Luminous balls over Troyes in 2015

Summary

On January 2, 2015, at 1:30 AM, a witness observed from his window a chaotic group of about ten luminous balls silently crossing the sky over Troyes. The phenomenon lasted about 15 seconds before the objects disappeared behind rooftops and the horizon. Only one testimony was collected, and the witness initially stated his window faced west. However, astronomical data showed that Orion was actually in the southwest, while the Moon was in the west-southwest, suggesting the witness might have had trouble with cardinal directions.

Meteorological data indicated a slight southeast wind at ground level, which did not align with the direction of the objects' movement. Despite this, the description of yellow balls crossing the sky in a minute, on a festive weekend night, led to the hypothesis of Thai lanterns. However, neither the behavior nor the direction of the objects matched what would be expected if they were carried by the wind. An analysis by Meteo-France revealed that the wind at altitude came from the southwest, which could explain erratic movements but not the southeast trajectory. Due to the lack of additional evidence such as photos or other testimonies, the GEIPAN classified the case as "C".