Sighting in La Garde, December 25, 2014
Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Sighting on December 25, 2014 in La Garde (Var, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably a sky lantern (class B).
What happened
Between 1:20 and 1:29 in the morning, a witness watched eight points of light move one after another across a clear sky. Each one was slightly reddish at the centre and yellow around the edge. They all drifted silently toward the east, in the direction of Hyères. No other witness account of the phenomenon was collected.
GEIPAN noted that orange balls crossing the sky within a few minutes along the same path, on a night of major celebration, strongly suggested Thai lanterns, probably released nearby for Christmas. The movement seen, from north to east, fits the unstable north to north-westerly wind recorded at Hyères, according to the Météociel data. The case was classed B: very probably Thai lanterns.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- December 25, 2014
- Location
- La Garde · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- B
- Explanation
- Sky lanterns
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2014-12-09062
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.