Sighting in Pertuis, April 8, 2015

At about 9:30 pm on a Wednesday, the witness noticed a light in the sky that they described as similar to a star or planet, but much brighter than Venus, with unusual colours, bluish and orange. The observation lasted an hour and a half. The witness filmed the phenomenon with an iPad mini and also looked at it through an astronomical telescope. They sent their questionnaire to the GEIPAN two days later, along with the video. No other witness account was collected.

The features described pointed strongly to an astronomical misidentification. In several exchanges with the GEIPAN, the witness rejected that idea. They said they had located Jupiter and its moons through the telescope and that the phenomenon appeared very close to the planet. The GEIPAN asked them to specify exactly where the phenomenon was relative to Jupiter, but received no reply.

The witness placed the phenomenon in the south-southeast (200°) at an elevation of 60°. At that time Jupiter stood at azimuth 177° and 64° elevation, a difference of 23° in azimuth and 4° in elevation. The iPad mini has a diagonal field of view of 66.5° and cannot zoom. The sky was clear, and only the phenomenon is visible in the video. The sensor's poor sensitivity explains why fainter nearby objects do not show up. The GEIPAN concluded there was little doubt that the witness filmed Jupiter without linking its appearance to what they saw through the telescope. The case was classified B: probable confusion with Jupiter.