Sighting in Banassac, December 26, 2015

At around 8:30 pm on a Saturday evening, the witness went out to fetch wood behind their house and noticed a fixed, orange point of light, perfectly silent. Suddenly it shot off at high speed toward the south and vanished behind a hill. When the witness went back out for more logs, they saw up to four points of light, which went out one after another. Their spouse and adult daughter were with them for the sighting, and photos were taken, including one that showed no blur despite a quarter-second exposure.

The investigation found that this photo showed all the typical features of a Chinese (Thai) lantern: an orange point of light, no flashes, no noise, hovering, then disappearing during a rapid movement that matched the candle burning out. The date, the day after Christmas, was also suited to family or friends gathering. In Mende, 25 km to the east, the weather at 8 pm was overcast (8/8), with no precipitation, 20 km visibility and a southeast wind below 10 km/h. The overcast sky ruled out stars, satellites or the ISS, and the cloud base, estimated by the witness at 1,500 metres, ruled out an airliner. The wind, blowing in the direction of the lights, explained their apparent immobility. The sudden departure to the south was judged a misperception: the lantern was actually dropping as its candle went out. The four points matched a new release of lanterns, three of them drifting apart in the wind, combined with a parallax effect. GEIPAN classified the case as B: probable sighting of Thai lanterns.