Sighting in Menat, July 31, 2018

Two people were in a village lane between 11:00 and 11:15 pm under a clear sky when they noticed four white points of light crossing the sky without a sound. The lights blinked rapidly and appeared to be grouped together. They moved from the northeast toward the southwest, and the sighting lasted about a minute. The witnesses later sent in a video reconstructing what they had seen, but no photograph.

GEIPAN considered the account fairly precise. The time given is consistent: the sighting could only have taken place between 11:00 pm, when the street lighting goes off, and 11:15 pm, when an airliner passed over. The description matches a group of flying balloons: lights moving together, complete silence, and a path in line with the wind direction. However, the white color and the blinking rule out Thai lanterns. LED balloons, which are white and can blink slowly, account for these features. Since this kind of party item is less common than Thai lanterns, the witnesses may well not have recognized it. No release of LED balloons was confirmed, however, so the explanation is probable rather than certain. The case was classified B, a probable misidentification of LED balloons.