The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Midi Libre, France, on June 23, 1999.
Near Campagnac, an ambulance driver from the Gard region managed to film the phenomenon.
"I sincerely admit that, five months later, we are still unable to make a conclusion, as it is clearly an unidentified flying object," explains Bruno Bousquet.
On January 6, in the late afternoon - while there was still daylight - Patrick D., a 46-year-old ambulance driver from Quissac (Gard), was returning from Paris via the A75 highway. Between Séverac-le-Château (Aveyron) and La Canourgue (Lozère), near the Campagnac exit, where a section of the A75 was under construction, his attention was drawn to a massive, luminous, motionless ovoid shape in the sky.
He stopped his vehicle and quickly began filming the scene with a camcorder. Patrick D. observed the craft for twenty minutes.
The video, which was handed over to SOS-OVNI and viewed by Midi-Libre yesterday, shows a bright object displaying at least three stacked colors: white, orange, and dark.
One might assume it was a balloon. However, "No weather balloon was launched in the area on that date, as confirmed by officials at the Aire-sur-Adour station," reveals Bruno Bousquet.
The SOS-OVNI representative then turned to the military, which regularly conducts maneuvers around the Larzac region.
"The authorities responded on June 14: there were no military exercises in that area at that time."
The fact that the object remained stationary for twenty minutes rules out the possibility of an aircraft overflight…
Two other witnesses - a resident of Millau and a woman from Laissac - also saw the strange celestial object during the same period, near Campagnac.
"All possible leads to explain this phenomenon have been exhausted. As of today, we are unable to provide a logical, rational explanation for this sighting," concludes Bruno Bousquet.
The young shopkeeper from Hérault is convinced that other people also saw the phenomenon but hesitate to come forward. You can probably guess why."
Jean-Marc Aubert
