Sighting in Gordes, January 15, 1978

The account was collected in 2011 and concerns events from much earlier. The witnesses were driving on the D177 between Venasque and Gordes, between about 6:45 pm and 7:10 pm. One after another, they saw several silent luminous phenomena that they could not explain, and they were deeply struck by what they had seen.

The investigation matched the first sighting to the planet Jupiter, which lay due east. The next one resembles the description of Thai lanterns: a group of points of light drifting with the wind, which came from the south-west, for a few minutes. One discrepancy remains, though: the witness described white and red lights, whereas even white lanterns give off a rather yellow-orange glow. At the time, such lanterns were rare in France, used mainly by people of Asian origin or by tourists returning from Asia. Whether the lights' movement matched the wind could not be checked, as no archives were available online.

The other sightings remain strange. They could be confusions with the Moon (a half moon due south) or with vehicles on the road, brought on by the emotion of the second sighting, but this does not explain everything. GEIPAN classed the case as C: there is not enough information to reach a conclusion, although one of the sightings matches Thai lanterns.