An account in Gard, 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, with the sole aim of being more relevant in the conclusions. Thanks to new technical means (software) and the investigation experience acquired 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 PONT SAINT-ESPRIT (30) 1982, is part of a set of cases recently re-examined. On April 28, 1982, around 11:47 PM, a witness is surprised by a flash of light illuminating the valley. Then he observes a luminous phenomenon of color (green on the outside and white in the center). The whole thing moves silently and very quickly at low altitude in a westerly direction. The witness describes a round object that throughout the entire observation neither changes shape nor color. No other testimony was collected. The testimony, left unexplained at the time and re-examined 35 years later, appears consistent with many descriptions received since then at GEIPAN and identified as atmospheric re-entries of meteoroids or space debris. The characteristic points here are "flash of light illuminating the valley," "very bright light, green on the outside and white in the center." It is common for us to have multiple testimonies; today it is automatic cameras that record and detect these re-entries. We therefore cannot guarantee this hypothesis, which nevertheless has a probability greater than 50% given the described appearance. We lack descriptive elements of duration that would help specify whether it is a re-entry of a meteoroid or space debris. The lack of records concerning the second type leads us to retain the first type, which is the most frequently observed and the least well recorded (at that time). The strong glow in the sky illuminating the valley also supports this. Consequently, GEIPAN classifies the case as B: observation of atmospheric re-entry of a meteoroid.