Sighting in Viels-Maisons, July 19, 2015

Around midnight, two people looked at the sky through binoculars and saw a line of several orange lights. The lights flickered, and the whole group looked like aircraft flying in formation, moving from west to east. One of the witnesses noticed a last light that quickly caught up with the others. No noise was reported. Only one witness account was collected during the investigation, and the sighting lasted about a minute.

GEIPAN classified the case as B, meaning it was very probably Thai lanterns. Several points supported this: the orange colour, similar to that of lanterns; a moderate speed, like that of objects carried by little or no wind; a short duration, consistent with the lifespan of a lantern; a number consistent with lanterns released in quantity; and the date, a Sunday evening, a time suited to lantern launches during celebrations. The apparent acceleration and disappearance were explained by the lanterns going out or entering the cloud layer.