Sighting in Annemasse, April 8, 2012

A witness watched the sky on the evening of 8 April 2012, first at around 10 p.m. and again at about 11:30 p.m. During this second observation they filmed what they saw. They placed the object in the direction of the Jura mountains, at an azimuth of roughly 290°.

The investigation found that this direction matches the position of Venus exactly, although the witness never mentioned the planet. Venus was particularly easy to see at that time of year, and when it sits low on the horizon it often surprises observers, who take it for an object flying over the ground. An hour and a half earlier, the same body had been high in the sky, and the witness had not found it strange.

The video adds little information. A point of light against a black background, filmed at full zoom, produces many optical and electronic artefacts. The diamond shape comes from the camera's diaphragm and shows up when the focus is wrong, which happens at night in autofocus mode as the camera switches between blurred and sharp images. The colours come mainly from electronic noise, interference and optical aberrations rather than from the object itself.

GEIPAN classified the case as A: the observation of the planet Venus.