Sighting in Wavrechain-sous-Denain, December 27, 2015

At 6:35 pm, the witness saw two white circular shapes appear in a clear sky, flying one behind the other with a slight offset. They moved silently from south to north (or northeast). On the second shape, the witness noticed a red point of light, which went out after about two seconds. The whole sighting lasted less than ten seconds. No other witness account was collected.

GEIPAN compared this description with Chinese-style sky lanterns, commonly called Thai lanterns: white circular shapes travelling side by side strongly suggest them. The south-to-north direction matches the wind direction recorded at both Lille and Cambrai (10 km away). The angular movement seemed fast (50° in 10 seconds), but it is still consistent with a wind of about 20 km/h, allowing for an uncertainty of a factor of 2 in the actual local wind speed, in the lantern's altitude (50 or 100 m), or in the duration of the observation (10 or 20 seconds). The case was classified B: probable observation of Thai lanterns.