An account in Gers, France

On January 1, 2015, around 1 a.m., several members of the same family are intrigued by the movements in the clear sky of 5 luminous spheres, one of them bright red and the others bright orange. No noise is heard during their movement. The objects change position, rise and descend before disappearing one after another toward the East. Only one testimony will be collected. The observation of orange balls crossing the sky in a few minutes, on a night of a big celebration, clearly suggests sky lanterns, probably released nearby at the end of a private party. The movement is observed from the Southwest toward the East, which does not match well with the slight southerly wind recorded in Auch, 30 km away (see the Météociel report for the day of the observation in Auch). Also noted is a fairly atypical behavior of the phenomenon, whose altitude is highly variable, possibly related to the extreme cold of that night (-4°C). Due to the uncertainty about the local wind, and the absence of photos or other witnesses, GEIPAN classifies this case as C, due to lack of meteorological information and cross-checking.