Sighting in Civray, August 19, 2010

At around 2:30 a.m., a witness and some relatives noticed luminous, silent objects in the sky. Some stayed still while others moved. The witness numbered them 1 and 2 in their account. They made another observation two days later, between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m., and labelled two further objects 3 and 4.

The GEIPAN investigation identified each of these objects. Objects 1 and 3 were most probably the planet Jupiter, and object 4 was without doubt the International Space Station. Object 2, also stationary and located to the east on 19 August, could have been the star Capella, at an azimuth of about 47° and an elevation of 24°, with a magnitude of 0.05. Witness accounts commonly contain an orientation error of around 45°, so this identification fits the description.

The case showed low strangeness and medium consistency. It was classed B (probably identified): it resulted from several astronomical and astronautical misidentifications.