Sighting in Bougarber, March 16, 2026

Shortly before midnight, the witness was looking at the sky toward the southeast from their terrace when a flash of light appeared, like a star switching on and off. It was the same size as a star, but three to four times brighter. The witness counted about ten flashes in all. It took three of them to pinpoint the fixed spot where it was happening. Roughly four flashes then followed at 27-second intervals, and the last three came at irregular intervals of about 48 to 52 seconds, after which the signal did not return. The investigation reduced the total duration to under 4 minutes (about 3 min 55 s), and the witness confirmed that the 30 minutes given in the questionnaire was the time spent watching the sky in their garden.

During the observation, the witness also saw a very brief shooting star toward the south. After the last flash, they saw two more very short, thin streaks appear at the same time lower in the sky, one heading diagonally to the left and the other to the right. These were most likely meteors from the Antihelion region near the constellation Leo, as the witness themselves pointed out.

GEIPAN asked the Centre Opérationnel de Surveillance de l'Espace (COSE) which satellites were visible in that direction. The geostationary satellites identified (THAICOM 3, PALAPA C2, PAKSAT-1, JCSAT-1, OPTUS B1) could not produce periodic reflections like those described. Only METEOSAT-7 AKM (N25353) fits: a cylindrical rocket body with a large metal surface, tumbling uncontrolled at a stable rate, able to reflect sunlight regularly but intermittently. On its elliptical graveyard orbit it looks almost motionless at its highest point, which matches the elevation of about 50° estimated by the witness. This apparent stillness, together with the intermittent flashes, explains the strangeness the witness experienced. GEIPAN classified the case as A: intermittent reflections of sunlight on the METEOSAT-7 AKM rocket body.