Case file · Sighting
Mazarrón night-exercise light
On 14 July 1978 an Army team on a night exercise near Mazarrón (Murcia) saw a blinking red light with two greenish lights that seemed to follow them and lit the reservoir walls red.
1978 CE · 37.60, -1.32 · status: unexplained
The researched reading
A blinking coloured light that seemed to follow soldiers before dawn. A twinkling star or an aircraft is likely, though the reported red glow on the reservoir is harder to explain.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 40% | Between 04:00 and 06:00 in July, Capella rises low in the north-east and is famous for flashing red and green through the thick air near the horizon; a twinkling star "follows" moving observers, and an aircraft’s red beacon and lights could add to the scene. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 16% | The red glow on the reservoir walls, if accurate, suggests a nearby light source that a star cannot produce. |
| Secret human technology | 14% | Military helicopters operate around Cartagena and the coast. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 12% | Tired soldiers on a night exercise; a light that seems to follow is a classic illusion. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 6% | Strong scintillation is itself an atmospheric effect. |
| Undetermined | 6% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 4% | Nothing points to an unusual natural light. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 2% | Reported through army intelligence. |
Official position: The Army reported the sighting; no explanation was published.