Sighting in Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau, September 12, 2021

At about 1:15 a.m., two witnesses at home saw around ten orange points of light cross the sky from north toward the south-east. The points all went out at roughly the same spot, growing dimmer as they did so. A photo was taken. The sighting lasted about five minutes. Only one witness account was collected for this event.

The witness's description fits a release of Thai lanterns. Orange points of light match the usual look of these objects. The trajectory agrees with the wind direction recorded by the weather stations at Bouguenais (9 km from the witness) and Saint-Philibert-de-Grand-Lieu (18 km), at 10° and 355°. The wind was light, at 4 km/h and 0 km/h, which is a requirement for releasing lanterns. The fading before disappearance is typical of a lantern burning out. The sighting took place on a Saturday night into Sunday, a time well suited to lantern releases, and its duration is typical of such an observation.

However, no firm evidence, such as a release declared to the gendarmerie, was found to confirm that a release took place. GEIPAN therefore classified the case as B: probable observation of Thai lanterns.