Sighting in Billy-Montigny, July 14, 2019

The witness was at friends' home when, at 8:35 p.m., they noticed an anthracite-coloured object. It looked matte but shone in the sunlight, and it seemed to be heading fairly fast toward the witness. They said nothing to their friends, who later saw the object too, including on the witness's camera, with which a photograph was taken. The witness eventually lost sight of the object as it moved away toward the south-south-east. The observation lasted 25 seconds in total, and the object passed without a sound. Only one witness account was collected.

GEIPAN considered the case to be well documented, thanks to the photo and the additional information the witness provided later. Analysis of the photo with the IPACO software and a study of the winds led to the conclusion that this was probably a lost helium balloon, shaped like a fish or at least very likely elongated. The strangeness the witness felt came from the shape, the lack of noise and the speed of movement, as well as from how rare such a sighting is. The witness themselves stressed this rarity and could not explain what they had seen. The case is classified B: probable observation of a festive balloon carried off by the wind.