Sighting in Rumilly, January 1, 2026

From the terrace of their home, the main witness looked east at 8:44 p.m. and saw a first point-like yellow phenomenon surrounded by a red halo. It was accompanied by what the witness called a "combustion cone" and by intense brightness. It moved quickly and silently in a straight line upward before vanishing at high altitude. It was lost from view after 40 seconds, behind trees. Two more phenomena with the same characteristics then appeared. One of them abruptly stopped emitting light, rotated, and then disappeared. In all, the three phenomena were visible for about 6 minutes. The witness estimated their apparent size at about 5 millimetres, measured with a ruler held at arm's length. Their partner confirmed seeing the phenomena, but only the main witness completed the GEIPAN questionnaire. They made three videos.

GEIPAN rated the case's consistency as good, thanks to these usable videos. The witness found the experience very strange, as they could not match the objects to any conventional aerial phenomenon they knew.

The investigation settled on the hypothesis of sky lanterns. In the videos, the objects are spherical, with a reddish halo and an orange overall colour, and their brightness flickers like a flame. The word "combustion" fits a flame placed beneath the open envelope. The silent climb is explained by heated air, lighter than the surrounding air, in very light and variable wind at the Annecy station. The apparently high speed came from the lanterns being relatively close. New Year's festivities suit this kind of release, and the short duration matches the flame going out, which the witness filmed. GEIPAN classified the case as A.