TROYES (10) 02.01.2015

At 01:30 on 2 January 2015, a witness looking at the stars from his window in Troyes saw a disordered group of about 10 luminous balls move silently over the town. After 15 seconds, roofs and the horizon hid them. Only 1 account was collected. When contacted by phone, the witness clarified that his window faced southwest. A star chart confirmed Orion to the southwest, rather than west as he had said, and the Moon to the west/southwest. Correcting these directional references placed the objects' departure towards the south-southeast. Météociel's Troyes record showed a light wind from the southeast at ground level, apparently incompatible with windborne objects moving south-southeast. GEIPAN nevertheless found the description of yellow balls crossing the sky during a holiday weekend night strongly suggestive of sky lanterns released nearby after a private party. In that discussion the source calls the crossing duration 1 minute, differing from the initial 15 seconds. The appearance matched lanterns, commonly released for many occasions, but their behaviour and direction fitted the recorded wind poorly. A Météo-France assessment found winds aloft from the southwest, perpendicular to the surface wind. This could explain turbulence but not south-southeast travel. The holiday lantern-release hypothesis could not be confirmed. GEIPAN classified the case C for lack of corroboration such as photographs, video or further accounts.