RUMILLY (74) 01.01.2026

On 1 January 2026 at 20:44, T1 watched a first UAP to the east from his terrace in Rumilly, Haute-Savoie. It was a very bright yellow point with a red halo, followed by what he described as a 'combustion cone'. It rose quickly and silently in a straight line before disappearing at high altitude. Two further UAPs with the same features followed. One abruptly stopped emitting light, rotated and then disappeared. T1 estimated an apparent size of about 5 mm on a ruler held at arm's length. His partner T2 also confirmed seeing them. The source additionally says the first phenomenon disappeared behind trees after 40 seconds, retaining this alongside its earlier high-altitude disappearance description. The three phenomena were observed over about 6 minutes, and T1 made three separate videos. The case has good evidential strength*, despite only T1 completing a GEIPAN questionnaire, because usable videos are available. He experienced considerable strangeness, being unable to match the UAPs to familiar conventional aerial phenomena. *Under GEIPAN's criteria, evidential strength is the amount of information collected for an account that is considered reliable and objectively substantiated. The sky-lantern hypothesis is supported by: - The described point-like appearance and spherical shapes on video, reddish halo and overall orange color, typical of lanterns. The word 'combustion' fits a flame at the base of a lantern's envelope. - Changing brightness on video, typical of a flame flickering within an envelope open below. - Silent, fairly rapid ascent, clearly visible in one video. Wind at Annecy station, about 20–25 km away, was very weak and variable. Movement was therefore mainly governed by buoyancy from candle-heated air, which becomes less dense than surrounding air and raises the lantern. Their relatively close distance, evident in the videos, explains the apparently high speed. - New Year's celebrations in calm weather and very light wind are favorable to lantern releases. - The short observation fits the usual lantern flight ending as the heating flame goes out. T1 even filmed that extinction. The source's sky-lantern page provides examples of lantern flights. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of sky lanterns.