An account in Var, 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 (A, B, C, or D) which are now being re-examined, for the sole purpose 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 a change in classification. This observation case, previously classified D and named SAINT-RAPHAEL (83) 1979, is part of a set of cases recently re-examined (see the investigation report). On July 13, 1979 at 1:10 PM, two witnesses (T1 and T2) working at the lookout post of Mount Vinaigre in the Esterel massif in the commune of Fréjus (83) were intrigued by the movements of a very luminous spherical object in the landscape. During their statements to the gendarmerie, a sketch was made showing the successive movements of this object (see the gendarmerie report). T2 used binoculars and described an object that descended vertically from a cloud, descended from the hill in jerks, moved from one hill to another, made stops, and finally went back up and disappeared into a cloud. No other testimony was collected. The radar services contacted by the gendarmerie detected nothing. The meteorological conditions on the day and at the time of the observation are a key factor allowing us to understand and explain the complex movements of the UAP, which formed the main part of the case's strangeness. These conditions, namely a maximum observed wind of 34 knots with turbulent air flow in the area, occurred in a zone with rugged terrain. However, a minimum wind of 10 to 15 knots is enough for a lighter-than-air balloon, such as a metallized nylon model (often called a "Mylar balloon"), to follow an irregular movement horizontally and vertically. The impossibility (for any witness) of correctly perceiving the distance of an unknown phenomenon can lead to overestimating distances and therefore speeds of movement based on angular movements (the only ones actually perceived by the eyes), and thus to increasing the strangeness of what was perceived (rapid jump from one hill to another, intelligent stop above the highway). These Mylar balloons can be inflated with air but most often with helium and can then fly for between two weeks and two months, carried along by local winds. Such balloons have existed since the end of the 1970s and are often circular or ovoid in shape, sometimes decorated with a fanciful design. The visibility of this type of balloon is favored by its aluminized envelope which strongly reflects sunlight, its shape only being truly discernible at a shorter distance. Furthermore, this strong reflection of sunlight combined with the observation distance does not allow distinguishing either the possible fanciful design or the appendage used for inflation. Consequently, GEIPAN classifies the case as B: probable observation of a Mylar balloon.