Sighting in Ambérieu-en-Bugey, October 3, 2014

At around 10:40 pm on an autumn evening, a witness stepped out of their home and noticed a large number of twinkling points of light in the sky, about forty in all. They were orange-red and moved silently along a straight path. The witness managed to take a few photographs before the lights vanished toward the west. The sighting lasted roughly one minute.

GEIPAN classified the case as B, meaning probably identified: the lights were most likely Thai lanterns. Several points supported this. The colour, first golden and then yellow-orange or orange-red, matched that of lanterns. The point-like appearance fitted lanterns at high altitude. Their behaviour was that of objects subject to little or no wind. The short duration of the sighting was consistent with the lifespan of lanterns. It took place on a Friday evening, a time well suited to lantern releases during celebrations. Finally, the number of lights was consistent with a mass release.