Sighting in Marzan, March 19, 2022

One evening, from their garden, the witness noticed a bright white ball, similar to a large star, crossing a cloudy sky in a straight line at a steady pace. After a few minutes the object slowed down, then rose into the clouds, which it lit up, and disappeared. The witness places the observation between 8:45 and 8:48 pm. They also saw an aircraft shortly after the object went by, and they filmed the event, but the video was judged unusable.

The case rests on this single account, which is fairly complete and precise, so the GEIPAN rates its consistency as medium. Two hypotheses were examined: the International Space Station and a lit balloon carried by high-altitude wind. Both account for the white, star-like look and the initial straight path. The ISS was ruled out: the only aircraft in the area, positively identified, passed around 8:38-8:39 pm, before the ISS, which was visible from 8:42 to 8:53 pm. That timing contradicts the witness's, and the ISS does not change course in any case. The balloon hypothesis better explains the change of course and the disappearance into the clouds. Météo France's AROME data show a west-south-westerly wind corridor at about 2,000-2,250 m. Winds were very weak and variable, and the cloud base was at 2,200 m. The balloon could have drifted off course at the end and then entered the cloud layer. It remains surprising, though, that an LED balloon could be spotted at such an altitude. The case is classified B: probable sighting of a lit balloon.