LASSON (14) 03.05.2015

On Sunday 3 May 2015 at 01:30, a witness saw 3 very bright orange balls pass silently through the night sky. He fetched a camera and filmed them, but was disappointed with the result and did not provide the video to GEIPAN. No other account was collected. Orange balls crossing the sky over a few minutes on a weekend night initially suggest sky lanterns released nearby after a private celebration. However, their east-to-west motion fits poorly with the light southerly wind recorded at Caen, 6 km away. The terrain cannot explain such a large directional change over that distance. Late-evening Météociel records from Caen show a sustained southeasterly wind and rain. The rain cleared the air, with horizontal visibility of 55 km, possibly making lanterns seem brighter. At observation time the wind was light and southerly. Sky lanterns follow local winds: steadily over flat terrain in an established wind, or more irregularly where convection occurs. The witness found the video disappointing because the lights remained dim. GEIPAN interprets this as showing that they were not as bright as perceived by someone in complete darkness under overcast skies. The balls appeared whiter in the video because of automatic white balance. Their diamond shape was a defocused image reflecting the camera aperture's shape. Because the wind does not match the reported motion, GEIPAN cannot confirm the lantern hypothesis. It classifies the case C for missing information—the video and another witness—and insufficient corroboration.