White Flashes in the Sky over Pas-de-Calais

Summary

On September 24, 2012, just after midnight, a witness observed a series of bright white flashes behind a large white cloud in the sky. These phenomena came from the south and east, and the witness recorded them for eight minutes using a "spy pen" camera. Surprisingly, when reviewing the footage, he noticed glowing spheres that he hadn't seen in real time. His wife also saw the phenomenon, but only one testimony was collected.

The investigation revealed strong storm activity in the region that night. The flashes seen behind the clouds were attributed to this storm. However, the recording did not show the flashes, only fixed points of light. This is due to the low sensitivity of such cameras in low-light conditions, which explains why distant lightning flashes behind clouds were too dim to register. The luminous points in the video are likely fixed lights, such as street lamps. The witness didn't see them with the naked eye, and since these cameras lack a viewfinder, he couldn't compare what he was filming with what he was seeing. The GEIPAN classified the case as "A," meaning observation of distant lightning before a storm.