Sighting in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, December 15, 2017

Two witnesses noticed three very bright points of light crossing the sky at 18:33. The sky was clear. The points were perfectly aligned and moved from west to east. The sight puzzled the witnesses and lasted about 30 seconds.

The GEIPAN investigation established that the witnesses had seen three objects travelling on the same orbit: the Dragon spacecraft sent to resupply the International Space Station (ISS), and the two elements that had protected its solar generators. The mission, known as CRS 13, had lifted off from Florida at 16:36 French time. The sighting took place roughly two hours later, so the three objects were still very close to one another. The US Space Command lists them under the numbers 43060 to 43062 (international designation 2017-080 A to C).

When the CRS 11 mission was launched, images showing these same three objects, along with the launcher's upper stage, were posted on the Web. In this case, the upper stage had already carried out its re-entry burn, which is why only three objects were visible. The case was classified A: elements of the Dragon resupply spacecraft bound for the ISS.