An account in Moselle, France

GEIPAN continues to publish all of its archives on its public website www.geipan.fr. Among its publications are old cases classified at the time (A, B, C or D) which are now being re-examined, with the sole aim of being more relevant in the conclusions. Thanks to new technical means (software) and the investigation experience acquired over all these recent years, this re-examination sometimes leads to new remarks or even a change of classification. This observation case, previously classified D and named METZ (57) 30.03.1981, is part of a set of cases recently re-examined. It concerns the observation on March 30, 1981 between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. by six independent witnesses of a UAP flying over certain neighborhoods of the city of METZ (57). The gendarmes, alerted through a newspaper article published in the "Républicain Lorrain", conducted the investigation on site the day after the events. The usable testimonial data seriously allows for the possibility of confusion with a multicolored festive balloon (see the investigation report). In particular, it is noted that out of six witnesses, four witnesses refer to a balloon ("a sort of balloon") and the other two to a sphere. Nevertheless, the contradictions and imprecisions of the testimonies do not allow for a sufficiently solid opinion to be established. One may also regret the absence of a more thorough investigation, carried out on site and at the Gendarmerie, in particular with the collection of angular data from the witnesses (angular dimensions of the UAP, elevation above the horizon), a precise positioning of the witnesses, precise observation durations, a better-established chronology, etc. In the absence of this data, nothing allows this festive balloon hypothesis to be refuted or confirmed. GEIPAN classifies the case as "C", the lack of information not allowing a plausible hypothesis to be sufficiently explored.