[D29] de FISMES (51) vers BEAURIEUX (02) 24.02.2017

On 24 February 2017 at about 19:25, a motorist and his son in the front passenger seat travelled along the D29 from Fismes (51) towards Beaurieux (02), a small country road bordered by woods. The driver saw a whitish ball to his right, moving parallel to the car in the same direction through the wooded area. It then moved in front of the car and seemed to dim. The opaque ball remained visible for 1 minute 30 seconds before disappearing instantly without a trail. No unusual sound was heard. GEIPAN finds the 2 witnesses' descriptions consistent with ball lightning, also called globular lightning, in appearance, apparent trajectory and altitude. The source notes that such phenomena occur in stormy weather without necessarily requiring an active storm at the exact site. The accounts were submitted to the Lightning Research Laboratory, which identified ball lightning without ambiguity. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of ball lightning.