Sighting in Riom, November 25, 2016

A driver noticed a moving red light at 18:03, as evening was setting in. At first they took it for a motorized vehicle climbing a slope. The light, however, rose in altitude above the Gergovie plateau and then vanished. It moved silently. The witness also described other lights in the falling darkness. No other testimony was collected.

The investigation linked these details to the release of a Thai lantern. The Infoclimat record from the Aulnat station shows a very variable wind, but one blowing toward the west at 18:00, so it could have carried a lantern up toward the plateau. It was already somewhat dark at that hour, and weekends are more favorable to this kind of playful or festive event. More lanterns may have been released later, without the witness seeing them. GEIPAN therefore classified the case as B: probable observation of a Thai lantern.