Sighting in Vieille-Toulouse, March 9, 2022

One evening, the witness noticed a round, white-to-blue light that stayed motionless in the sky, in the direction of the constellation Aries. It remained visible for 5 to 6 seconds and then suddenly went out. The witness was alone in seeing it and took no photo, but gave a fairly complete and precise account.

GEIPAN concluded that this was a satellite flash: the Sun, already below the horizon for the witness, was briefly reflected off a reflective surface of an object in orbit. The CNES Operational Orbitography Centre confirmed the passage of a piece of space debris, a DELTA 2 R/B (2) [PAM-D] rocket body registered as N28876. Its trajectory (azimuth and elevation) and the timing of its pass matched the witness's information perfectly. The description fitted too: a point of light like a star, white and very bright, which went out in mid-sky after a few seconds. The case is classified A (identified).