Venus mistaken for a UFO in Meaux

Summary

From his balcony in Meaux, a witness observed on December 19, 1978, a luminous point in the sky that moved gently and disappeared around 9:45 AM, likely hidden by the sun. Gendarmes confirmed a bright spot at about 35 degrees elevation in the same direction. The previous day in Paris, other witnesses had reported a very bright object, prompting a police investigation that pointed to an astronomical phenomenon.

Star charts confirmed that Venus was located between 25 and 30 degrees to the southeast at the time of the observation. GEIPAN classified the case as A, resolving it as a confusion with the planet.