PARIS (75) 02.12.2011

Between 21:15 and 21:30 on 2 December 2011, a witness at a window in Paris watched a point of light move rapidly in a straight line across a clear sky. After 5–6 seconds it flared up, revealing an orange ovoid form. No trail or halo was seen. It began turning, stopped, then after 3 turns zigzagged and moved off slowly before a building hid it. No unusual sound was heard. The observation lasted about 20 seconds, and only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN notes that the beginning resembled an ordinary meteoroid entering the atmosphere as a fireball, but the reported spiral ending was incompatible with a celestial body's path. Very few satellites would be visible at that season and hour. The first phase could have been a satellite temporarily reflecting sunlight in a flare, but the final movement did not fit. Two separate phenomena were another possibility, although GEIPAN considered spiralling luminous objects extremely rare, especially at the reported speed. With only 1 witness in a densely built-up area, it judged the evidence insufficient to characterise such an unusual phenomenon. GEIPAN classified the case C: lack of corroboration.