INZINZAC-LOCHRIST (56) 09.07.2016

Around 22:45 on 9 July 2016, a witness and his wife at Inzinzac-Lochrist (56) watched an orange circular object move silently below cloud for 3 minutes. After changing direction, it became black and cylindrical. They observed with the naked eye and then binoculars. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN found the colour, appearance and movement strongly suggestive of a sky lantern. Motion matched the prevailing wind towards the northeast recorded at Sénébret, 9 km away. As a lantern goes out, its bright light can give way to the dark body. GEIPAN interpreted the initial orange disc as the closer view, followed by a more side-on view of a vertical cylinder after extinction. Uneven light within the ball or disc, particularly in binoculars, was also typical. It classified the case B: probable observation of a sky lantern.