Sighting in Le Havre, December 15, 2006

In the afternoon, several witnesses in the middle of the city saw seven brown objects pass low in the sky. They moved slowly and silently, and were described as shaped like "hockey pucks". They held a steady heading throughout. One witness said they passed behind buildings, and the sighting lasted at least 10 minutes in broad daylight.

The gendarmes took the witness statements, made a record of them and drew up a location map. From this information they worked out the direction and speed of the objects, which turned out to match the measured wind direction. No angular measurements were taken of the objects' size or movement, which would have made it easier to estimate their dimensions, distance and speed.

The case, first classified D, was re-examined by GEIPAN and reclassified B. The most likely explanation is a group of balloons carried by the wind. The colour and especially the shape are unusual for balloons, but this does not rule out the hypothesis, since many balloon models exist in a wide range of shapes and colours. It is also likely that other people saw the objects without finding them strange.