VAUGNERAY (69) 22.05.2018

On 22 May 2018 at 14:09, a witness on the terrace of a third-floor apartment, on the building's top floor, saw a dark black ball with bright reflections. He compared it to a pétanque or bowling ball. It appeared to move rapidly in a straight line from north to south. He watched for 1–1½ minutes and took a photograph, DSC_2061.jpg. No other accounts were collected. The witness continued investigating and sent GEIPAN his own explanation on 9 June 2018 (see the witness's correspondence). After contacts with Lyon's drone service and the Air Transport Gendarmerie at Lyon-Saint-Exupéry led him to rule out a drone, he concentrated on a bird of prey. Between 22 May and 9 June, he made numerous observations of very large raptors coming from Courzieux animal park, which the source says housed 200 birds of prey. He studied their viewing angles at the same time of day and under the same weather conditions as the original sighting. His many photographs showed that, from a particular angle, the birds could look like balls; see screenshot_144449 and 144320.png. GEIPAN therefore considers the original observation very probably that of a large black raptor gliding slowly without flapping, in a horizontal air current on a constant heading. The Sun above it probably caused the reflections and spherical appearance. This proposed slow flight is distinct from the rapid apparent motion initially reported. On 9 June, the witness reproduced the appearance and photograph from 22 May, which GEIPAN describes as confirming the bird-of-prey hypothesis with certainty. It concludes that a slowly gliding raptor from Courzieux animal park, maintaining its heading, appeared spherical and reflective because of an optical effect involving sunlight. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of a bird.