COURMES (06) 28.04.2016

On 28 April 2016 between 21:06 and 21:30, then around midnight, 2 people camping on the Puy-de-Tourettes summit watched a bright point about the size of a large star. They were in sleeping bags in a sinkhole-like depression and found its movements unusual. A witness supplied 2 handheld photographs, but severe camera shake made them of little use. GEIPAN rates the strangeness high and evidential strength good—2 witnesses and images, though the account lacks detail. It concludes that they very probably combined an initial satellite in twilight with Jupiter into a single-object observation (see the investigation report). The description, changing position during the night, apparent stationarity for almost 30 minutes and especially the sky position match Jupiter. The witness said the UAP’s disappearance might have revealed Jupiter previously hidden behind it. GEIPAN finds this interpretation mistaken. The witness claimed Jupiter was invisible to the naked eye before 21:30, although the clear mountain sky and transparent atmosphere made it readily visible from the beginning. He had chiefly based his judgement on when Jupiter appeared the next day from a lowland location under poorer weather. The first phase strongly suggests a bright satellite. The account is too imprecise to identify it, but several satellites passed near Jupiter at the relevant time and could have caused the confusion. GEIPAN attributes the jerky apparent movements to an optical illusion from involuntary eye movements, nystagmus. The case is classified B: very probable misidentification involving a satellite and Jupiter.