Sighting in Airvault, September 6, 2015

Shortly after midnight, a witness was driving along a road between two communes in the Deux-Sèvres when they noticed eight or nine lights moving silently across a clear sky. At first the lights formed two separate groups: the first four made a square, while the last three or four were strung out in an irregular line. The witness pulled into a car park and focused mainly on the last light, which was directly overhead. It looked like a perfect circle, orange to yellow in colour. The witness took a photo with their mobile phone. The whole sighting lasted eight to nine minutes. No other witnesses came forward.

The investigation found that the description fits a formation of Thai lanterns well: the overall appearance, the dominant orange colour, the time (a weekend night) and the close view of one lantern passing overhead, with an orange or yellow glow that seemed to move around inside a circle. The witness had estimated the speed at 90 km/h, which cannot be correct given the likely wind speed. Such estimates are in any case difficult and subjective, and this one conflicts with other parts of the account that point to a much slower movement. GEIPAN classed the case as B: probably Thai lanterns.