Sighting in Briançon, March 10, 2013

A witness noticed a bright red light above the Infernet fort at about half past midnight, on the night between Saturday and Sunday. It moved slowly and no particular noise could be heard. It then drifted away toward the east, where the witness spotted a very bright star, and eventually disappeared. No one else reported seeing it.

The investigation checked the positions of the stars: the very bright star was probably Vega, which was rising in the north-east although the witness thought they were looking east. No weather record existed for Briançon that evening; at Bourg-Saint-Maurice the wind was very light and unstable, and conditions in Briançon were probably similar. The detailed, precise description fits a Thai lantern well, the bright yellow part being the paraffin burner. Such a burner lasts 3 to 10 minutes, exceptionally 20. A weekend night is a common time for this kind of sighting. The object's path did not match the wind the witness felt, but winds at ground level and low altitude can differ, especially in light wind in a mountain valley. The temporary disappearance was probably due to the lantern passing behind a building or a pole, and the final disappearance to the burner going out.

GEIPAN classified the case as B: probable sighting of a Thai lantern.