TAILLAN-MEDOC (LE) (33) 19.07.2015

On Sunday 19 July 2015 at about 00:15 in Le Taillan-Médoc (33), a witness saw a red-orange luminous ball move rapidly west to east for 30 seconds before disappearing into clouds. He later noticed bright projections or irregularities in its outline in the photographs. Five other people saw it, but only 1 well-documented questionnaire was collected. GEIPAN's investigation favors a sky lantern, based on its red-orange color, short roughly 30-second visibility compatible with lantern life, movement with the prevailing wind, silence and disappearance caused either by extinguishing or entry into cloud. It describes the occasion as Saturday night, the festive evening preceding Sunday's after-midnight sighting, suitable for a lantern release. The case is classified as B: probable observation of a sky lantern.