Sighting in Halluin, February 3, 2013

On a Saturday evening around 7 p.m., two people were strongly intrigued by luminous objects passing over their home. The objects were round, slightly flattened and orange. They appeared in two waves five minutes apart, and the sighting lasted ten minutes in all. One object came through alone first, then others followed in a group of three. They moved silently from the southeast toward the northeast at low altitude, under an overcast sky, and then disappeared as they climbed. The witnesses took no photographs. They had the impression that the objects were large.

According to GEIPAN, the description (round, flattened shape, orange light, objects alone and then in a group, low altitude, Saturday evening) clearly suggests Thai lanterns. The large apparent size is explained by how close the objects were. The Lille weather record showed a variable wind from the northeast to the east, which does not line up exactly with the direction the objects travelled. The gentle local relief, a hill rising about 30 m above the plain, could possibly account for the difference. These elements were judged sufficient to classify the case as B: probable passage of Thai lanterns.