EZE (06) 05.08.2012

On Sunday 5 August 2012 shortly after 22:00, a young couple returning home from Nice on the D2564 near Èze (06) saw 5 or 6 shapes of varied colors flashing rapidly. They watched first while driving and then after stopping at the roadside. The shapes moved silently westward on a descending path and were quickly hidden by a hill. The French summary describes them as low-altitude objects. The sighting lasted less than 1 minute. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN considers the witnesses' unfamiliarity with illuminated balloons the reason they found the sighting unusual and reported it. Its investigation suggests several helium balloons with bright, changing colors from LEDs inside; see the investigation report. They would have been carried by the easterly wind that evening. Their speed and path would fit a maximum UAP-to-witness distance of about 300, for which the French narrative omits the unit. This would also explain the silence. Two dead-end roads with very little traffic above the observation site could plausibly have hosted such a balloon party. A summer weekend evening also favored this kind of celebration. GEIPAN classifies the case as B, probably identified: illuminated LED balloons. The person responsible for the release could not be found.