Sighting in Saint-Pierre, December 14, 2008
La Réunion, France
Sighting on December 14, 2008 in Saint-Pierre (La Réunion, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was a sky lantern (class A).
What happened
At around 9 p.m., several witnesses saw an orange, spherical object go by without making any sound. It stayed in view for about 20 seconds. It moved in a straight line from the east toward the northwest and left no trail. Its brightness flickered, and then the object vanished.
One of the witnesses said that similar balls had already been seen the week before. The Makes observatory, which was consulted, mentioned "wish lanterns", of the same kind as Thai lanterns.
The main witness confirmed this explanation, having seen more of them again on Christmas night. GEIPAN classified the case as A, concluding that the witnesses had seen a Thai lantern drifting past.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- December 14, 2008
- Location
- Saint-Pierre · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Sky lanterns
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2008-12-01930
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.