Sighting in Cazères, September 13, 2015

On a Sunday evening, between 9:05 and 9:15 p.m., a witness noticed a spherical, pale yellow light in a clear sky. It appeared and disappeared three times. It moved erratically, and no particular noise was heard. The witness filmed the scene, and the video lasts 1 minute 34 seconds. Another person was present during the observation, but only one testimony was collected.

GEIPAN classified the case as B, a probable sighting of Thai lanterns. Several points supported this: a yellow to reddish-yellow color like that of lanterns, a brightness comparable to a very bright star, a spherical shape, behavior typical of objects in little or no wind (drifting with the prevailing wind and rising because of hot air), an observation time consistent with a lantern's lifespan, a Sunday evening, which suits lantern releases during celebrations, a number consistent with lanterns launched successively, disappearance explained by the lanterns going out, the absence of noise, and facilities suited to such launches nearby, in the direction the witnesses were looking.

When told of this hypothesis, the witness rejected it, since they had launched lanterns before and knew what they looked like. GEIPAN points out, however, that a lantern seen from a distance looks nothing like it does when you launch it. No local investigation was carried out to trace possible launchers: such inquiries are reserved for large releases during major festivities, which are fairly easy to trace, whereas small releases, tied to minor private events, are very hard to identify in an urban setting.