An account in Alpes-Maritimes, France

On July 28, 2014 at 9:00 PM, a witness observes and photographs two dark objects moving in the sky above the sea. When they arrive directly overhead, he goes back into his apartment, then comes back out to make a video. The observation of objects flying in a straight line suggests balloons, for example children's balloons inflated with helium, often shiny (mylar), found at fairs. The witness sees brown objects, but the witness is against the light: any object would appear very dark under these conditions. The splitting of the object may correspond to a perspective effect of two balloons one behind the other. The fleeting bright point may correspond to the reflection of the sun on the balloon, visible only in certain positions of the balloon. An analysis of the photo indicates an angular size of about 0.2 degrees, which may correspond to an object of 70 cm seen at 200 m, which would be compatible with a child's balloon carried by the wind. Météociel indicates a weak, very unstable wind (see data), the wind is also variable along the coast (see map): it is impossible to confirm that these objects were indeed moving in the direction of the wind, even if their movement (see the witness's video) seems quite compatible with this hypothesis. Lacking this information, GEIPAN classifies this case "C", but this balloon hypothesis is consistent with the observation.