Published: 6 January 2010

Michael Cohen m.cohen@allnewsweb.com

Police on the Isle of Oleron off the coast of France near the city of Bordeaux have confirmed that they are investigating a mass UFO sighting that took place on New year's Eve.

The authorities have interviewed at least three independent witnesses and believe that their testimonies are reliable.

The Police officer handling the initial investigation, Lieutenant Bourdajeau, noted that 'The testimonies of witnesses seem highly consistent and we can verify that this was not a hallucination: An egg shape object appeared at around 8 pm, it was silent and hovered in one spot before speeding off in a westerly direction. We have informed our superiors of this event'.

One witness, Jean Louis Fesseau, joked that his friends might laugh when they find out he saw a UFO but noted he 'spent thirty five years at sea and knows what a flare or a helicopter look like.' '

I know what I saw' said Mr Fesseau who happily co-operated when contacted by the police.

'A craft, all lit up in red and yellow, stayed fixed for quite a while -- about 12 seconds, before then disappearing again without a noise but at a tremendous speed' The 60-year old fisherman remarked. 'I would say the UFO was at about 600 metres from the coast and at a height of about 300 metres.'

The police will soon hand the file over to GEIPAN, France's official UFO investigative body, for further study.