Sighting in Jarcieu, August 7, 2016

Shortly before 11 p.m., early on a summer night, the witness was in the garden at home to watch shooting stars. They noticed a very bright, oval, red-orange glow moving at about 45° elevation, though it seemed rather low to them. A second glow followed it. The two lights moved one behind the other, undulating slowly, without any noise and without leaving a trail. Their apparent size was about 4 cm at arm's length.

Towards the end of the path, the lights became smaller and changed direction. The witness said they turned towards the south-west, but their drawing shows a heading towards the north-west, and the investigation kept the drawing as the more reliable source. The whole scene lasted 30 seconds at most. The witness was the only one to report it and was troubled at finding no other account, even after searching the internet. At Saint-Étienne-Saint-Geoirs, about 30 km to the east, the wind was light (under 10 km/h) and blew from the south from 11 p.m.

GEIPAN noted that the description matches Thai lanterns: a bright red-orange colour, lights following each other while undulating slowly, and no noise or trail. The direction of travel is compatible with the measured wind, even though the weather station is far away. The final shrinking of the lights could match the candles burning out, and a summer weekend evening lends itself to a lantern release. The case is classified B: Thai lanterns, probably.