Sighting in Brest, February 17, 2013
Finistère, Bretagne, France
Sighting on February 17, 2013 in Brest (Finistère, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was one or more satellites (class A).
What happened
The witness saw the same thing twice in the night sky, two weeks apart and at the same time of evening: a very bright point of light crossed the sky above their home and then vanished abruptly.
The investigation relied on the Calsky record of satellites visible from Brest that evening. It shows that the object "Cosmos 2297 Rocket", launched from Baikonur in November 1994, entered the Earth's shadow at 8:04 p.m., the exact time the witness saw the light disappear. At that hour and in that season, many satellites of varying brightness are visible every evening, although the weather does not always allow them to be seen.
GEIPAN classified the case as A: the witness had observed the third stage of the Zenit-2 launcher that carried the Cosmos 2297 satellite, which is also still in orbit.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- February 17, 2013
- Location
- Brest · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Satellites
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2013-02-08409
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.