Sighting in Istres, August 7, 2012
Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Sighting on August 7, 2012 in Istres (Bouches-du-Rhône, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was the International Space Station (ISS) (class A).
What happened
A witness, an amateur astronomer who lived near the air base and was used to watching all kinds of aircraft, noticed a very bright light in the evening, at about 10:25 p.m. It followed a straight path without changing heading, and the witness put its altitude at between 1,000 and 2,000 metres. It came from the south-west and moved towards the north-east. After about five minutes, it disappeared.
GEIPAN's investigation compared the witness's description and the time of the event with the Calsky record. Both matched a pass of the International Space Station (ISS) exactly. The case was therefore classified A: the witness had observed the ISS.
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 7, 2012
- Location
- Istres · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Space station (ISS)
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2012-08-08279
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.