Sighting in Pertuis, October 13, 2014

At 8:50 p.m., a witness facing north-west watched an orange light moving about in the sky for roughly ten seconds. It came in from their right, turned about 90° toward the east and came to a stop. It then climbed straight up and vanished. The witness heard no sound and saw no trail. They reported a south-south-westerly wind of 10 to 20 km/h, whereas the Marignane weather record showed a light wind from the south to south-east.

The Flightradar website showed no airliner north of Pertuis, where the observation had begun. Investigators considered a Thai lantern at the end of its burn time: the first change of direction could have matched a drop in burner power, making the lantern sink, and the apparent departure afterward could have been the flame going out, taken for a steady light source moving away. This hypothesis was judged too weak to retain, because the wind direction was uncertain (variable wind, the Marignane record disagreeing with the witness, the nearby Lubéron relief), the observation took place on a Monday, an unusual day for lantern releases, and the final trajectory was complex.

There were no photos, no videos and no other testimony, so the GEIPAN had nothing further to work with. The case is classified C, for lack of sufficient information.