Metallic object and ground mark at Bennecourt

Summary

In March 1978, a driver stopped near Bennecourt (Yvelines) after seeing a bright object with flickering lights in a field. She approached and described a grey-blue inverted-bowl shape, completely still and silent. Frightened, she left but returned at noon with colleagues, who confirmed a circular mark on the ground. The next day, the gendarmerie found only tractor tracks.

GEIPAN re-examined the case with updated methods but found no conclusive evidence of an aerial phenomenon. The visual description could correspond to an illusion or an ordinary object seen under unusual circumstances, and the influence of colleagues and rumours may have amplified the interpretation. The case was classified C — unresolvable with available data.