An account in Aveyron, France

On November 8, 2015 between 11 p.m. and 12:10 a.m., two people observe in the sky the silent movement of several yellow-orange lights that follow each other and disappear at altitude. The observation of orange balls crossing the sky in a few minutes, on a weekend night, clearly suggests Thai lanterns, probably released nearby at the end of a private party. The movement is observed from South to North, which is consistent with the light southeast wind recorded at Rodez, 15 km away: Météociel. The area being very hilly, low-altitude air currents follow the valleys more than the prevailing wind. The gendarmerie investigation specifies that: - The detection and control center of Saint-Mars-La-Pile (37), responsible for tracking aircraft radar traces, reports no anomaly in the area concerned on the day of the testimony. - The same search, carried out with the military operational center for space object surveillance (COSMOS) of the air force, reports no trace of any phenomenon in the observed data. One of the witnesses clearly describes the successive and regular takeoff of the series of these hot-air balloons. GEIPAN classifies this case "B": very probable observation of Thai lanterns.