SAINT-CLAIR-DU-RHONE (38) 14.05.2022

On 14 May 2022 at about 23:50, a witness walking outside his home saw a substantial red-orange point with a halo, estimated magnitude −6. It remained stationary for about 30 seconds, descended vertically, moved south, then rose vertically. It subsequently accelerated southward toward Saint-Alban nuclear power station in Saint-Maurice-l’Exil before houses blocked it. No sound was heard. Over about 10 minutes it covered roughly 120° of sky. Initial elevation was estimated at 25–30°, gradually falling to 20° when lost from view. The witness made a photographic reconstruction. GEIPAN rates the evidential substance* moderate: one witness and a reconstruction, but no actual sighting photographs or video. It concludes probable windborne sky lantern (see investigation report), based on a point with a halo, red-orange colour, fairly strong brightness, movement generally with the wind, and calculated travel duration fitting a lantern about 200 m away moving at wind speed, about 1 m/s. A Saturday in calm weather and light wind was suitable for a private or local celebration. The initial pause and two brief vertical motions superimposed on southward travel could reflect local urban heat sources creating calm or rising air. GEIPAN considers this sufficient to explain both unfamiliar appearance and seemingly random movement. The source assigns classification A: probable sky lantern observation. *Evidential substance is the amount of information collected for an account considered reliable and objectively substantiated.