Sighting in Montégut-en-Couserans, April 12, 2008

At around 10 p.m., two witnesses noticed a light in the sky that intrigued them. It was round, twinkled strongly and showed several colours, mainly blue. It stayed motionless in the south-west under a clear sky. The witnesses had time to fetch binoculars to get a better look. The light appeared bigger and brighter to them than a star. The observation lasted about ten minutes in all, after which the light disappeared behind the hill.

The sky chart for that day shows that Sirius, the brightest star in the sky (magnitude -1.44), was in the south-west at the time, 18° above the horizon. When this star is visible low on the horizon, especially on a very clear day, it often surprises observers. GEIPAN classified the case as B: probable sighting of Sirius. Because the direction of observation was not given very precisely, a slight doubt remains about this explanation.