Sighting in Pont-Audemer, June 12, 2013

At about 11 p.m., a witness watched an orange luminous disc cross the sky in complete silence. It moved toward the northwest and then vanished into the clouds.

To the witness, the look of the light and the way it moved strongly suggested a Thai lantern. They had seen such lanterns on other occasions, sometimes in large numbers forming a sort of constellation.

The investigation noted that lanterns are rarely released on weekdays. However, a person who rents out a reception hall in the area said that releases are very common at weddings and that test releases are carried out during the week, so this single lantern may have been one of them. The wind recorded at Rouen was from the south, which does not fit well with a drift toward the northwest. But the local terrain, with the Risle river running along a steep hillside, can produce local low-altitude winds.

GEIPAN classified the case as B: probable sighting of a Thai lantern.