VILLENEUVE-LOUBET (06) 12.03.2024

On 12 March 2024 at about 13:43, the main witness, T1, was in an open-plan office in a building on the heights of Villeneuve-Loubet (06). Looking through a closed window with 3 colleagues, T1 saw an unidentified aerospace phenomenon described as a highly reflective, silver, O-shaped object. Initially stationary to the north, it gradually gained altitude, then moved slowly northeast and disappeared from view after about 3 minutes. GEIPAN considers the evidential basis satisfactory. Although only 1 of the 4 witnesses reported the sighting to GEIPAN, a good-quality video was supplied and analyzed; see the investigation report. Under GEIPAN's criteria, evidential consistency is the amount of reliable, objectively supported information collected for an account. GEIPAN's analysis indicates that the object was very probably a helium-filled balloon shaped like the letter O or digit 0, with a highly reflective silver Mylar envelope. Its initial stillness, followed by a slow ascent and straight-line movement, matches a passive object carried by wind blowing in that direction. Small local variations in airflow over the hilly terrain explain the initial stillness and subsequent slow movement while turning about itself, clearly visible in the video. Such party balloons are commonly used for birthdays. It may have been released or lost from a house lower down, for example in the higher parts of Antibes or Vaugreniers. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of a Mylar balloon carried by the wind.