SAINT-DENIS (974) 09.06.2017

In the early afternoon of 9 June 2017, a witness in Saint-Denis, Réunion (974), noticed a stationary white point against blue sky. It began moving, and he filmed it with his smartphone as it passed in front of a cloud. He lost sight of it, then saw it emerge from the cloud and filmed again. GEIPAN received both original videos. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN's analysis established beyond doubt that it was the weather balloon launched daily at 15:00 local time from Gillot station for radiosonde measurements; see the investigation report. Supporting features were a round white shape matching a weather balloon, a confirmed launch 15 minutes before the observation, the witness's location about 4 km from the launch site, and movement matching an ascending balloon little affected by weak winds at the altitudes where it was observed and filmed. GEIPAN finds all physical and dynamic characteristics consistent with this explanation. The case is classified A: misidentification of a weather balloon.