An account in Morbihan, France

GEIPAN continues to publish all of its archives on its public website www.geipan.fr. Among its publications are old cases classified at the time (A, B, C, or D) which are now being re-examined, for the sole purpose of being more relevant in their conclusions. Thanks to new technical means (software) and the investigation experience gained over all these recent years, this re-examination sometimes leads to new remarks or even a change in classification. This observation case, previously classified D and named LANN-BIHOUE (56) 1981, is part of a set of cases recently re-examined. On December 21, 1981, at around 10:10 PM, a family observes, for 10 minutes, in the sky in the SE direction, a luminous object of round shape and orange color. The witness reports that the object moves at very high speed with rectilinear movements and sudden changes of course at sharp angles. This point is surrounded by luminous flashes of the same color that appear and disappear alternately for about ten minutes. This phenomenon then disappeared toward the South, and a second glow to the East but at lower altitude could be seen for a few seconds before disappearing completely. Only one testimony was collected. Regarding the main phenomenon (observed over 10 minutes), the witnesses probably observed the star Sirius, which at the time of observation was low on the Southeast horizon, and in the direction of observation (see the investigation report). Favorable observation conditions with a clear sky, but with some passages of low clouds, could have caused this confusion, the star scintillating strongly and possibly being masked after about ten minutes by the passage of a bank of low clouds. The witness's description of the presence of luminous flashes is consistent with the hypothesis, because at this elevation the star scintillates randomly, its light rays passing through a thicker atmospheric layer more subject to atmospheric turbulence. The description of "movements both in elevation and azimuth, at very high speed" is also consistent with the hypothesis and supports it. Indeed, the fact that the witness feels the need to mention that "these evolutions tended to move toward the south" clearly shows that the overall angular movement of the UAP over 10 minutes (observation time) remains small. One can conclude that this is the natural physiological phenomenon of ocular micro-mobility ("micro-nystagmus"), poorly known to the general public, which occurs when one fixes on objects, particularly at night. It results in the false impression that luminous point objects are affected by small aberrant movements, such as zigzags. Two elements prevent us from firmly confirming this hypothesis. - The witness does not indicate the elevation of the UAP in the sky, although one can deduce from his comparison with a landing airplane that it was a low elevation, compatible with that of Sirius. - The presence of some clouds. A cloud could have obscured Sirius, while in the certain absence of clouds at least in that direction, the fact that the witness does not notice Sirius near the UAP would constitute proof (additional here) that the UAP and Sirius are confused. Nevertheless, in view of all the other consistent elements, the Sirius hypothesis has a probability well above 50% and must be retained. The second phenomenon is much more fleeting and, unlike the first, we have very few elements available to establish and test any hypothesis. The consistency of the testimony is average, with a single testimony while several witnesses were present, and fragmentary and imprecise data for the first observation, and very insufficient for the second. Consequently, GEIPAN classifies the first phenomenon as B: Observation of Sirius. The testimony on the other phenomenon is unexploitable.