VILLEFERRY (21) 12.08.2015

On 12 August 2015 between 22:00 and 23:00, a witness and his grandson were walking when they saw a particularly bright point in the sky. After a few minutes, it began to move, crossed the sky in a straight line and disappeared behind a forest. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN considered several explanations for a very bright point moving in a straight line. Satellite: the initial impression of stillness may have been an illusion caused by the witnesses walking. The very bright International Space Station passed from northeast towards east at about 21:50 that day, slightly before the witness’s stated time window. Several other satellites crossed along that path within the window: Cosmos 2082, Rocket, Cosmos 1833 Rocket, and USA 29/DMSP 5D-2/F9. They would normally be too faint, at magnitude 3 at best, to make that impression, although one could have been oriented in a way that made it very bright, with a negative magnitude. Aircraft approaching head-on: possible but unlikely. GEIPAN explains that an aircraft must be fairly low above the horizon, below 30°, to look this way; its flashing lights become visible when it changes direction. It was too late to check this possibility. Helicopter: this could just about fit, but the reported silence counts against it and flashing lights should have been visible. Because the description closely resembles the ISS, despite the slight discrepancy with the witness’s time window, GEIPAN classifies the case B: observation of the ISS.