Sighting in Bolide — National, February 10, 2015

In the early evening, a great many witnesses spread across the whole of southern France, from the Pyrénées-Atlantiques to the Hérault, saw a very bright ball of light cross part of the sky. The phenomenon was also seen in Spain, from the Basque Country to Catalonia. The CNES automatic camera in Toulouse recorded it at 7:22 pm. GEIPAN received three formal witness reports, while La Dépêche du Midi and the website Ciel des Hommes collected more than 80. The reported times of observation ranged from 7:15 pm to 7:40 pm, a fairly common spread when many people watch this kind of event. A three-dimensional reconstruction of the trajectory was under way, using other cameras that also filmed the event, including those at the Pic du Midi and in Spain.

The investigation concluded it was a bolide, the entry into the atmosphere of a large meteoroid, a rock of more than 100 g, ranging from a few centimetres to 1 m across. The light comes from the heating and ionisation of the upper atmosphere, at roughly 100 to 40 km altitude. Its colour can vary (green, white, yellow) depending on the angle of entry, and fragments may reach the ground as meteorites. The high altitude explains why it was visible from more than 200 km away. Its brightness often creates a misleading impression that it is very close. The trajectory and speed matched the entry of a natural meteoroid. GEIPAN classified the case as A.