Sighting in Valence, August 2, 2012
Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitanie, France
Sighting on August 2, 2012 in Valence (Tarn-et-Garonne, France). According to GEIPAN, it was most probably a meteor or fireball (class B).
What happened
Shortly after midnight, two people noticed a luminous phenomenon crossing the sky quickly and silently, leaving a trail behind it. The sighting was brief.
According to GEIPAN, the account has all the characteristics of a bolide sighting, meaning a meteoroid entering the atmosphere. The BOAM database lists many bolide sightings that night, but not this one, although southern France has few cameras. On an astronomy forum, other witnesses reported seeing the same phenomenon at the same moment, and an amateur astronomer apparently identified it as such. GEIPAN therefore classified the case as B: a probable atmospheric entry of a meteoroid.
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 2, 2012
- Location
- Valence · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- B
- Explanation
- Meteors and fireballs
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2012-08-08277
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.