Sighting in Lanternes, May 3, 2008

On the night of 3 May 2008, starting around 10 p.m., many witnesses along the Atlantic coast and on the Île d'Yeu saw several luminous balls moving across the sky. No particular noise was heard during the sightings, which were later picked up by the local and national press.

Someone contacted the local gendarmerie on the Île d'Yeu to explain that they were probably the source of the lights. During a private party that evening, at about 10 p.m., they had released Thai flying lanterns from the Pointe du Cantin, in the north-west of the island. These lanterns are a kind of small hot-air balloon that drifts with the winds and currents until the flame goes out.

GEIPAN classified the case as A: the sightings were the passage of Thai lanterns. These observations were the subject of a dedicated news item on the GEIPAN website.