BOURG-LES-VALENCE (26) 28.04.2014

On 28 April 2014 at 22:00, a couple traveling by car saw about 10 points of light in the sky. The yellow-orange balls moved silently southward. The observation lasted 3 minutes before they disappeared into the distance. Some photographs were taken with a mobile phone, and 2 accounts were collected. The gendarmerie investigation found no particular event or additional witnesses in the area that night. Orange balls crossing the sky in a few minutes strongly suggest sky lanterns, probably released nearby after a private party. They moved from north to south, then southwest, consistent with the north to northeast wind recorded at Bourg-lès-Valence. Infoclimat reported a light north-northeast wind of 3–5 km/h. The pronounced terrain around Château de Crussol disturbs low-altitude winds and could explain the change in direction. The photographs are out of focus, as is common in these nighttime conditions, or blurred by camera movement. They nevertheless establish that a phenomenon was present, and its color fits sky lanterns. GEIPAN considers the witness's distance estimate unreliable because the witness had never seen this type of object. The source states that sky lanterns' intrinsically low brightness, from a large candle flame, makes them appear farther away, and therefore larger and faster, than they are. It refers readers to its explanation of size and distance estimates for an unfamiliar phenomenon. GEIPAN classifies the case B: very probable sky lanterns.