Orange dot and fleeting descent over Hourtin

Summary

In January 1979 a witness in Hourtin, Gironde, saw a bright orange dot appear after a flash. It hovered briefly, then descended while growing in apparent size before abruptly shifting to a horizontal trajectory and vanishing at high speed—all in silence. The sighting lasted two to three minutes. The Florac Observatory suggested ball lightning, but the available data were too scarce to confirm the hypothesis.