Sighting in Velleron, April 21, 2019

On a Sunday evening at about 10:10 pm, a couple was driving along the D31. The front-seat passenger noticed several round, red-orange lights low in the sky to the east, which was slightly hazy. With the window open, they filmed the scene on their mobile phone, making two videos one after the other, while their husband kept driving. No particular sound was heard. The lights then suddenly disappeared. The driver had seen the same thing but not as well, since he had to watch the road. Only one witness statement was collected.

GEIPAN rated the case as low in strangeness but high in consistency: two witnesses, two videos and a fairly detailed account. The appearance of the phenomenon in the videos and the way it was described (round, bright red-orange lights, seen over a weekend) strongly suggest Thai lanterns. The witness described the lights as stationary, but the videos show a slight apparent movement, which fits with the complete absence of wind at the time. Only the short duration of the sighting and the sudden disappearance seemed surprising; these are explained by the change in direction of the road the witnesses were following. The case was classified B: a very probable misidentification of Thai lanterns.