Smoke column and red sphere over the Bay of Bourgneuf

Summary

On 8 June 1979, several witnesses in Loire-Atlantique first noticed a vertical column of smoke that gradually dissipated. Shortly after, a bright red sphere crossed the sky in a straight southwest-bound descent, leaving a white or grey trail. No sound was heard and the sighting lasted only seconds. The gendarmerie discovered that the French Navy had been testing signal and emergency rockets in the area, but the coordinates and times provided did not match the witness accounts precisely, preventing a conclusive resolution.