Sighting in Chanousse, September 13, 2011

At around 11:15 pm, some people contacted the gendarmerie after spotting an object in the sky that they could not identify. The gendarmerie went to the scene. The witnesses described an egg-shaped object with three different lights. It was first motionless, then moved slowly toward the north.

The witness had come up with an explanation: they thought they had seen the star Mira Ceti, in the constellation Cetus. The investigation showed, however, that this star was in the east at that hour, whereas the sighting had been made in the west, toward Rosans. The witness had also watched the object vanish, which does not fit a star in the east, since such a star climbs higher in the sky as the night goes on.

The star actually observed was Arcturus, a very bright star (magnitude 0) that sets around 11:30 pm in the west, drifting toward the north. Like all bright stars, it turns orange as it nears the horizon and twinkles strongly. GEIPAN classified the case A: identified.