Sighting in Rilhac-Rancon, September 15, 2024

At around 10:45 pm, a witness and their spouse were on the terrace of their house when they saw a black circular shape pass directly overhead, heading southwest. The sky was clear. The shape stopped for a few minutes and gave off a flashing white light for a few seconds. The witness then went back indoors, which ended the sighting, estimated at about 5 minutes. The next day, they sent GEIPAN a completed technical questionnaire. No photo or video was collected.

GEIPAN asked the CAPCODA of the French Air and Space Force, which supplied its radar tracks. These showed a gas balloon of the Roland JBG-1050 type above the witness between 10:43 and 10:49 pm local time. It followed a straight path from northeast to southwest at an altitude of about 1,200 m. The balloon was part of the Gordon Bennett Cup gas balloon race, which crossed France from northeast to southwest, including the Haute-Vienne, that day.

The case's consistency was rated good: only one witness, but a detailed description of the object and its path. The shape, trajectory and time of passage matched the flyover of this balloon perfectly. The case was classified A: sighting of a manned gas balloon.