Sighting in Cergy, August 16, 2014

The witness was aboard a boat on the Oise River at the start of the night, at about 9:55 pm (sunset had been at 9:03 pm). They saw a black flying object shaped like a rectangle with rounded corners. The sighting lasted between 10 and 20 seconds, until the object disappeared behind the trees. It moved silently in a straight, horizontal line from west to east, from Cergy toward Pontoise.

The Meteociel record showed a light westerly wind of 6 to 18 km/h, the same direction the object traveled.

GEIPAN considered the possibility of a child's helium balloon carried by the wind. Such balloons come in a wide variety of shapes, and some can look rectangular from certain angles. The date, at the end of a summer weekend, fits this explanation. However, GEIPAN had no means of confirming it. The case was classified B: probable sighting of a festive balloon.