Sighting in Caudry, July 26, 2013

At around 11 p.m., a witness saw an orange ball in the sky to the south. It moved and then vanished toward the east. About fifteen minutes later, the witness made a second, similar observation.

The witness took photographs and pointed out the Moon in the background. However, at that hour the Moon had not yet risen: it was only three-quarters full and was due to appear in the east around 11:15 p.m. The grey circle visible in the picture is more likely the reflection of the camera flash on a speck of dust. The images supplied to the GEIPAN were not in their original format.

According to Meteociel, the wind at Cambrai was very light throughout the evening, varying around a northerly direction. The GEIPAN found the witness's description consistent with two Thai lanterns released less than a kilometre south of the witness: with so little wind, a lantern would have drifted only a short distance before going out after a few minutes. The case was classified B, probably identified.