BARCARES (LE) (66) 05.09.2017

On 5 September 2017 at 21:13, a witness fishing at night on Le Barcarès beach saw a very bright orange luminous ball move silently in a straight line and quickly disappear into cloud. One account was collected. The witness obtained 2 photographs from a tourist. GEIPAN considers it very likely that he saw a sky lantern. It finds the shape, potentially uneven glow and apparent size consistent with that explanation. Discussing size, the source quotes the witness as saying 'less than the Moon' and considers his measurement of 3 cm at arm's length mistaken; the French wording 'plus faible' is ambiguous between smaller and fainter. The wind measured at Perpignan that evening matched the direction of the trajectory accurately reconstructed by the witness, according to the cited Infoclimat data. GEIPAN also notes that a resort in early September is a setting and time favorable to festive lantern releases. It classifies the case as B: a sky lantern.