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Sighting in L'Île-d'Yeu, March 17, 2009

Vendée, Pays de la Loire, France

Sighting on March 17, 2009 in L'Île-d'Yeu (Vendée, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was the International Space Station (ISS) (class A).

What happened

The witness saw two points of light drift slowly across the sky. They moved toward the south, side by side, always keeping the same distance from each other. The witness heard no sound during the short observation, after which the objects disappeared.

The investigation found that, on that day and at that time, the space shuttle was approaching the International Space Station. The account fits the sight of these two spacecraft flying together. One detail does not match, however: the witness gave a direction of south, but the landmark they also mentioned, the "Pointe des corbeaux", lies to the east-southeast, which agrees with the ISS trajectory (a map is included in the file). GEIPAN classified the case as A: an observation of the space shuttle and 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
March 17, 2009
Location
L'Île-d'Yeu · 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.