Sighting in Bellevaux, August 30, 2014

At around 11:40 p.m., several people saw a large number of glowing, twinkling objects, about 70 in all, moving silently across the night sky. All the lights followed the same direction and eventually vanished at the zenith. Only one witness account was collected. The witness tried to photograph the scene with their mobile phone but did not succeed. They described it as being as though a great many stars had decided to travel together, or like a flotilla: lead objects seemed to steer the others, which followed as one coherent group heading north.

The investigation compared this account with those typically given for a lantern release. The group followed the wind flow, which can be winding in the mountains, and its overall path matched the rather weak north wind recorded nearby. The date, a summer weekend night in a holiday area, was well suited to festivities. The flickering light of lanterns can also suggest Morse signals. GEIPAN classified the case as B: probable sighting of Thai lanterns.