Sighting in Pont-de-Chéruy, August 12, 2009

At around 11:10 p.m., a witness was in their garden, intending to watch for shooting stars. They saw two oval, pale orange objects pass one behind the other, travelling from south to north. The lights were not very bright. The objects were fairly high in the sky and followed a straight path, and one of the two swayed slightly. No sound was heard during the 30-second sighting. The witness later came forward of their own accord at the gendarmerie.

The investigation judged that the witness seemed familiar with how shooting stars look, and with the aircraft using the nearby Lyon-St Exupéry airport. Both explanations were therefore ruled out. The features described pointed instead to Thai-style luminous lanterns. The lack of steady wind did not contradict this, since the lanterns could have been released from the south of the observation point, near the town's stadium. With only one witness, the account carries little weight. The strangeness level is low, and most of the characteristics described match a flight of luminous lanterns. GEIPAN classified the case B: probable observation of luminous flying lanterns.