An account in Var, France

On June 14, 2014 at 8:00 PM, a witness observes a dark spherical object coming out of a residual storm cloud. It moves slowly and silently from North to South. The witness makes a video, but it only shows the object for 2 seconds, seen from a distance: one can indeed make out an approximately spherical object, dark, reflecting the sun. The object disappears into another cloud. The simplest hypothesis would be a balloon, a hot-air balloon or one filled with helium (a small festive latex balloon, or a larger balloon made of plastic film). Its linear movement, fairly slow, is compatible with this hypothesis. Let us check whether the wind direction is the same as the observed movement: the regional weather readings are as follows in Toulon: West wind 11 to 30 km/h, turning to the South, weakening (weather) and in Cannes: weak South wind, turning to the North (weather). In Le Luc (20 km away) after a storm in the late afternoon, at 8:00 PM a weak West wind is blowing, turning to the North at 9:00 PM, very unstable, changing direction every hour (weather). One therefore notes weather disturbed by storm cells, making it impossible to determine the local wind at that precise moment, at low altitude, especially since the region's terrain is rugged. This balloon hypothesis, although compatible with the observation, cannot be confirmed by the weather reading. GEIPAN classifies this case in category "C" due to lack of verification and cross-checking. The witness refutes the balloon hypothesis.