Sighting in Villemoisson-sur-Orge, January 1, 2016

At around 1:30 in the morning, on New Year's night, several people saw three orange spheres moving across the sky without making any sound. The sighting lasted five minutes. The spheres then moved off at high speed until they vanished. Only one report was submitted to GEIPAN.

GEIPAN noted that orange balls seen on a festive night like this strongly suggest Thai lanterns, most likely released nearby at the end of a private party. The three objects followed a similar path, which is typical of lanterns launched one after another and carried along the same stream of wind. When a lantern goes out, its light fades quickly but not instantly, and this is often mistaken for the object speeding away. The case was therefore classified B: probable Thai lanterns.