Sighting in Pleurtuit, April 12, 2012
Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France
Sighting on April 12, 2012 in Pleurtuit (Ille-et-Vilaine, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was the International Space Station (ISS) (class A).
What happened
The witness was out on their balcony at around 10:30 pm when they noticed a white source of light. They followed it for about two minutes as it moved from south to north. They saw no trail and heard no particular noise while it was in view.
The gendarmerie did not collect any other testimony. Air traffic control had reported no known flight in the Dinard airspace at the time.
GEIPAN found that the witness's description matched the pass of the International Space Station, which was flying over Brittany that evening. A plot of the station's path against the sky was produced, though the time it shows is only accurate to within a few minutes. The case was classified A: observation of the ISS.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- April 12, 2012
- Location
- Pleurtuit · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Space station (ISS)
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2012-04-08226
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.