Luminous Ball in the Sky of Bernaville

Summary

On January 16, 1980, several witnesses in Bernaville (Somme) observed a luminous phenomenon in the southwest sky. It appeared as a very bright white ball that changed color, size, and intensity during the observation. Although it seemed as if threads were hanging from the object, no sound was heard. The phenomenon disappeared around 9 p.m. One of the witnesses attempted to photograph it, but the film came out completely black. The gendarmerie investigated and ruled out the presence of French weather balloons in the area. However, a few days earlier, a foreign balloon had been detected in another locality. Additionally, Venus was particularly visible at that time, with a magnitude of -3.84, and was located near the horizon in the southwest, also disappearing around the same hour. Investigators concluded that the witnesses were likely observing Venus.