Sighting in Perpignan, August 13, 2010
Pyrénées-Orientales, Occitanie, France
Sighting on August 13, 2010 in Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably a balloon (class B).
What happened
At around 8 p.m., a witness standing on a fifth-floor balcony watched for three minutes as something puzzling appeared in the sky. Above a circular cloud, they saw two groups of objects: one made up of white, silvery spheres, the other of two red spheres. Both groups moved from north to south without making any noise. The witness took photographs.
The photos sent to the GEIPAN are of poor quality and only show the two red spheres. The features of the sighting suggest a balloon release. A rugby match between USAP and ASM was due to start at 9 p.m. at the Perpignan stadium, and balloons could have been let go before the game; red is one of the colours of one of the clubs. The stadium lies roughly 2 km from where the witness stood. The weather report for the day gave a northwest wind of 33 km/h, with gusts reaching 57 km/h, so a three-minute observation fits this distance.
The case was classed B: the witness most probably saw festive balloons released about 2 km away.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- August 13, 2010
- Location
- Perpignan · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- B
- Explanation
- Balloons
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2010-08-02633
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.