Sighting in Moulins-lès-Metz, April 29, 2012

At about 4:15 p.m. on a Sunday, the witness noticed a grey, spherical shape passing beneath the cloud layer. Intrigued, they filmed it as it followed a straight path. The witness thought they could see a plume of white smoke or flames beneath the object. It then vanished behind the neighbouring building.

The investigation noted that the object's almost straight movement matched the wind direction, from south to south-west, and the wind was strong that day, which strongly suggests a balloon. Because it was seen against the light, it looked dark. It was probably not perfectly spherical: as it rotated, it would occasionally reflect sunlight, which would account for brief flashes. Its relative sharpness suggests it was fairly close (under one kilometre) and therefore small (under one metre). The small white spinning points could be pollen, which is common at this time of year during the first mild days of spring and looks very bright when seen against the light. No other witness account was collected.

GEIPAN classified the case as B: a probable festive balloon, most likely released from Ars-sur-Moselle or possibly farther south.