Sighting in Vigneux-sur-Seine, September 30, 2023

Late in the evening, at 10:57 p.m., the witness was at home when they noticed an oval, luminous object in the sky, red-orange in colour. They described it as glowing, as if it were on fire or reflecting sunlight. It left no visible trail. It stayed in the witness's view for about 30 seconds, moving steadily toward the north-east horizon, and made no noise.

The case rests on a single witness and there is no photograph of the object, so GEIPAN rated its strangeness and consistency as medium. The investigation concluded that the witness saw a sky lantern. Several points support this: the sighting took place on a Saturday evening, when such lanterns are often released at parties, birthdays or weddings; the red-orange colour, which the witness compared to fire, is typical; the sighting lasted several tens of seconds; there was no sound; and a possible halo could correspond to the lantern's envelope. In addition, the wind direction and strength, both at ground level and at altitude, matched the direction the object travelled, which suggests it was being carried by the wind. The case is classified A.