An account in Bouches-du-Rh�ne, 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 and 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 to a change of classification explained in an investigation report. This observation case previously named PLAN DE CUQUES (13) 1994 is one of the cases classified "D" at the time and recently re-examined. On 31 July 1994 around 2:30 pm, witnesses observe in the sky a cylindrical shape associated with two round shapes of metallic color. One of the witnesses spots two protrusions with flashing lights. This object moves without noise, flying in all directions at a fairly high altitude. Two witnesses report their observations to the gendarmerie. Many elements argue in favor of confusion with a novelty balloon, tossed about by the wind at altitude (see the investigation report): - the direction of movement, consistent with that of the wind. Witness no. 1 gives fairly precise geographical indications allowing the trajectory of the UAP to be reconstructed, which therefore moved along a generally south-north axis, entirely consistent with the direction of the winds recorded by the Marseille-Observatoire station. - the way the UAP moves. This is described by the witnesses as follows: "It flew fairly slowly, and made circles on itself. It had the attitude of a falling leaf, while keeping its direction..." ... "flew rapidly in all directions"... "the object that kept swaying" This description is typical of light objects carried and tossed about by a light wind. - the description of the UAP. The witnesses mention "a cylindrical shape, about the size of two vehicles, metallic in color, with two kinds of ears on the side. I also noticed two round 'things', like car headlights"... "a more or less round shape of metallic color"... "above this object [were] two protrusions from which lights flashed". The mention of "flashing lights" should be compared with the mention of a "metallic color". If the object is partially made of a highly reflective material, such as Mylar, and other non-reflective materials, its tossing in the wind making it turn in all directions and the sun's rays reflecting off its surface randomly will give witnesses the impression of "flashing lights". It may therefore be a novelty beach balloon, escaped from Cassis and its surroundings, which are located in the extension of the UAP's trajectory, to the south, and where many places are suitable for leisure activities in summer (beaches, calanques...), especially in broad daylight, on a summer Saturday. No other testimony was collected, even though the observation took place in broad daylight, on a summer Saturday, in a populated area (village of Allauch). This also argues in favor of a low-strangeness hypothesis, such as that, argued elsewhere, of the novelty balloon. The consistency of the testimonies is rather weak. Although we have two testimonies, they are very brief and come from dependent witnesses (friends). Consequently, GEIPAN classifies the case as B: latex balloon.