VERDON-SUR-MER (LE) (33) 26.10.2017

On 26 October 2017, 2 witnesses on Plage de la Chambrette in Le Verdon-sur-Mer (33) were intrigued by white filaments falling from a clear sky. One took some filaments to examine them. Both then saw 2 sparkling discs passing rapidly and silently side by side. Filaments continued falling for a few minutes before everything returned to normal. The witness managed to catch a filament. The witnesses described 2 simultaneous phenomena: filaments, and discs whose speed, shape and color did not correspond to known craft. Spider ballooning explains most of the described characteristics. Silk threads, also called “fils de la vierge” or gossamer, are produced by spiders to travel through the air on the wind. This means of locomotion is called ballooning. The threads can roll into balls, producing the two appearances of threads and discs when seen from the ground. Two points might initially seem contrary to this hypothesis: 1. Weather records show wind from the south or west, but the witness described a local “southeasterly breeze,” consistent with the observed direction of movement and the hypothesis. 2. T2 estimated a distance of 5000 m and T1 10000 m. However, distance estimates for an unknown object are difficult to use without a reference. The account has good evidential support, with credible witnesses giving mutually consistent observations. After the first publication in March 2018, the witness supplied a sample of a filament recovered during the observation in mid-September (see section 3 of the investigation report). A CNES laboratory analyzed it and confirmed silk fibers mixed with particles, mostly iron oxide (see the report appendix). The case had previously been classified B. This new evidence, which provides near-proof of the hypothesis, allows GEIPAN to reclassify it A and republish it: observation of spider ballooning.