Sighting in Asnières-sur-Oise, December 24, 2015

Shortly before midnight, a witness saw a bright red point of light surrounded by a red halo moving silently in a straight line across the night sky, beneath the cloud cover. They took two photographs. When the object passed overhead, the witness estimated its size as roughly that of a car. It crossed the sky in about two minutes and then disappeared behind the trees. No other testimony was collected.

The object travelled from the southwest toward the northeast. This matches the southwest wind recorded at Asnières-sur-Oise, where it was light, and at Creil, where it was strong. At Roissy, however, the wind blew from the southeast, which does not fit. The photographs show a characteristic "fire" colour, consistent with a Thai lantern.

The GEIPAN classified the case as B: probably a Thai lantern, most likely released nearby for Christmas. An orange ball crossing the sky in a few minutes on a festive night, following the local wind, matches this kind of object. The witness was told of this hypothesis but did not accept it. According to the GEIPAN, distance and speed tend to be overestimated in such cases, because lantern burners are dim compared with aircraft lights.