FISMES (51) 25.12.2014

On December 25, 2014, at about 1 a.m., a witness saw two orange lights follow the same path a few seconds apart. Only one account was collected. GEIPAN considered their appearance and several-minute passage on a holiday night consistent with sky lanterns. Their southwest-to-east motion matched a westerly wind of 11–20 km/h recorded at Reims-Prunay, forty kilometres east. Investigators estimated a lower altitude than the witness, around fifty metres; the visible detail and blur were attributed to flickering flames and smoke or vapour. The case was classified B: probable sky lanterns.