Sighting in Satellites — National, July 31, 2025

Two witnesses were in their garden at 11:17 p.m. when they noticed an elongated bar of light in the east to north-east part of the sky. It was light blue verging on bright white, and its brightness was strong and steady. It moved in a straight line from south to north at a moderate apparent speed. One of the witnesses made two short videos in which the phenomenon is clearly visible at times through the clouds. After about two minutes it was lost from view, hidden first by clouds and then by a tree. What struck the witness as strange was how closely spaced the elements making up the bar appeared. They first thought of Starlink® satellites, but set the idea aside given what they had seen.

GEIPAN rated the consistency of the case as good, even though only one of the two witnesses reported the sighting, since the videos support it. The Starlink® hypothesis was nonetheless examined and upheld: that same day, 19 Starlink® satellites (including 2 Starshield) had been launched from Vandenberg base in the United States into a steeply inclined orbit that took them over France from south to north. Many accounts were posted online, some with photos resembling the witness's video. Another sighting, made at the same time that day from a different municipality, was also reported to GEIPAN. The case is classified A: it was a train of Starlink® satellites.