Sighting in Saussines, March 3, 2022

Shortly after midnight, witnesses who were at home noticed an unusual, very bright "star" in the west that seemed to give off rays of light. Intrigued, they went out onto the terrace and watched it for about half an hour. It looked motionless and gave off blue, red and green lights. Tired, they eventually went to bed while the phenomenon was still visible. During the observation they shot four videos using the zoom.

The GEIPAN considered the case to have good consistency, thanks to a detailed, high-quality testimony and four videos that could be analysed. The investigation concluded that the witnesses had observed the star Sirius. To the naked eye, the object was a point of light like a star, and very bright. In the videos, its shape kept distorting because of scintillation. The colours, reported only for the videos, were multiple and changing, caused by chromatic aberration and atmospheric scattering of the light. The phenomenon was also at an azimuth and elevation very close to those of Sirius, at a time when the star is clearly visible. The immobility was only apparent: at night, with no landmarks, it is almost impossible to perceive the slow movement of a star. The GEIPAN classified the case as A.