Bright sphere with reddish flashes over Ivry-sur-Seine

Summary

In September 1986, a couple in Ivry-sur-Seine watched for several minutes a very bright sphere, about the size of a pétanque ball, travelling at high speed from east to west. It left reddish flashes in its wake before vanishing abruptly. Investigators concluded it was an atmospheric entry consistent with a meteorite or rocket debris re-entry. GEIPAN classified the case as B—plausible but not definitive. The observed characteristics—intense brightness, straight trajectory and reddish trail—match those of a celestial body entering the atmosphere.