Case file · Close encounter
Gujan-Mestras blackout
Several witnesses said a glowing object passed over the Gironde town and street lighting went out; gendarmes and GEPAN investigated.
1978 CE · 44.64, -1.07 · status: unexplained
The account
The event happened on 19 June 1978. It was one of the first cases GEPAN examined on site with the gendarmerie, as part of its effort to collect physical data on UAP.
The sceptical view
Power cuts are common and can coincide with ordinary lights; no lasting physical trace was reported.
The researched reading
A glowing object, a loud noise and street lights going out on a stormy night. Ball lightning or another storm effect is the best explanation.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A known natural phenomenon | 34% | GEIPAN suggested a weather phenomenon linked to an approaching storm; a storm would also explain the loud deep noise and electrical faults in the street network. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 22% | An orange luminous ball with a loud noise and a power failure during a storm resembles ball lightning, a real but poorly understood phenomenon. |
| Something known, misidentified | 14% | A glowing orange object at night could be an aircraft or a balloon, though the deep noise and the street-light failure do not fit well. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 12% | The coincidence of a light, noise and a lighting failure is striking, but a storm accounts for all three. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 8% | The young men’s car broke down at the same time, and their account grew dramatic in the press. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 6% | Several separate witnesses and gendarmerie inquiries argue against a joke. |
| Secret human technology | 4% | No military explanation was proposed. |
Official position: GEPAN and the gendarmerie investigated and suggested a weather phenomenon associated with an approaching storm.