VOUZAILLES (86) 14.01.2014

On 14 January 2014 at Vouzailles (86), 2 witnesses looking through their living-room picture window saw a very bright white ball cross the sky silently in 2 seconds, with a slight trail. GEIPAN found this alone suggestive of a fireball, a meteoroid entering the atmosphere. GEIPAN received no other accounts, and BOAM, the meteor observers' database, recorded no such event at the time. Nevertheless, the 2 witnesses and precise trajectory description gave the account very good evidential strength. GEIPAN considered the intuitive altitude estimate of 100 m very probably wrong. Without objective reference points, the strong brightness could make an unfamiliar phenomenon seem close. The exceptionally clear sky increased its visibility and apparent proximity. Because it was seen through glass, GEIPAN also considered artificial light from behind the witnesses, such as a motorcycle headlight or electric torch, but the fields of view appeared inconsistent with the reported directions. It classified the case B: probable fireball.