Sighting in Clermont-l'Hérault, February 5, 2009
Hérault, Occitanie, France
Sighting on February 5, 2009 in Clermont-l'Hérault (Hérault, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably the atmospheric re-entry of a space object (rocket stage, debris) (class B).
What happened
A witness saw a fireball coming down through an overcast sky at around 10 a.m. Their account, which was very brief, described it as having no colour and no brightness, and said it descended like a parachute.
The gendarmerie were alerted and checked the area where the object might have fallen. They found no sign of fire and no debris. No damage to property or injury to people was reported in the area, and no other similar phenomenon was recorded that day.
GEIPAN classified the case as B: given these characteristics, the witness had probably observed an atmospheric re-entry.
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 5, 2009
- Location
- Clermont-l'Hérault · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- B
- Explanation
- Re-entries
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2009-02-01983
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.