Sighting in Martres-Tolosane, September 6, 2009

Shortly after midnight, at 12:24 a.m., a witness on the terrace of their home saw twelve yellow-orange glowing balls pass across the sky. They moved silently along a rising path, and their light dimmed gradually. The phenomenon lasted no more than five minutes, and the glows faded out progressively.

The witness provided photographs. One of them shows the Moon in relation to the balls, which made it possible to correct the viewing direction; the one the witness had given was wrong. The balls were drifting toward the south-east, which matches the wind direction.

GEIPAN found that several points supported Thai lanterns: the short duration, the gradual fading, the slow trajectory, the changing positions of the balls relative to one another, the yellow-orange colour, and the timing, on a Saturday-to-Sunday night. However, the source of the lanterns was never found. The case was therefore classed B: probable sighting of Thai lanterns.