Incident · 21 July 1979 · Pranles, Ardèche, France
A scientist and his neighbours watch a stationary light sweep the ground with a blue beam
Also known as Pranles 1979, Les Ollières 1979
In July 1979 in the Ardèche a couple, the husband a scientist specialising in light and colour, watched a stationary yellow-orange light on a ridge send a blue beam rotating steadily around it for 45 minutes; their neighbours saw the light from their house too. GEIPAN found no natural or man-made explanation and gives weight to the main witness’s expertise; he has since died, and no reconstruction is possible.
Source: GEIPAN (CNES), case 1979-07-00644, classified D (unexplained)
Facts and claims
- claimed From 10.45 to 11.28 pm on 21 July 1979 a couple watched a stationary light on a ridge line, like a “phare” (lighthouse): a powerful yellow-orange source projecting a blue beam that turned steadily through 360° and swept the ground, in silence; it went out suddenly as the main witness was about to take a photograph. Source: cnes-geipan.fr (archived)
- documented Their nearest neighbours, closing their shutters at about 11 pm, saw a luminous phenomenon in the same direction for some ten minutes; the gendarmerie was told the next day. Source: cnes-geipan.fr (archived)
- documented GEIPAN found the only possible explanation, a helicopter with a searchlight, unworkable, as the beam would have been blue, a different colour from its source, and turned endlessly with no purpose; it notes that the main witness was a recognised scientist whose field was light and colour, and classifies the case D. Source: cnes-geipan.fr (archived)
Connected files
Organizations
- GEIPAN (CNES, France) (investigated by)
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