Sighting in Saint-Léger-aux-Bois, August 31, 2013
Seine-Maritime, Normandie, France
Sighting on August 31, 2013 in Saint-Léger-aux-Bois (Seine-Maritime, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was one or more satellites (class A).
What happened
At around 11:30 pm, a witness standing at their front door noticed a very bright white point among the stars. As they watched, its brightness first increased and then decreased. The point also moved upward in a straight line until it passed out of the witness's view. No other testimony was collected.
GEIPAN rated the case as having low strangeness and medium consistency, since there was only one witness but the account was fairly precise. The investigation concluded that it was a rare but well-known astronautical phenomenon: sunlight reflecting off the Iridium 95 satellite, known as a flash or flare. The case is classified A: a misidentification of a flash from the Iridium 95 satellite.
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 31, 2013
- Location
- Saint-Léger-aux-Bois · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Satellites
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2013-08-08515
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.