VIGNEUX-SUR-SEINE (91) 30.09.2023

On 30 September 2023 at 22:57, a witness at home in Vigneux-sur-Seine (91) saw a luminous red-orange oval in the sky. It appeared radiant, as though burning or reflecting sunlight, and left no visible trail. It moved steadily and silently toward the northeast horizon and remained visible for about 30 seconds. GEIPAN describes both strangeness and evidential consistency as moderate: 1 witness and no photograph. Under its criteria, consistency means the amount of reliable, objectively supported information collected for an account. The investigation favors a probable sky lantern; see the investigation report. Supporting features are the Saturday-evening timing, typical of releases for parties, birthdays or weddings; the characteristic red-orange, fire-like color; persistence for several tens of seconds; silence; and a possible halo corresponding to the lantern's envelope. Weather analysis showed that wind direction and strength, both at ground level and aloft, matched the object's travel, supporting a windborne object. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of a sky lantern.