Sighting in Solomiac, August 16, 2022

The witness was at home when, between 2:00 and 2:30 in the morning, they noticed a very bright, round point of light fairly low above the north-eastern horizon. It rose slowly through the sky, kept the same shape throughout and gave off red glints. The observation ended when clouds covered it, and also because it was late. The witness's partner saw it briefly but did not provide a statement.

At first the witness thought it was a helicopter searchlight, but found the situation odd because the object moved slowly and steadily for half an hour. There is no photo or video of the object, though the witness made a reconstruction photograph, which proved very useful to the investigation. Consistency was rated medium, since there was a single witness and no images.

The investigation ruled out an aircraft, then a helicopter, and concluded that the witness had very probably seen the star Capella. The round shape is often reported for very bright point-like celestial objects. The white colour fits a star, and the red glints are a scintillation effect caused by its low elevation above the horizon. The slow movement over 30 minutes is also consistent. The reconstruction photograph allowed the initial azimuth and elevation estimates to be corrected: the gap between the object's position and the star's (5 to 9° in azimuth, 6 to 8° in elevation) is within the margins of error. The witness had dismissed a star because no star that bright was in that part of the sky, but Capella, the fourth brightest star visible from the northern hemisphere, was indeed there. GEIPAN classified the case as A.