Sighting in Lille, May 21, 2011
Nord, Hauts-de-France, France
Sighting on May 21, 2011 in Lille (Nord, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably a sky lantern (class B).
What happened
A witness saw a group of seven red-orange glowing balls in the sky at 1:55 a.m. They were moving slowly from south to north. The witness heard no sound at any point during the sighting, which ended when the lights vanished behind the clouds.
According to the GEIPAN investigation, this description closely matches the typical accounts of Thai lanterns: the colour, the brightness, the number of lights and the way they drifted with the wind all fit. The witness also mentioned that the city was celebrating its football double that evening, an occasion on which a lantern release could have taken place. The case was classified B: probable sighting of 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
- May 21, 2011
- Location
- Lille · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- B
- Explanation
- Sky lanterns
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2011-05-02760
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.