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Sighting in Menton, August 15, 2009

Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Sighting on August 15, 2009 in Menton (Alpes-Maritimes, France). GEIPAN could not reach a conclusion for lack of sufficient information (class C).

What happened

A pedestrian on the seafront promenade, at some point between 11:15 and 11:25 p.m., noticed a stationary luminous phenomenon in the sky, to the right of the evening star. It was above the Mediterranean. After about three minutes of observation, its brightness dropped. The phenomenon then rose rapidly in a vertical line and vanished within two seconds, heading toward Italy.

The GEIPAN investigation looked at several hypotheses: a flare, a pyrotechnic balloon, an aircraft and a satellite. All of them remained possible, but none could be confirmed. Because there was not enough information to fully confirm or rule out any one of them, the case was classified C (insufficient data).

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 15, 2009
Location
Menton · town centre
Type of sighting
From the ground
Source classification
C

Sources

Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.