Sighting in Sartrouville, March 7, 2022
Yvelines, Île-de-France, France
Sighting on March 7, 2022 in Sartrouville (Yvelines, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was a sky lantern (class A).
What happened
Two witnesses saw a very bright red point cross the night sky at 8:43 p.m. It made no sound. It followed a straight path, travelling from east to west according to the witness, and then vanished behind a building. One of the two managed to film it with their phone. The investigation heard from only one of the two witnesses.
The description and the video both fit a sky lantern, also called a flying lantern or Chinese lantern. The object was a rounded red point. Its path also matched the wind recorded by the Argenteuil weather station, 4 km from the observation spot, which reported a wind at 78°. The sighting took place on a Monday evening, a less usual time for a lantern release. Since these festive objects have become widespread, though, the day and the occasion matter less.
On the strength of these elements, GEIPAN classified the case as A: very probable observation of a sky lantern.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- March 7, 2022
- Location
- Sartrouville · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Sky lanterns
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2022-03-51328
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.