French police probe suspected weather device tampering after odd Polymarket bet

Technology French police probe suspected weather device tampering after odd Polymarket bet April 23, 20266:22 PM ET Bobby Allyn A low-angle view of the Eiffel Tower, partially framed by flowering branches under a blue sky dotted with clouds in Paris, France, on April 10, 2026. Riccardo Milani/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Riccardo Milani/AFP via Getty Images A hair dryer? A lighter? A lucky coincidence? Authorities in France are investigating possible tampering with a weather monitoring device at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris after an unusual temperature spike was recorded around the same time a Polymarket trader cashed in. An anonymous trader with the username "xX25Xx" has drawn scrutiny from analysts and fellow traders on Polymarket, where people can bet on things like a city's top temperature and other real-world events. The trader bet $119 that the weather in Paris on April 15 would jump past the equivalent of 64 degrees Fahrenheit, and weather enthusiasts online noticed a sudden spike in temperature on that day. Thanks to the sudden rise in temperature, the trader netted $21,398 in profit. The Polymarket trader's bets before they deleted their account. Accessed via the WayBack Machine. hide caption toggle caption When local meteorologists ruled out that the temperature anomaly had happened naturally, the Polymarket trader deleted their account. Sponsor Message The French weather service, Météo-France, said it filed a complaint with airport police about possible tampering with its equipment, French broadcaster BFM TV reported. Météo-France and the airport police did not respond to NPR's request for comment. While authorities in Paris are still investigating what happened, weather watchers and Polymarket traders on online forums have raised two possibilities for how the temperature could have been raised: a lighter or a battery-powered hairdryer. The anomalous weather spike compared to another weather sensor in Paris. Bubblemaps hide capti...