METHAMIS (84) 14.08.2012

On 14 August 2012 between 23:30 and 23:35, a witness saw an orange, rounded but vaguely triangular light move silently along a perfectly straight, steady horizontal path. The observation lasted about 2 minutes. Three other people saw it but did not submit accounts. The description and a date traditionally associated with festivities initially favored a sky lantern. However, a light south wind recorded at Avignon seemed incompatible with a northeast airflow in the Méthamis valley, so that hypothesis was not retained. Satellite-debris reentry was ruled out because it moved west. The apparent speed seemed too low for a faint fireball, which the source describes as a meteorite entering the atmosphere, and the appearance did not fit an aircraft either. Given these uncertainties, GEIPAN classifies the case C: insufficient information.