An account in Nord, France

Observation made in November 1963 by three witnesses and reported to GEIPAN in April 2008. On November 11, 1963, around 3 or 4 p.m., a father and his two sons (aged 18 and 13) were walking on a country path and observed a luminous phenomenon that intrigued them. An orange glowing ball was stationary below dark clouds for over a minute. Then rotating, it oscillated from right to left for a few seconds before disappearing at very high speed into the clouds along a straight trajectory curving upward. No noise, no trail was noticed. No other testimony concerning this phenomenon was reported. The account of the facts was reconstructed gradually between 2003 and 2007 by one of the witnesses (the 18-year-old student). The hypothesis of observing the movement of ball lightning (plasma) was refuted, because on the one hand the witness does not confirm the presence of a thunderstorm during the family walk, and on the other hand there are differences between the characteristics of the phenomenon observed on November 11, 1963 and those known for ball lightning. GEIPAN classifies this case as D1: unexplained phenomenon, moderately consistent (single testimony, old, and distant phenomenon) but with a marked strangeness character.