Sighting in Pontarlier, August 17, 2013
Doubs, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
Sighting on August 17, 2013 in Pontarlier (Doubs, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was the International Space Station (ISS) (class A).
What happened
At around 11 p.m., two witnesses noticed a very bright light in the sky moving silently along a straight path. The sight intrigued them. The time they gave was approximate, as the witness themselves said.
The GEIPAN investigation found that the description matched the passage of the International Space Station (ISS) very closely. A record of the station's passes, drawn from the Calsky.com website, shows that it was visible from the area of the sighting that evening at 11:15 p.m., which fits the time the witness gave. The case was classified A: the object was 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
- August 17, 2013
- Location
- Pontarlier · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Space station (ISS)
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2013-08-08562
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.