HAUT-RHIN (68) 22.02.2015

On 22 February 2015 between 18:45 and 18:55, several people in Habsheim and Eschentzwiller (68) observed moving lights in the sky. The accounts and photographs strongly suggest sky lanterns, the only hypothesis considered. The festive context supports it: - Mulhouse carnival took place on 20, 21 and 22 February. - Basel carnival began at 04:00 on 23 February with Morgenstreich, a lantern-lit procession using non-flying lanterns. - Carnival celebrations across Alsace and neighboring Germany and Switzerland extend over more than a month in most villages. - It was still the Chinese New Year period, beginning on 19 February. - It was Sunday, also allowing for another community or private celebration. The witnesses' positions (see attached illustrations) suggest nearby objects at relatively low altitude. They moved slowly in very light wind. Gradual, irregular fading and a non-geometric formation fit lanterns or similar objects. White reported by 1 witness, and especially orange by the other, are compatible, as is silence: 1 witness got out of a car and the other opened a window. Both photographs are typical lantern images with motion blur from slow shutter speeds in low light. Points against the hypothesis remain. The very light southeasterly wind does not directly match the Habsheim witness's reported right-to-left movement toward nearby Germany. The other witness described the lights as rather stationary, not inherently incompatible but not clearly matching the assumed wind. However, at only 3–5 km/h the wind was unstable and subject to local variation. Wind-following cannot be established, but very slow movement does not contradict it. No corresponding press or Internet report had been found, and only 2 accounts were collected despite many potential observers in nearby towns, villages and on the motorway. Given the descriptive and behavioral features and the region's festive context, GEIPAN classifies the case B: very probable observation of sky lanterns.