Sighting in Toulouse, April 24, 2011

The witness was on their balcony, watching pollen from the surrounding trees drift through the air. A bright point then crossed the sky quickly between two clouds. They heard no noise during the observation, and the point eventually vanished into the cloudy sky. It was a white ball moving across the blue sky in broad daylight, while the witness was looking almost straight toward the sun. The witness had noticed that a lot of pollen was floating in the air.

The GEIPAN considered that it was probably one of these cottony pollens (or a seed) which, seen against the sun, had taken on a silvery look. The direction of its movement, the same as the wind (an easterly autan wind of 15 to 31 km/h), supports this explanation. The investigator notes having seen the same phenomenon several times from their own home, in May, on days of autan wind. The case is classified B: probable sighting of a tree pollen or seed, possibly from a plane tree.