An account in Loire-Atlantique, France

On July 19, 2009 at around 10:40 PM, several people noticed a silent bright red-orange shape in the sky. Despite some noticeable oscillations, the object remained stationary. Their observation lasted about 15 minutes: the object was then hidden by clouds. Only one testimony has been reported to us. A tethered balloon that was lit up or illuminated by spotlights from the ground (an advertising or festive balloon) could have given the same impression. A weather balloon at altitude, still lit by the sun one hour after sunset, could also have this appearance. It is very difficult to verify any of these hypotheses 3 years after the observation. This observation case owes its low strangeness only to the static position of the observed phenomenon, and the single testimony, despite a precise description, does not allow its consistency to be established. Although the balloon hypotheses are plausible, this case is classified as C due to the lack of independent testimonies and cross-checks that would allow a hypothesis to be validated.