Sighting in Strasbourg, December 6, 2008

On a Saturday evening, at about 10:18 p.m., a witness noticed three orange-red points of light in the sky. They were moving together, silently, from the northwest toward the southeast. The witness had time to take three photographs before the roof of the building blocked the view. A fourth object with the same characteristics, following the same path, appeared afterward. The sighting lasted about fifteen minutes in all.

GEIPAN noted the orange-red colour and the slow, straight movement, whose direction matched the measured wind to within a few degrees. The timing fits as well: it was a Saturday night after 10 p.m., on Saint Nicholas' Day, which is widely celebrated in Alsace. The investigation therefore concluded that the witness very probably mistook a flight of festive lanterns, known as Thai or Chinese lanterns, for something else, a classic case of such confusion. The case is classed B (probably identified).