ASNIERES-SUR-OISE (95) 24.12.2015

On 24 December 2015 at 23:48, a witness saw a bright red point surrounded by a red halo move silently in a straight line below the cloud cover. He took 2 photographs. As the object passed overhead, he estimated its size as roughly that of a car. It disappeared behind trees after crossing the sky in 2 minutes. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN considers an orange ball crossing the sky over a few minutes on a festive night strongly suggestive of a sky lantern, probably released nearby for Christmas. Its southwest-to-northeast movement matches the southwesterly wind recorded at Asnières-sur-Oise: local weather records show a light southwesterly wind, while Météociel records for Creil show a stronger southwesterly wind, both consistent with the movement. Météociel records for Roissy, however, show a strong southeasterly wind inconsistent with that direction. The photographs also fit this explanation, showing a characteristic flame colour. GEIPAN classifies the case B: probable observation of a sky lantern. The witness was informed of this hypothesis but rejected it. GEIPAN nevertheless considers the account fully consistent with a lantern: horizontal, straight movement of a luminous point with a red or orange halo, matching the local wind direction on a festive evening. It states that, as always in this type of case, the witness overestimated distance and speed because lantern burners are intrinsically faint compared with aircraft lights.