Drôme, France · 2014-04-28 · from the GEIPAN archive
On April 28, 2014 at 10 p.m., a couple in a car is intrigued by about ten luminous points in the sky. Yellow-orange balls move silently toward the south. The observation lasts 3 minutes before the balls disappear in the distance. A few photographs are taken with a mobile phone. Two testimonies are collected on this phenomenon. The gendarmerie investigation will not find any particular events or other witnesses in the area that evening. The observation of orange balls crossing the sky in a few minutes clearly suggests Thai lanterns, probably released nearby at the end of a private party. The movement is observed from North to South, then Southwest, which is consistent with the North to Northeast wind recorded at Bourg-les-Valence. The Infoclimat reading at Bourg-les-Valence indicates a slight N NE wind (3 to 5 km/h). The strong relief of the Crussol castle causes disturbances in the wind at low altitude, which may explain the change in direction. The witness takes a few photos: they turn out to be out of focus (focus blur, very common on night photos in these conditions) or blurred from movement. They nevertheless prove the reality of the phenomenon, and the color of the phenomenon is entirely consistent with that of Thai lanterns. The distance estimate made by the witness cannot be accurate since he has never seen this type of object. Because Thai lanterns are inherently dim (large candle flame), they are always perceived as farther away and therefore larger and faster than they really are. See the explanation of size and distance estimation of an unknown phenomenon. GEIPAN classifies this case "B": very probable observation of Thai lanterns.
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This is an official case file of GEIPAN, the French space agency's unidentified aerospace phenomena office, machine translated from French. The original text and the full investigation file are at geipan.fr. We reproduce it with thanks and remove anything on request.
Anomaly