A triangle shape in Dordogne, France

On September 10, 2017 at 10:26 PM, a witness on their terrace noticed a light at low altitude heading West. Very quickly, the witness saw that this light was heading in their direction and saw a triangular shape. They then hurried back inside to get binoculars. From their observation with this instrument, the witness described a triangular object, orange in color but with brighter ends tending toward white. The movement was silent on a straight West-East trajectory. The observation lasted about fifteen seconds before the witness lost sight of the object without being able to explain its sudden disappearance (possibly hidden by a cloud). No other testimony was collected. The witness probably observed a Thai lantern. Indeed, all its characteristics: - the orange color, - the direction of movement toward the East, consistent with the wind measured across all surrounding weather stations (unfortunately none have data available within less than 25 km — here the one at Gourdon, 25 km away, taken from Infoclimat — which always has a strong Eastward component at that hour), - the date, a Sunday evening in summer, favorable for festive events, are all elements supporting this hypothesis. The witness's objections to this hypothesis hardly hold up against GEIPAN's experience with lantern testimonies: - a lantern can be single, - the speed can be steady and sustained, it depends on the wind at flight altitude (100 to 300 m), - one does not always see the flames, and not better directly under the lantern because they can be hidden by the burner, - lanterns can have various shapes or sections, particularly in their upper part, including triangular, square, or even heart-shaped (see a commercial site), - the color of the lantern is not uniform, because the paper can have color variations, especially if the shape is irregular. Consequently, GEIPAN classifies the case as B: Thai lantern.