VALDOIE (90) 24.12.2015

On 24 December 2015 at about 19:40, a witness in a garden saw a very bright orange glow cross the clear sky silently, initially described as traveling east to west. It shrank and disappeared. Only 1 account was collected. The description suggests a sky lantern: an orange glow moving silently with the wind and disappearing as its flame goes out. The investigation examined this hypothesis further. The account contains a directional contradiction. It initially says the phenomenon “crossed the sky from due east to due west,” but the detailed description gives a west-to-east trajectory. To resolve this, investigators used its reported position “to the right of and below the Moon.” Lunar-calendar data show that the Moon was 1 day short of full and rose at 15:39 UT on 24 December 2015. It was in the east, having risen 3 hours earlier, to the left of the south-facing witness. The investigation interprets the phenomenon's position to the Moon's right, westward when facing south, as indicating west-to-east travel, consistent with the detailed account. Météociel records for Belfort-Dorans station, less than 10 km to the south, describe clear skies, 20 km visibility and a west wind of 10–20 km/h at its peak. A drifting object would therefore move west to east, matching that trajectory. The witness estimated the orange glow at 1/4 to 1/3 of the full Moon's apparent size. It then shrank to a point before going out. The sighting occurred on Christmas Eve, an occasion conducive to festive lantern releases. GEIPAN classifies the case B: probable sky lantern.