PERPIGNAN (66) 04.01.2025

On 4 January 2025 at about 18:00, T1, traveling by car in Perpignan (66) with his partner T2, reported about ten twinkling red lights moving in the sky. He stopped and got out to film them with his smartphone. His parents, alerted at the same time, confirmed seeing the lights from another location, providing partial corroboration. The whole phenomenon lasted an estimated 10 minutes. On 25 February 2025, T1 sent GEIPAN a completed technical questionnaire and video. At the time of the source account, no other questionnaire had been received; the other mentioned witnesses had not formally reported. The case has good evidential strength*, although only one formal account was collected despite several observers. The main account is sufficiently precise and includes a video lasting 2 minutes 8 seconds. It clearly shows ten lights moving slowly upward. Clearly visible ground landmarks locate the scene and facilitate analysis. Only one hypothesis was considered: sky lanterns. The reddish, twinkling lights followed an ascending path influenced by wind, matching the usual appearance of released sky lanterns. GEIPAN used IPACO* to authenticate the video and check color consistency with lanterns (appendix 1). The apparent strangeness probably resulted from the witnesses' distant viewing angle, but the smooth light movements are typical of a lantern release: - Every light originated at the same place, toward one point on the ground. Playing the film backward shows them converging toward that point one after another. - The trajectory is continuously upward. - They ascend at a steady speed. - Spacing remains constant according to the release order. - No light overtakes another or changes course. - Apparent speed and direction fit a light north-directed wind of 4–6 km/h (weather conditions, appendix 2). - The only light apparently moving the other way is a reflection, a tracking lens flare. - The highest lights go out in their order of arrival. On 9 March, the prefecture was asked whether prior permission for a lantern release had been requested. On 13 March, Perpignan's Public Order and Administrative Security Police Office replied that no application to release balloons or lanterns had been received for the observation date. Additional checks with municipal and national police found no reported information about these lights. The investigation considers an unauthorized lantern release very likely, associated with a festive, sporting or cultural event. The sighting was on a Saturday in late afternoon, a time favorable to such events. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of sky lanterns. *Under GEIPAN's criteria, evidential strength is the amount of information collected for an account that is considered reliable and objectively substantiated. *IPACO: GEIPAN's image-analysis and processing software, IPACO.fr.