Sighting in Elements de Fusee — Regional, February 13, 2013

At about 9:15 p.m., several witnesses in Alsace and Lorraine saw a luminous phenomenon cross the sky, followed by a trail. Six of them were in the control tower at Strasbourg-Entzheim airport. The phenomenon moved along a horizontal path and made no sound. Further accounts were gathered later.

The investigation linked these sightings to a bolide: the atmospheric re-entry of a stage of the Soyuz SL-4 R/B launcher (catalogue number 39083, or 2013-007B). That rocket had lifted off on 11 February to put a Progress cargo ship into orbit, bound for the International Space Station. A model of the trajectory projected onto the ground is included in the file.

That evening, only Alsace and the south-east of France had clear skies, which explains why such a spectacular event drew little notice elsewhere in the country. GEIPAN classified the case as A: it was positively identified as the re-entry of a large piece of space debris.