THEY-SOUS-MONTFORT (88) 28.01.2014

On 28 January 2014 at about 22:15, a witness outdoors watched a luminous UAP for 2–3 minutes. It first looked like a halo, then a very bright red ball with a small blue tail. Its path was complex: it travelled in a straight line, stopped, turned back with a slight deviation, moved straight in the opposite direction at the same height, then moved diagonally left and disappeared into the sky almost immediately. The witness initially perceived it as 500 m away, then close by, about 15 m away, before it moved away again. Only 1 account was collected. An investigator met the witness (see the investigation report). GEIPAN considers the descriptions unusual but highly coherent. Given the phenomenon’s location and timing, it regards human activity capable of explaining the description as very unlikely and concludes that no reasoned ordinary explanation can currently be offered. GEIPAN suggests that only ball lightning might possibly fit the phenomenon’s complex behaviour. Although very poorly understood, ball lightning appears to display varied behaviour in the many accounts collected over more than a century. There are similarities to some lightning-related accounts: shape, dimensions, colour, brightness, slow and smooth movement close to the ground, and sudden disappearance. These might suggest that category of phenomenon, but there is no factual evidence supporting the hypothesis. GEIPAN classifies the case as unexplained, category D1, because the description is detailed, the observation is rather unusual and viewing conditions were good.