NUELLES (69) 30.05.2015

Around 23:55 on 30 May 2015, a couple outdoors in Nuelles (69) saw an orange luminous object move slowly and straight across a cloudy sky without unusual sound, then disappear into cloud. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN examined several explanations. An Iridium flare was visible at exactly that time according to CalSky, but lay southwest and moved northwest; its brightness should also have varied, so it fitted poorly. A flare from another unlisted satellite was considered very unlikely. A fireball from atmospheric entry could fit the brightness, duration and trajectory, although the witness would probably have noticed changing brightness. No additional sightings or camera recordings were reported, but the cloudy sky limited this evidence. A sky lantern fitted the colour, time and date, but the steady northerly wind was apparently incompatible with the observed eastward motion; see Météociel. GEIPAN ultimately retained none of these explanations for lack of verification or corroboration. Additional information might allow the origin to be determined. No letter classification is stated in the supplied narrative.