Sighting in Saint-Brieuc, April 12, 2017
Côtes-d'Armor, Bretagne, France
Sighting on April 12, 2017 in Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably a balloon (class B).
What happened
At about 2 p.m., a witness noticed a very bright round shape moving slowly across a clear sky. Intrigued, they filmed it and also took a photograph. No other account was collected, so the case rests on this single witness, who had themselves suggested that it might be a radiosonde balloon.
The investigation lent weight to that idea. The Météo-France centre at Brest-Guipavas, contacted on 27 June 2017, said it releases balloons twice a day, at 11:00 UT and 23:15 UT. A balloon launched from Brest-Guipavas at 11:00 UT could very well have been over Saint-Brieuc at 1:50 p.m. local time. These balloons can reach an altitude of 20 km and are not affected by the wind at ground level. GEIPAN therefore classified the case as B: the sighting was probably a Météo-France radiosonde balloon released from Brest-Guipavas.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- April 12, 2017
- Location
- Saint-Brieuc · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- B
- Explanation
- Balloons
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2017-04-09670
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.