FONTANES (34) 12.08.2015

This complex account from Fontanes describes a succession of very distant luminous phenomena just before sunrise on 12 August 2015 at 06:38. In a telephone conversation, the witness specified that his window faced exactly southwest, at 225°. The luminous circle he saw had an apparent size described as 3 times smaller than the Moon, or about one-third its apparent size. GEIPAN considers that the first observation could have been an Iridium satellite flare, a reflection of sunlight. The other phenomena could have been sunlight reflecting from aircraft, since conditions close to sunrise favor such effects. However, the report is complex and imprecise about viewing directions, and it arrived too late for checks against air traffic records. GEIPAN therefore cannot confirm the aircraft explanation. No other witness account was obtained. The case is classified C: insufficient information.