MERIGNAC (33) 24.10.2021

On 24 October 2021 at 17:40, a witness drinking coffee in his garden in Mérignac (33) noticed a silver and black shape. It traveled in a straight line across the daylight sky, sometimes rotating, and made no sound according to the French summary. He watched the UAP for 2 minutes before it disappeared and recorded it on his mobile phone. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN judges the evidential strength very good: although only 1 witness is known, his video could be analyzed; see the investigation report. The investigation found that the UAP's physical and motion characteristics fit a Mylar-type novelty balloon. Its spherical shape is common for novelty balloons. Its silver and black coloring could match certain balloons made partly from highly reflective aluminized Mylar and partly from a more conventional material, such as latex, with a more matte and/or darker color. It moved slowly, steadily and in a straight line along the prevailing, very light wind, generally blowing from the west or northwest. GEIPAN explains its rotation by slight turbulence caused by local variations in that wind. The strong reflection of sunlight from the Mylar surface would have been the main reason it caught the witness's attention. Its small angular size caused it to be quickly lost from view. GEIPAN notes that the Aquitaine coast lies in the direction from which it came and suggests that such balloons might have been on sale there during this first weekend of the All Saints' school holidays. In this proposed scenario, its owner lost it and it drifted slowly to Mérignac over the following hours or days, this type of balloon being long-lasting. The case is classified as A: observation of a Mylar-type novelty balloon.