Photographed in Haute-Garonne, France

On March 6, 2015, the witness was in a car on the D112, near Lavalette (31), on his way to work. At around 8:30 a.m., while driving near "Grousset," his attention was drawn to the presence, facing him and in a completely clear sky, of a black ovoid-shaped object, reflecting the sun's brightness and seeming to move slowly. The witness describes this object as seeming to be roughly above the road and having a small white trail extending horizontally from its base. A slight orange coloration was also present on one edge of the UAP. After observing it for about two minutes, the witness wanted to grab his mobile phone, which was on the passenger seat, and turned his attention away for a brief moment. When he tried to observe the UAP again, it had disappeared. The observation was made through the car's windshield. After the UAP disappeared, the witness slowed down and tried to find it again by scanning the sky all around, without success. Only one testimony was collected. The UAP has the appearance and movement of a tethered solar balloon launched from a field to the right of the witness (see the investigation report). The strangeness of the case is mainly caused by the disappearance of the UAP during the time the witness searched for his phone to take a photo. If the balloon had not disappeared, the witness would have recognized it (he would not have reported it) and might have looked for and seen its operator on the ground, whereas he probably did not see the latter because he was busy searching for the UAP in the sky while driving. The strangeness did not exist for other road users following or passing in cars, who either did not see the balloon or saw it descend and/or land (the witness indicates the presence of other users who noticed nothing). The testimony is consistent, with sufficient data provided by the witness and usable. Additionally, there is a photograph taken by the witness reconstructing the scene, which was able to be used for the case analysis. This made it possible to verify the consistency of the UAP's appearance with this type of balloon, the possibility of operating a balloon from the field, and the possibility of a witness not seeing the balloon operator, especially when that witness is surprised by the disappearance and scans the sky rather than the ground. So here, what mainly needs to be explained is the possibility of the balloon descending rapidly over a duration of one to a few seconds, knowing that only the descent duration down to the treetops, which then hid it, counts, and that the balloon was not necessarily visible very far above the trees to begin with. This descent can be explained by the balloon bursting or being brought down to the ground by a parachute effect (related to the wind). Due to the strong consistency of appearance with a balloon and an explanation for its rapid descent, GEIPAN classifies the case as B: probable observation of a tethered solar balloon.