Sighting in Brue-Auriac, August 22, 2012
Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Sighting on August 22, 2012 in Brue-Auriac (Var, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was the International Space Station (ISS) (class A).
What happened
In the evening, several witnesses on their terrace noticed a very bright point of light moving across the sky. At one stage the object took off in a strange way, at great speed. It had come from the west and vanished toward the east.
The investigation drew on the Calsky website, which lists a pass of the International Space Station (ISS) that evening. The station was extremely bright and was visible from the area from 10:11 pm in the west to 10:17 pm in the south-east. Its appearance matches what the witnesses described, and its vanishing in the middle of the sky corresponds to it entering the Earth's shadow. GEIPAN therefore classified the case as A: the object was the ISS.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- August 22, 2012
- Location
- Brue-Auriac · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Space station (ISS)
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2012-08-08686
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.