An account in Meurthe-et-Moselle, France

On Saturday, July 27, 2013 at 10 p.m., two walkers are intrigued by the straight-line and silent movement in the sky of an orange luminous point. The observation lasts two to three minutes before the object disappears at the horizon. The next day, the witnesses will discover other people who saw the phenomenon in the area, but no other testimony will be collected at GEIPAN. This testimony of a large orange luminous point is extremely well described; it is not very strange. The color, the linear movement, the time and the day of the observation are compatible with a Thai lantern. The consistency of the movement with the local wind is uncertain: the available weather records at Luxembourg and Metz respectively report wind from the South or Southwest, but very variable, possibly explaining the change in direction of the object. Single Thai lanterns are not rare. The apparent "radial" speed of Thai lanterns in average wind is of the same order as that of airplanes. The apparent size and strong luminosity reported by the witness are difficult to compare with lanterns, given the variety of models on the one hand, and the observation conditions on the other. This observation is compatible with a Thai lantern, but not all the clues allowing confirmation (wind, release in numbers) are present. A wedding is noted at Rehon at 4 p.m. that day. With these clues and uncertainties, GEIPAN classifies this case "B": probable observation of a Thai lantern.