OULLINS (69) 20.05.2016

On 20 May 2016 at 23:15, a witness outside his building in Oullins (69) saw 3 large orange points arranged in a triangle, moving slowly without flashing or sound. He filmed them with his phone. The brightest, at lower left, gradually moved between the other 2, forming a line, and ultimately remained alone as the others faded and disappeared. He then noticed a bright fourth orange UAP below and to their right, moving towards their position. He began a second video and saw it move north to south, pass behind trees and then recede westwards. The complete sighting lasted 5 minutes. GEIPAN assesses the evidential strength as good despite a single witness, because both videos were analysed. Its criterion concerns the quantity of reliable, objectively supported information collected for an account. The investigation favours sky lanterns, also called Thai lanterns. At the viewing distance they appear point-like; the nearer, brighter fourth UAP shows a compatible spherical shape. Orange is typical. Although the initial account says no flashing, the videos clearly show flickering. GEIPAN explains that a candle inside an open-bottomed rice-paper envelope is exposed to air movements that make its flame flicker. Five minutes is below the known maximum lantern lifetime of about 20 minutes. A Friday evening in May suits a celebratory release. The witness described the general movement from Oullins le Golf towards Chaponost, east to west or east-north-east to west-south-west. Wind at the nearest station, Lyon-Bron airport, was light and variable (Appendix 1): 0 km/h with gusts to 4 km/h, compatible with slow drift. Different lantern altitudes explain differing apparent movements. The rising path without direction changes cited in the analysis fits objects ascending under candle heat; the initial fourth-UAP account separately describes north-to-south movement followed by westward recession. GEIPAN classifies the case B: probable sky-lantern observation.