LAGUIOLE (12) 23.11.2013

On 23 November 2013 at 18:45, a person in Laguiole (12) watched a bright yellow-orange round shape move silently in a straight line beneath clouds for 15 seconds. Its path was described as west/southwest before a corner of the house hid it. GEIPAN considers a horizontal orange ball on a Saturday evening suggestive of a sky lantern released at the start of a party. However, the sparsely inhabited area offered no obvious launch site for a lantern carried by the northwesterly wind. Rodez weather records showed a sustained northwest wind and cloudy sky. The brief 15-second sighting makes confirmation or exclusion difficult, and no other account was collected. Ball lightning was also considered, but GEIPAN regarded it as very unlikely in that season, despite notably unsettled weather that day. The case is classified as C: lack of information.