TOULOUSE (31) 04.08.2015

On 4 August 2015 at about 23:00–23:15, several people on a terrace saw 2 large orange-red circles of light moving silently in straight lines at the same speed. They passed over the house's roof and out of view. A third object then appeared, seemingly fading. The witnesses walked around the house, but it had disappeared. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN finds the colors, shapes and grouped flight strongly suggest sky lanterns. The reported path had a strong north-to-south component: elevation remained high and constant at 60°, while azimuth changed from northwest to southwest. This matches the mainly north-to-south wind recorded nearby at Blagnac; see the weather data. The third object's changing appearance near the end could reflect its flame slowly going out, turning a luminous round shape into a gray round shape. GEIPAN notes that an unlit envelope can remain visible if the surroundings are not too dark, as often occurs in a city, where a lantern at 50 or 200 m altitude is relatively close to urban lighting. Its fall, potentially rapid once insufficient heat remained to keep it aloft, could have occurred just after the house hid it from view. GEIPAN classifies the case B: probable observation of sky lanterns.