Sighting in Besançon, June 26, 2017

Shortly after midnight, between 12:20 and 12:25 a.m., a witness looking out of their bedroom window noticed two red lights that puzzled them, above the Bregille fort. The lights were at first stationary, then moved slowly while their brightness dropped abruptly. The witness heard no particular noise. The sighting lasted about a minute, on a Friday night, and it was the only account collected.

Photos supplied by the witness confirmed that they had been looking east and that the lights' apparent movement ran from north to south.

GEIPAN noted several features typical of Thai lanterns: the red color, a slow downward path consistent with the wind, and a sharp loss of brightness matching a lantern going out. The METEOCIEL record for Besançon between midnight and 1 a.m. showed no precipitation and a very light wind of variable direction, which fits a north-south drift. A summer Friday evening at the start of a weekend is also a very likely time for lantern releases. With low residual strangeness and a consistent testimony, GEIPAN classified the case as B: probable release of lanterns.