CHEVIGNY-SAINT-SAUVEUR (21) 11.02.2016

On 11 February 2016 at 21:06, a witness in Chevigny-Saint-Sauveur (21) saw a strongly twinkling orange light through his living-room window. He filmed it and later noticed in the video what appeared to be a small white object circling the ball at high speed. His wife also saw the UAP in the sky. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN judges the evidential strength good: 2 witnesses, although only 1 submitted an account, and a video. The video's landmarks, dating, UAP appearance and clouds agree with the account; see the investigation report. Although sky-lantern releases are more often observed on weekends and this sighting was on a Thursday, GEIPAN considers the witness's statements supportive of a lantern. The 6 km/h wind was compatible with a release, and the reported disappearance matched the object drifting away. Its brightness, orange color, position below clouds without rain, and varying luminosity support a lantern with a flickering candle flame. A field suitable for a release lies 300 m away along the witnesses' line of sight. The main unusual feature was the small white object apparently circling rapidly, noticed afterward in a zoomed video view. GEIPAN explains this as the combined effects of the flickering flame, possible focus changes and movement of the handheld iPhone during filming. GEIPAN classifies the case as A: observation of a sky lantern.