White lights in the sky over Saint-Gely-du-Fesc

Summary

On March 9, 2013, a witness in Saint-Gely-du-Fesc observed around 8:20 PM a group of about fifteen white luminous points moving silently from southeast to northwest. The objects disappeared behind the horizon, and their trajectory matched the local wind direction, which that day was blowing from the southwest to the west. Although the witness did not report erratic movement, the behavior of the objects seemed to follow the weather conditions. The description of white points suggests more balloon lights than Thai lanterns. Balloon lights are helium-filled balloons containing small lights powered by tiny batteries. The GEIPAN did not investigate who launched them, but noted that the residential area to the southwest of the observer was likely the launch site. In the end, the case was classified as "B", meaning a probable observation of flying balloons or lanterns.