Sighting in Lamentin, February 11, 2012
Guadeloupe, France
Sighting from an aircraft on February 11, 2012 in Lamentin (Guadeloupe, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably a meteor or fireball (class B).
What happened
An air traffic controller on duty in the control tower of Martinique's international airport reported an observation shared by several people at around 11:10 pm. A green light crossed the sky over the Antilles quickly, moving from east to west. It was also seen by the air traffic controllers in Guadeloupe, by gendarmes on the ground and by the pilots of flight AFR 3570, which was flying from Paris to Martinique.
The phenomenon looked like a very bright green ball that traversed the sky in just a few seconds. This appearance immediately suggested a bolide, meaning the atmospheric entry of a meteoroid (meteorite) or of a piece of space debris.
GEIPAN's investigation noted that space debris enters the atmosphere at about 7 km/s and takes between 20 seconds and a few minutes to cross the sky. Given the appearance reported and the short duration of the event, the explanation adopted was the atmospheric entry of a meteoroid. The case was classified B, probably identified.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- February 11, 2012
- Location
- Lamentin · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From an aircraft
- Source classification
- B
- Explanation
- Meteors and fireballs
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2012-02-08191
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.