Sighting in Plouharnel, July 31, 2013

At around 11 p.m., a family saw two very bright yellow-orange lights moving silently across the sky. The lights suddenly shifted onto a straight, rising path. The witness was in a small village near the coast, close to the Quiberon peninsula, looking south-east to south, just above the entrance to the peninsula on the Carnac side.

Weather records show a southerly wind that weakened until 3 p.m., then varied a great deal (south, then north) until 11 p.m., blew from the north-east at 11 p.m. and settled in the east after midnight. The wind recorded at Vannes matched the direction in which the phenomenon moved, towards the west while climbing.

GEIPAN considered the time and place very well suited to a release of Thai lanterns, which are often launched in groups. The Quiberon tourist airfield lay in the line of sight, and an aircraft seen head-on could have looked similar. However, night activity there would have been very surprising, and once the headlights were off the witness should have noticed the aircraft's flashing lights. The stationary phase could correspond to the lights drifting towards the witness on a very local breeze. A fast climb is normal for lanterns, the dimming is often taken for the lights moving away, and an observation lasting a few minutes is typical. Buildings or vegetation may have hidden their path at takeoff. The case was classed B: probable observation of Thai lanterns.