CHOISY-LE-ROI (94) 21.05.2012

On 21 May 2012, a date confirmed during the investigation, at 22:12, a motorist in Choisy-le-Roi (94) noticed a light travelling north to south in a cloudy sky. Stopped at a red light, he saw a cylindrical form “resembling an icon with its point towards the ground.” He got out and found it stationary, with powerful light coming from small portholes and an orange luminous sphere around it. It then ascended, changed into an inverted V and turned white before disappearing into the cloud layer. It was silent. The entire observation lasted 15 seconds. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN's investigation report identifies these objective features: an unusual shape with luminous portholes, a stop above the road facing the witness, and departure a few seconds later with a change of shape. It concludes that the UAP cannot be explained and has many characteristics difficult to reconcile with the only plausible hypothesis considered, a party balloon. The case is classified D1: observation of an object of unknown nature. The account has good evidential substance and is very precise, but comes from a single witness without photographs. GEIPAN finds it surprising that nobody else noticed the phenomenon in a built-up area. It considers the observation strange because of uncommon physical and dynamic characteristics that do not strictly match any known flying object.