Sighting in Pontarlier, December 2, 2019

The main witness was walking along the pavement between 6:40 and 6:50 p.m. when they saw a round sphere not very high in the sky, as if it had come out of nowhere. It was bright red on the outside and dazzling yellow inside, with a dark grey oval at its centre. A second sphere, then a third, appeared from the same spot, until there were eight in all. The witness did not see them approaching from a distance: they appeared and then continued along their path. The last one stayed motionless for 15 to 20 seconds before moving off again.

Back home, the witness told a friend about the sighting, and the friend put them in touch with a second witness. That person had seen four "red circles" at the same time, one of which stopped before following the same direction as the spheres the first witness described. Only one technical questionnaire was completed.

GEIPAN concluded that this was a group of Thai lanterns. The round shape, the red and orange colours, and the grey of the upper part of the envelope, barely lit by the flame, all fit this type of object. The lanterns drifted with the wind at under 9 km/h, which places them less than 150 metres from the witness and explains the detailed description. Their number, the absence of noise, and the observation lasting about 2 minutes, well within a lantern's maximum lifespan of roughly 20 minutes, are also consistent. The lantern that stopped can be explained by a patch of calm or lighter wind. The case was classified A.