Luminous disk mistaken for the moon

Summary

An interesting case occurred on August 15, 2007, in the Gironde region of France. While driving, a witness observed a large luminous disk that initially appeared to be the moon. However, upon checking astronomical conditions, it was discovered that the moon was not visible at that time—it was in a waning phase and had already set more than an hour earlier. Instead, the planet Jupiter was very close to the direction in which the witness reported the observation. Jupiter is known for its brightness, with a magnitude of -2, but it's surprising that it was seen as large as the moon.

Weather conditions indicated a cloudy sky with intermittent rain. This leads to considering that the phenomenon could have been an optical effect caused by low clouds creating a halo around Jupiter, similar to what happens with the sun in winter. Another possibility is that it was the headlight of an agricultural vehicle on a hill, seen through the fog after the rain, which could also have created a halo. Given the lack of sufficient information or additional evidence to confirm any of these theories, the case was classified as "C" by the GEIPAN due to the absence of conclusive data.