EVRY (91) 12.05.2014

At 22:26 on 12 May 2014, a mother and daughter in Évry (91) saw a fiery-orange luminous mass moving through the night sky. They thought it might be an aircraft or hot-air balloon on fire. It nevertheless moved calmly northeast without losing altitude, then disappeared behind trees after 1 minute. Only 1 account was collected. The light came from the Corbeil/Mennecy area south of Évry and headed towards Étiolles/Tigery to the east, suggesting northeastward travel. Météociel recorded light winds from west at 22:00, becoming southwesterly at 23:00, with substantial cloud cover of 4–7/8. GEIPAN found the motion consistent with local wind. Colour, duration and movement fitted a sky lantern, probably released privately after a celebration or as a trial. However, the reported shape with orange rays and the Monday date were unusual for this explanation. Another possibility was an aircraft approaching Orly's runways from the west. GEIPAN notes that a head-on aircraft can appear as a large stationary light with flashing lights too weak to be seen under those conditions. GEIPAN also explains that the failed photograph was unsurprising because the Nintendo DS camera lacked sensitivity for night photography. It classified the case B: probable observation of a sky lantern.