Sighting in Gouvieux, September 20, 2008

During the night of 20 to 21 September 2008, a witness saw about ten orange balls moving through the night sky between Gouvieux and Précy-sur-Oise. They looked lit from inside and on all sides. The objects travelled in single file, at low altitude and in silence, and vanished over Précy-sur-Oise.

The GEIPAN received only one witness account. The gendarmerie, for its part, took two other calls that same night reporting lights in the sky at the same time.

The investigation concluded that the witness had seen a release of Thai lanterns, as the colours, shapes and type of trajectory were all typical of them. The fact that it happened on a weekend night, a time favourable to festive events, supported this view. The general east-to-west direction of travel matched the measured wind direction, and the local gendarmerie's report described sightings that were also typical of Thai lanterns. The GEIPAN therefore classified the case as B (probably identified).