Sighting in Bergues, July 2, 2011
Nord, Hauts-de-France, France
Sighting on July 2, 2011 in Bergues (Nord, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was a sky lantern (class A).
What happened
At around 10:30 pm on a Saturday, two witnesses watched a silent, orange, spherical object drift across the sky on a descending path. Flames were visible at its base. The sphere then quickly disappeared, rising into the sky.
The witness's description matched that of a Thai lantern, and its movement was consistent with the north wind blowing that day. A medieval festival had been held in the town the same day, and the lantern may have been released at the end of the event. GEIPAN was unable to reach the organizer to confirm this, so the case was first classed B, probable Thai lantern.
In December 2012, another witness contacted GEIPAN to confirm that it was a lantern, supplying a letter and a photograph. This allowed the case to be reclassified as A: the sighting was the passage of a Thai lantern.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- July 2, 2011
- Location
- Bergues · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Sky lanterns
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2011-07-02800
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.