Coloured halo in Le Pouliguen attributed to the Moon

Summary

On the night of 16 July 1979, two witnesses in Le Pouliguen described a very large object surrounded by a red, orange, and yellow halo. It initially appeared stationary, then moved toward Saint-Nazaire before gradually fading. No other reports were collected despite official efforts. Using modern analysis tools, GEIPAN concluded it was most likely the low Moon, whose visibility — altered by partial cloud cover and haze — created the illusion of a dome-shaped object with shifting colours. The optical effects described by the witnesses, including the halo and apparent motion, are consistent with this hypothesis.