Sighting in Latillé, January 15, 2016

At about 6:30 pm on a January evening, the witness was standing in front of their garage looking at the sky. Among the stars they noticed a blinking, orange-white object. The witness ruled out an Iridium flash because of the blinking, and also a pass of the ISS. The garage entrance is at the south-east corner of the house and opens to the east. The object moved over the house, which quickly hid it from view; the witness said they could no longer see it. This places its disappearance toward the north-west. There was only one witness account, and no photo or video.

GEIPAN rated the strangeness as low and the consistency as medium. According to the investigation, this was probably a mistaken sighting of a rapidly spinning satellite, possibly one in distress, since the observation has the typical features of such a case. This kind of object is little known to the general public and is a significant source of non-identification. Several defunct satellites or rocket stages, potentially spinning fast, crossed the described path at the time of the sighting. However, the lack of detail in the account and some doubt about the exact time prevented a formal identification of the object. The case was classified B: probable misidentification of a satellite.