Sighting in Port-la-Nouvelle, August 16, 2019

One evening, the witness aimed their binoculars at the Moon, which had just risen, and then at Jupiter. Just above the planet, they noticed a flash. One or two seconds later, the same flash appeared again in the same spot. Four or five seconds after that, a third flash occurred, slightly higher than the first two. The witness kept scanning the sky but saw nothing more. They were the only witness, and the object was neither filmed nor photographed.

The investigation ruled out an aircraft: no plane had a trajectory matching the phenomenon, other flashes would probably have been seen, and the witness, using binoculars, should have made out red and green position lights. Brief, powerful flashes at an irregular rhythm are typical of a defunct satellite or a spent rocket stage spinning rapidly. A reconstruction of satellite passes, based on the time given by the witness (between 10:38 and 10:40 pm) and a south-to-north path close to Jupiter, identified two candidates. The satellite NOAA 18 passed within a few degrees of the planet, but it was still active, which rules it out. The Russian rocket stage Resurs 1-3 rocket, launched in 1994, passed directly in front of Jupiter at 22:44:35. This cylindrical object, 10.4 m long and 3.9 m in diameter, could produce strong variations in brightness if spinning rapidly, and its slow apparent motion (0.46°/s) explains why all three flashes occurred in the same area of the sky.

The testimony was precise and judged consistent: the reference planet was indeed Jupiter, and the time matched the Moon's position and the landmarks. Only the angular height was overestimated, which is common. GEIPAN classified the case A: a misidentification of the Resurs 1-3 rocket stage.