White trail and smoke over the sea at Saint-Paul, Réunion

Summary

At around 5:20 p.m. on April 1, 1976, several people in Saint-Paul, Réunion, saw a white trail that appeared to plunge into the sea, leaving a dense grey smoke cloud hovering over the water for about fifteen minutes. The gendarmerie confirmed that no aircraft had taken off from the airport after 5:00 p.m., and no debris was found along the coast. Although the evidence suggests an object fell into the sea, its nature could not be determined.