The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Parisien, France, on June 20, 1978.
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ARCACHON. - A "UFO" was seen at night, in the sky of Gujan-Mestras (Gironde), by two young people from the locality.
Franck Pavia, 18, and Jean-Marc Guitard, 17, butcher apprentices, went to the ball around 1:30 a.m. when they were forced to stop their car after mechanical problems.
According to their testimony, the lights were suddenly extinguished around the town hall of the village, while a crumbling sound was heard. "We ran to the entrance of the course of the Marne, they told the gendarmes, and we saw at 200 meters altitude, an oval object, bigger than a red phosphorescent plane, surrounded by white flames heading in our direction.
Then it deviated from his trajectory and disappeared while gaining altitude."
According to a report by Gendarmes of Gujan, a similar object was observed six months ago not far from Biganos, in the Gironde.
Note:
GEIPAN noted this for the observations of June 19, 1978 in this sector::
"On June 19, 1978 between 11 p.m. and 0:45 a.m. several people hear a deaf and loud noise and then observe a luminous object over the agglomeration. Of orange color, the object is oval shaped. Faulting on the electrical lighting network from the street are seen as the object progresses and it will gradually disappear from the view of the witnesses by gaining altitude, motorists on the RN113 towards Bordeaux and at height La Réole also observed a luminous phenomenon moving slowly in the stormy sky. The Gendarmerie and GEPAN investigation could not clearly establish a correlation between these two observations for lack of details and information. The witnesses probably made an observation of a weather phenomenon in relation to the stormy weather threatening the area."
