AMBERNAC (16) 31.10.1983 « PEUPLIER»

Around 18:45 on 31 October 1983 at Ambernac (16), a witness alerted by his dog's unusual barking looked through a window and saw an intense spherical light in thick fog and darkness. Described as as large as a tractor wheel, it moved slowly, then disappeared very quickly behind a screen of poplars beside the river. The next morning, in the direction the witness indicated, a 25 m poplar was found broken 8 m above the ground. Its upper section lay among wild vegetation. The break had 2 distinct forms: a clean fracture reaching the centre of the trunk, followed by a tear in the wood extending about 2 m. The analyses suggested longstanding fungal attack that had gradually degraded the tree without changing its outward appearance. Once deterioration reached the middle of the trunk, its balance was compromised and even slight pressure could have brought it down. The source says prevailing winds aggravated this process by causing fatigue, generally at 4–5 m above ground, facilitating destructive fungal growth. A brownish area and a layer of scar bark at the fracture were consistent with this hypothesis. One consulted laboratory proposed an explanation for the light. It noted that many organisms, including fungi, are luminescent and claimed that some can emit enough light to illuminate a room or allow navigation in darkness. Its hypothesis was that the trunk had been colonised by such organisms, which were exposed when it broke, producing a substantial glow for a time that the witness saw but could not interpret. The French summary presents a natural phenomenon involving parasitic organisms and a falling tree as probable; the narrative proposes this explanation without giving a formal classification.