Sighting in Dounoux, January 1, 2012
Vosges, Grand Est, France
Sighting on January 1, 2012 in Dounoux (Vosges, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably a sky lantern (class B).
What happened
Shortly after 1:30 in the morning, two witnesses sitting in a car saw an object in the sky that they could not identify. It moved silently from west to east. The two did not agree on its shape: one described it as triangular, the other as circular. Both, however, noticed a yellow-orange glow surrounding the object. It eventually passed out of sight behind the forest.
The investigation found that the description and the path of travel, which follows the direction of the wind according to the weather data, match the appearance of a Thai lantern. A great many lanterns were also released during the night of 1 January 2012. GEIPAN therefore classified the case as B, a probable sighting of a drifting Thai lantern, while noting that the two witnesses differed on the shape.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- January 1, 2012
- Location
- Dounoux · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- B
- Explanation
- Sky lanterns
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2012-01-08174
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.