GIEN (45) 13.04.2015

On Monday 13 April 2015 at about 10:45, a person sitting with friends on a café terrace in Gien (45) saw a very bright object crossing the clear sky silently. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN finds that a rotating, metallic-looking object shining in sunlight and crossing part of the sky in under 1 minute suggests an escaped Mylar party balloon. Because the witness did not identify it, its size and distance could not be reliably estimated and may have been overestimated. GEIPAN illustrates that a 50 cm object at 100 m looks exactly like an identically shaped 5 m object at 1,000 m. The witness looked south/southwest at azimuth 220° and saw left-to-right movement, which could be southeast to northwest or east to west. Movement away would not be perceptible during so brief an observation. Météociel records for Orléans show variable winds from northeast to east. Although not aligned exactly with the perceived southeast-to-northwest path, an easterly or even northeasterly wind could carry a balloon left to right from that viewpoint. The final spiraling descent could reflect deflation following excess pressure caused by altitude. GEIPAN classifies the case B: probable observation of a Mylar balloon.