SAINVILLE (28) 08.08.2016

On 8 August 2016, a witness and 3 friends went to watch stars from an uncultivated field at Sainville (28). Turning his head, he saw a bright white object move silently and straight across the night sky. It rapidly faded and disappeared after about 10 seconds. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN assessed the case as moderately strange with weak evidential support: several observers, only one account and no photograph. It favoured a sky lantern; see the investigation report. A very bright white point moving silently with the wind, followed by faint red light at the end, fitted a lantern burning out. The witness found this unconvincing because he felt no wind at ground level. GEIPAN notes that calm at the surface does not mean calm aloft, and the weather investigation confirmed wind at altitude. The release location could not be conclusively identified. GEIPAN classified the case B: probable misidentification of a sky lantern.