Sighting in Hendaye, September 10, 2022

At about 7:02 in the morning, the witness was on the balcony of the hotel where they were staying when they noticed, with the naked eye, a single, almost point-like phenomenon. It was white and shone with a steady brightness. It looked motionless and very high in the sky. The witness took three photographs of it and then left the balcony. Their spouse also saw the phenomenon.

The GEIPAN rated the consistency of the case as good: two witnesses, one very precise account and three photographs. The description matches that of a planet or a first-magnitude star, as the main witness had suggested. Searches using Stellarium and Google Earth showed that Jupiter was very close to the position of the phenomenon, with the same azimuth to within 0.2° and the same angular height to within 3°. The small differences can be explained by uncertainties in the calculations, imprecise plotting and distortion in the photographs. The shape, colour, fixity and position, backed up by the photos, point to an astronomical object with a very high level of confidence. The GEIPAN classified the case as A: an observation of Jupiter.