COULAINES (72) 30.05.2012

From 21:00 on 30 May 2012, a witness on his balcony in Coulaines (72) watched a dark stationary object at low altitude flash irregularly. It remained in the same place until he went to bed; he recorded phone video. GEIPAN favoured a tethered balloon. Calm to light winds suited its use, the lighting matched the source's stated requirements for tethered aircraft, and suitable ground lay in the object's viewing direction. The video gave the case good evidential strength, although important details such as azimuth, estimated size and height were missing and could only be partly reconstructed from it. GEIPAN considered the sighting low in strangeness because its behaviour was ultimately ordinary. It classified the case B: probable tethered balloon.