Sighting in Saint-Ouen-les-Vignes, July 29, 2020

In the early morning, two witnesses clearly saw a dark object in the sky giving off a white, strobe-like light. Every five to six flashes, a glowing red light rose from beneath the object and lit up its whole shape. The object hovered for about a quarter of an hour, then began to move horizontally, very slowly, from the southwest toward the southeast, stopping at regular intervals. One of the witnesses recorded short videos of it on a smartphone.

GEIPAN rated the case as having low strangeness and very good consistency, given the two witnesses and the videos. The object's look in the footage and the witnesses' description could suggest either a drone or a hot-air balloon seen from far away. The drone hypothesis was ruled out because the observed shape did not fit well. The hot-air balloon fits several details: the rounded shape, the light beneath the object, the reddish glow rising from the bottom and spreading upward, strongly resembling a burner flame, and the powerful white strobe light, consistent with those used by balloons on night flights. The direction of observation corresponded to the Loire valley, particularly the areas around the châteaux of Amboise and Chenonceau, where several balloon flights took place that morning at times consistent with the sighting. GEIPAN classified the case as A: observation of a hot-air balloon.