Category A: a misidentification of the Moon.