Sighting in Daglan, September 20, 2024

Between about 5:50 and 6:10 one morning, a motorist driving in the Dordogne noticed a flashing white point of light in the sky, which was still dark. It was clearly brighter than a star. At one point the light flared up briefly, resembling a Chinese lantern or a hot-air balloon burner, then went back to its original flashing.

Puzzled, the witness stopped to film the phenomenon, then shot a second video on arriving at the car park of their workplace. A colleague who had also seen the light thought it was a hot-air balloon, but the witness doubted this, since balloons do not usually fly at night. The sighting lasted about 20 minutes, intermittently because of the driving. The object lay to the west-northwest, at roughly 45° above the horizon, and seemed motionless throughout. The witness supplied four videos.

GEIPAN judged the case to be of good consistency and classed it A. Radar traces reconstructed by the CAPCODA confirmed a hot-air balloon in the area at the time of the sighting. Analysis of one of the videos showed the flame of the burner. No sound was noticed, and the balloon's slow speed gave an impression of stillness. Hot-air balloons also usually fly early in the morning or in the late afternoon, when the air is most stable.