Valras plage 2015, triangular lights at night

Summary

On August 16, 2015, a witness in Valras plage observed three evenly spaced white lights forming a perfect triangle. The object moved slowly and silently before suddenly disappearing. His friends, who were present, did not have time to notice the phenomenon. No other testimonies were collected. The witness noticed a black triangle between the lights, which could be a perceptual illusion known as a contour illusion. The movement was observed toward the west, but it did not match the wind recorded in Béziers. Although the observation was very brief, a local sea breeze could not be ruled out.

The case is considered to have low consistency due to the brevity of the observation and the lack of additional testimonies. If the contour illusion is accepted, the case is not particularly unusual. The possibility of luminous balloons, such as LED balloons or Thai lanterns, common in the tourist area during the 15th of August celebrations, was also considered. However, wind data did not confirm or refute this hypothesis. Due to the lack of information and cross-verification, the GEIPAN classified the case as "C".