Sighting in Albi, April 13, 2015

A witness watched the sky for more than an hour, from 10:10 pm to 11:30 pm, first with the naked eye and then through binoculars. They saw two coloured, multicoloured luminous phenomena moving slowly. Their colours changed, and their shape resembled the shell of a sea urchin.

The investigation found that the slow movement matches the rotation of the Earth, about 15° per hour, which is typical of celestial objects. The directions the witness gave were imprecise, but they seem to point to the stars Procyon and Capella. These are nevertheless less bright than Sirius, and especially than Venus and Jupiter. The weather record for the day showed a high temperature for the season, 27°. Such temperature differences create turbulence in the atmosphere and strong twinkling, most visible through binoculars. Strong wind, especially warm wind, can have the same effect. The witness's binoculars were 10x25 hiking binoculars, poorly suited to astronomy: their high magnification makes a steady view hard to hold by hand, and they can distort shapes and colours.

GEIPAN classified the case as B, probable observation of celestial objects. A more precise account, placing the objects in relation to each other, would have allowed a more exact identification.