They were the very first reports by the MSM. Will Google it for you and see what's still online. The things I am finding at this late date have extensive editing to add the specifics released by AF regarding the plane, crew, passengers, the storm.
However, at first, these were the reports coming in during the middle of the first night the plane went down:
"A Brazilian air force spokesman said the pilot of a TAM airliner saw what looked like fire on the water along the Air France jet's flight path.
That pilot "saw several orange points on the ocean while flying over the region," said the spokesman. Col. Jorge Amaral. "After arriving in Brazil, the pilot found out about the disappearance [of the plane] and said that he thought those points on the ocean were fire."
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/130885524
Pilots flying a commercial jet from Paris to Rio de Janeiro for Brazil's largest airline, TAM, spotted what they thought was fire in the Atlantic Ocean along the same flight path of an Air France jet that vanished Monday, the airline said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.
Brazilian Air Force spokesman Col. Jorge Amaral said authorities were investigating the pilots' sighting, according to the Agencia Brasil official news service.
"There is information that the pilot of a TAM aircraft saw several orange points on the ocean while flying over the region ... where the Air France plane disappeared," Amaral said. "After arriving in Brazil, the pilot found out about the disappearance [of the Air France plane] and said that he thought those points on the ocean were fire."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,524180,00.html
Google the terms: pilot saw fire on Atlantic
and you will see MANY more articles stating the same thing but they have been " cleaned up" significantly since the weather theory has been put forth.
And I did make an error- it was not Lufthansa, but a Brazilian airline, sorry.