Sighting in Livron-sur-Drôme, July 11, 2012

Three people saw a bright, vivid yellow ball moving slowly across the sky from west to east at about 9:30 pm. It split into two and then disappeared. No sound was heard while it passed.

Investigators first ruled out Thai lanterns: the object traveled east while the wind blew from the northwest, and it had divided into two. The explanation they favored was the atmospheric re-entry of space debris, since the witness's description, the fragmentation, the duration and the eastward direction all fit. The Calsky catalogue lists two re-entries on that day, but they apparently do not match this event, as their orbits were nearly polar. The BOAM catalogue, kept by meteor observers, records nothing at that time. The case was classified B: probable re-entry of space debris into the atmosphere.