SAINT-DENIS (974) 25.08.2013

On Sunday 25 August 2013 between 19:30 and 19:45, a witness on his balcony in Saint-Denis, Réunion (974), saw 2 successive lights he could not identify. A large red light moving slowly for 2 minutes could have been a sky lantern drifting towards him with the island's prevailing easterly wind. A bright white light coming from the sea could have been a satellite. Attached Calsky predictions show USA 217/STPSat-2 on a matching path at the reported time, but its predicted magnitude of 5–8 is much fainter than described. A reflection cannot be excluded; another brighter, unlisted military satellite is also possible. GEIPAN considers both explanations plausible but insufficiently supported to call very probable. The low-strangeness observation is classified C: insufficient information to substantiate them.