Sighting in Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, August 29, 2015

At about 11:02 pm one late-August evening, a couple watched a red ball cross the night sky in silence for roughly five minutes. Only one of them was interviewed, so a single account was collected. The witness took a photograph of the object, and it was this picture that prompted the report: they believed they could make out figures inside the object.

The investigation treated the visual sighting and the photograph separately. The red color, the timing (a weekend night) and a wind blowing strongly toward Switzerland all fit a Thai lantern very well, which accounts for the first object seen in the sky.

Analysis of the image showed obvious camera shake and that the shot had not been aimed at the sky but at a square. By comparison with a daytime photograph, it shows two street lamps (one of which was taken for the object), the play structures they light, and possibly the balcony railing from which the photo was taken. A geometric reconstruction from the probable shooting position confirmed the alignment of the lamps and the play structures. Why the camera was pointed in that direction remains unknown. GEIPAN classified the case as A: the witness misinterpreted their own photograph.