White lights over Lake Geneva explained as festive illumination

Summary

On January 1, 2009, around 20:00, several people in Montreux noticed unusual white lights across Lake Geneva. They took photos and used binoculars to examine them closely. The lights vanished around 21:45. The next day, using their photographs, the witnesses pinpointed the location: the Pic de Bore, near a ski slope. GEIPAN initially considered snowplough headlights, but the witnesses later revealed the lights were luminous balloons used to illuminate the slope during the New Year's Eve celebration. Although the event occurred in Switzerland, near the French department of Haute-Savoie, the case was published for its informational value.