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Sighting in Montaigu, May 22, 2009

Vendée, Pays de la Loire, France

Sighting on May 22, 2009 in Montaigu (Vendée, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was the International Space Station (ISS) (class A).

What happened

Two witnesses were intrigued, at around 11:30 pm on a Friday evening, by a white light crossing the sky from west to east at a steady speed. One of them saw the light make a brief zigzag before it quickly faded and vanished.

The investigation concluded that the witnesses most likely saw a pass of the International Space Station (ISS) just as it was entering the Earth's shadow. The short zigzag was probably an autocinetic effect: when attention is fixed on a point of light moving across the sky, the brain briefly loses its bearings and interprets the natural movements of the eyes as movement of the light itself. GEIPAN classified the case as A, an observation of an ISS pass.

Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.

Date
May 22, 2009
Location
Montaigu · 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.