STEINBACH (68) 29.12.2013

On 29 December 2013 at about 05:45, a witness on his terrace in Steinbach (68) saw a glow between clouds, then a scintillating disc. The stationary object quickly disappeared behind cloud. No other account was reported. He described a slightly tilted, pale-yellow scintillating disc seen for 2 seconds through a cloud gap. He placed it above Cernay, looking from Steinbach towards Mulhouse, which he called south. The map instead puts Cernay and Mulhouse southeast, at about azimuth 125°. The sky chart places the Moon at azimuth 129° and elevation 9°. The source describes its phase as last quarter, parenthetically calling it a very tilted thin crescent. GEIPAN considers it very likely that the clouds and brevity prevented recognition of the Moon. The case is classified B: probable observation of the Moon. A slight doubt remains because the witness estimated elevation at 20°, compared with the Moon's 9°.