Sighting in Papeete, January 12, 2026

A witness reported in January 2026 that they had repeatedly seen, together with friends and colleagues, a nighttime phenomenon they could not explain. They saw it again on 12 January 2026. White lights, sometimes with a reddish glint at the bottom, moved horizontally above the horizon with slight vertical variations. Their brightness rose gradually, then faded until they vanished. The surroundings were urban and open, with no light source that could account for what was seen. Pilots flying at night between the Marquesas and Tahiti reported similar observations. The GEIPAN retrieved photographs, without timestamps, from the Infos Cyclones Polynésie website. Several reports with photos and videos also appeared the same day on social media and Polynesian weather sites.

The GEIPAN concluded that the witness had seen Starlink® "flares", meaning brief illuminations of some satellites of the constellation by the Sun, which had already set for the observer. This fit the point-like shape, the peak brightness midway through the observation, the crossing paths of several objects, the Sun lying 30 to 45° below the horizon, a low elevation (under 15°) in the direction of the set Sun, and the large number of operational Starlink® satellites in orbit. Only one questionnaire was collected, but the case's consistency was rated good because of the many corroborating reports. At 20:00, the stated time of the sighting, the Sun was less than 30° below the horizon, so conditions were not optimal; Stellarium showed them to be best between 21:04 and 22:00. The hypothesis nonetheless reduces the strangeness perceived by the witness, and the case was classified A.