ALBON (26) 25.05.2017

On 25 May 2017 at 22:40, a witness on his terrace noticed a low light showing white, yellow and blue. He saw no trail and heard no sound. He filmed with a camcorder and, on playback, discovered unusual shapes. He stopped watching around 01:10 while the object was still visible to the north. No other account was collected. He observed Capella, which matched the indicated positions: at 22:40, 15° elevation and azimuth 320°, northwest; then descending toward the north, at 01:00 about 4° elevation and azimuth 345°, nearly north. Most of the perceived strangeness, probably prompting the report, came from the viewfinder or recording. The path and naked-eye appearance identify Capella: changing colors and scintillation are familiar for a star seen low through atmospheric turbulence. He did not report another star beside the UAP, although the clear sky meant Capella should have been visible in almost exactly that position. GEIPAN therefore devoted no further resources to explaining effects seen only through the camera. The source says such effects can always be explained, but the effort here would be unjustified. For the same reason, it states that GEIPAN no longer takes reports based solely on photographic or video strangeness without direct visual observation. This case was intermediate, involving an initially unusual but familiar naked-eye appearance that warranted explanation. Bright streetlights visible in the video could already produce puzzling reflections in dark image areas. Strong magnification of a star can produce many shapes depending on focusing problems and the instrument's geometric and radiometric quality. The source suggests these may be accentuated with a camcorder, which it considers lower quality than a still camera, and when viewing a double star such as Capella. A witness can also accidentally zoom onto a different light: framing at high magnification is difficult for anyone. GEIPAN classifies the case A: misidentification of Capella.