Sighting in Thuir, January 1, 2021

On New Year's Eve, at around ten past midnight, a witness was walking their dog in the street. The sky was partly cloudy. The witness first noticed a phenomenon resembling a big orange, coming from the north-west and moving silently toward the south-east. Hardly had it been spotted when a second one, completely identical, appeared and followed the same path at the same speed. A third was then also seen. No sound was heard, and the observation lasted one minute at most.

The account contains nothing strongly strange, apart from the witness's own impression, which is always hard to characterise. The case file is rather thin, as the witness did not fill in the "Questions" section of the questionnaire. Even so, GEIPAN considered that the account and the supporting information made it certain that lanterns had been released for the new year, although the witness did not think of that explanation. Three very bright orange spheres match the look of such lanterns. Their path fits the wind, which blew from the north-west to the south-east at roughly 5 to 7 km/h according to at least two weather stations. The timing, just after midnight on New Year's Eve, was well suited to this kind of celebration, and the witness themselves mentioned fireworks. GEIPAN concluded that Thai lanterns had been mistaken for something else and classified the case as A.