Sighting in Cabestany, March 17, 1997

One evening, a witness saw an orange, dome-shaped light move silently across the sky on a straight path toward Spain. To the naked eye the shape looked curved. Through binoculars, the witness then made out several dome-shaped luminous patches. The light moved steadily, at a constant speed and altitude.

The gendarmerie collected this account while looking for further witnesses after a press article published on 18 March 1997. The article reported a phenomenon seen the previous morning by several airline pilots. The file, originally classed D under a different name, actually combined four separate observations. GEIPAN reviewed it and split it into distinct cases. The context of the investigation may have heightened the sense of strangeness felt by the evening witnesses.

GEIPAN concluded that this was probably a Mylar balloon whose surface reflected street lighting. At night the true shape of such a balloon cannot be seen, only the reflections, and the patches seen through binoculars would correspond to several street lamps. Globe-type lamps that send their light upward are present in the neighboring housing estates. The path followed the direction of the prevailing wind. These balloons last a long time and could have been used for a private party during the week or the weekend before. The testimony's consistency is medium to low, because the time, duration and positions are imprecise, but it is enough to reach a conclusion. The case is classed B.