Venus mistaken for a UFO in Beauvoisin (2017)

Summary

On the evening of 6 February 2017, around 20:45, a woman in Beauvoisin, Drôme, noticed an intensely bright light in the sky. Once home, she continued watching it through binoculars for about 45 minutes; it remained stationary. The following evening at 19:45 she saw the same phenomenon, slightly higher than before. The direction she reported did not match Venus's theoretical position, which initially raised questions. However, analysis of her photograph against the local terrain profile confirmed the bright object was Venus. Atmospheric effects can make the planet appear higher than expected and cause its light to shift colour — accounting for the witness's confusion.