Luminous ball with parachute in Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines

Summary

At 3:30 a.m. on August 24, 1980, a witness in Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines saw an extremely bright shape in the sky. Despite the glare, he made out a pale pink parachute detaching from the object, visible for only a few seconds. The luminous ball itself lingered for over ten minutes before vanishing. By the time the witness woke hours later, everything had disappeared.

With no corroborating testimony or evidence, GEIPAN classified the case as C. The detail of the pink parachute sets this sighting apart from similar cases, but insufficient data prevents any explanation.