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Sighting in Fontaine, August 5, 2015

Isère, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

Sighting on August 5, 2015 in Fontaine (Isère, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was the International Space Station (ISS) (class A).

What happened

At 11:10 pm, a witness noticed a very bright white point moving across the night sky before it vanished. The account was very precise, both about the time and about where the object was in the sky. The witness also described a few zigzags in its path.

The investigation found that the trajectory matched that of the International Space Station (ISS), which was highly visible that evening. The witness had only seen the end of the pass, as shown by the Calsky data. The zigzags seemed at first to contradict this explanation, but they are an perceptual illusion known as the autokinetic effect (or autokinesis). It affects both fixed and moving points of light and is common when watching the ISS, which is especially bright.

GEIPAN classified the case as A: the phenomenon observed was the International Space Station.

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

Date
August 5, 2015
Location
Fontaine · town centre
Type of sighting
From the ground
Source classification
A
Explanation
Space station (ISS)

Sources

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