Signal rockets mistaken for UFOs in Charleville-Mézières

Summary

In May 1980, several witnesses including gendarmes watched two round red objects descend slowly over Charleville-Mézières at a steady pace, followed by red flashes that rose before fading, with some observers noting reddish smoke. The investigation quickly resolved the mystery: the phenomenon was caused by maritime distress signal rockets that, no longer safe for use at sea, had been fired on land. A case where the seemingly inexplicable had a perfectly mundane cause.