Reddish Moon mistaken for a luminous disc at Murat-sur-Vèbre

Summary

One night in July 1978, a moped rider and another witness saw a large orange light in the sky over Murat-sur-Vèbre that remained visible for about five minutes before slowly fading. Both testimonies pointed to a direction that turned out to match the Moon's exact position. GEIPAN investigators concluded it was the reddish Moon seen through clouds, which would also explain the reported dome-shaped disc—an illusion created by cloud formations. The witness mentioned a sense of the object receding, but upon review admitted the main movement was forward, consistent with shifting cloud cover.

A reassessment using modern tools confirmed no unexplained phenomenon was involved. GEIPAN reclassified the case as A, attributing it unequivocally to the Moon.