Sighting in Grézillac, March 30, 2018

At around 10 p.m. on a Friday evening, a witness stepped outside their home and saw a reddish light moving across the sky before vanishing. They then noticed two more lights of the same kind and took a photograph with their mobile phone. One of the two seemed to start turning and head toward them, so the witness went back indoors. They came out again with their partner, and together they watched up to seven luminous phenomena drifting silently across the night sky. No testimony other than these two was collected.

One of the witnesses disagreed with the GEIPAN's first explanation, mainly because of the turn toward the observer. The GEIPAN nonetheless concluded that Thai lanterns were the probable cause. The reddish colour, the lights passing one behind the other, the occurrence on a weekend night and the movement in the direction of the wind measured that evening (south-east to north-west) all supported this. The turn could be explained by a misinterpretation: a lantern that brightens is often perceived as coming closer, while a dimming one seems to move away. It could also result from local wind disturbances (woods, buildings, a river) that diverted a single lantern or the whole line. The case was classified B: probable observations of Thai lanterns.