SCIEZ (74) 08.09.2018

On 8 September 2018, during a weekend with his family in Sciez (74), the witness observed a strange object in the sky between 17:20 and 17:50. He described a black equilateral triangle slowly crossing the sky in silence while rotating. This apparent craft seemed larger than an airliner. Its sides reflected and seemed to intensify the sunlight, and small flashes appeared underneath, although these might simply have been reflections. He initially thought it was a satellite in distress, but the sighting lasted too long. The object slowly crossed the sky, losing a little altitude; after 20 minutes, it slowly gained height again while changing direction slightly. By the end, it looked like no more than a star twinkling in daylight. Only 1 account was collected. The evidential strength is good: the account is supplemented by a video that could be analyzed. Under GEIPAN's criteria, evidential strength is the amount of information collected for an account that is considered reliable and objectively substantiated. GEIPAN considers that the witness probably observed a novelty balloon, a helium-filled party balloon, carried by the light local wind. Its analysis, detailed in the investigation report, rests on the following points. The UAP's shape and color match available novelty balloons. It moved in the prevailing wind direction, and its triangular shape would help the wind make it rotate, as reported and visible in the video. Its slow speed also appears compatible with the wind speed. GEIPAN attributes the perceived unusualness to the witness's inability to understand or identify what he was seeing; in the video he asks what the thing is. The silence, rotation and disproportionately large size estimate, greater than an airliner, also contributed to his puzzlement. After analysis, GEIPAN considers the case's unusualness fairly low: all the UAP's physical and motion characteristics fit the proposed explanation. GEIPAN classifies the case as A: very probable observation of a novelty balloon carried by the wind.