Sighting in Maizières-lès-Metz, October 1, 2011
Moselle, Grand Est, France
Sighting on October 1, 2011 in Maizières-lès-Metz (Moselle, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably a sky lantern (class B).
What happened
At around 10:30 pm, several witnesses saw a number of yellow-orange glowing balls moving silently across the sky. One of them filmed the scene on a mobile phone.
Analysis of the video showed that the points of light shifted slightly relative to one another. The wind that day was very light and its direction changed from one hour to the next, so it was not possible to check whether the movement matched the wind.
The overall look of the video, the witnesses' account, and the time and day (a Saturday evening) led GEIPAN to favour the hypothesis of Chinese-style sky lanterns, known in France as Thai lanterns. No search was made for a possible launch site, as there were too many possibilities in a peri-urban area. The case was classified B: probable passage 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
- October 1, 2011
- Location
- Maizières-lès-Metz · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- B
- Explanation
- Sky lanterns
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2011-10-02846
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.