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Sighting in Canet-en-Roussillon, September 26, 1983

Pyrénées-Orientales, Occitanie, France

Sighting on September 26, 1983 in Canet-en-Roussillon (Pyrénées-Orientales, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty (class A).

What happened

Between 5:30 and 6:30 in the morning, several people noticed a very bright object in the sky that looked like a star to the naked eye. It moved slowly. Through binoculars, the witnesses described a yellow ring surrounding a light grey area, which they likened to a crater.

The investigation checked these observations against a sky chart for the time in question. Venus was located exactly where the witness had indicated, and its apparent movement between 5:30 and 6:30 matched the witness's estimate precisely. GEIPAN therefore classified the case as A: the sightings were astronomical observations of the planet Venus, whose slow apparent movement had been noticed.

Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.

Date
September 26, 1983
Location
Canet-en-Roussillon · town centre
Type of sighting
From the ground
Source classification
A

Sources

Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.