Sighting in Plombières-les-Bains, September 8, 2013
Vosges, Grand Est, France
Sighting on September 8, 2013 in Plombières-les-Bains (Vosges, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was a sky lantern (class A).
What happened
At 4:19 a.m., two people were puzzled by several very bright red lights that appeared in the sky one after another. The lights moved silently in the same direction. One of the witnesses filmed the scene and then posted the video on a dedicated website.
Investigators appointed by GEIPAN carried out a field inquiry. The time, the video, the wind direction, the witness accounts and the measurements all pointed to sky lanterns. The release site was found, though not without difficulty. The witnesses were acting in good faith but had misinterpreted what they saw: they had first ruled out lanterns because of what they had found in their own online research.
GEIPAN classified the case "A": the lights were Thai lanterns released during a private party.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- September 8, 2013
- Location
- Plombières-les-Bains · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Sky lanterns
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2013-09-08560
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.