POLIENAS (38) 10.06.2017

From 22:30 on 10 June 2017, a couple (T1 and T2) on their terrace observed 2 bright scintillating points. Through binoculars they appeared spherical with a gyroscopic effect; they also examined them with a telescope. They then saw 2 more spheres in another direction and 2 or 3 points near the initial pair. With no change in the situation, they stopped around 23:15. At 23:30 they tried again but saw nothing. The observation recurred the next day at the same time and under the same conditions. On 12 June they tried again without seeing the phenomena. GEIPAN considers the case slightly unusual with good evidential strength from 2 witnesses, and identifies stars in Scorpius and Aquila visible in a clear sky (see the investigation report). Their positions relative to the landscape and each other exactly match the UAPs. The witnesses found the unusually strong green, red and white scintillation towards the south strange: the points seemed fixed while internally animated. The summary also notes variable intensity. Low elevation explains strong scintillation. The binocular and telescope descriptions match out-of-focus stars. Recurrence at the same time on 2 nights is typical of astronomical misidentification; a temperature change reducing atmospheric turbulence and scintillation could explain failure to see the effect on the third night. The witnesses failed to reproduce the star pattern in a later astronomy-tool search because they remembered heights of 45–50°, far above the 10–15° elevations they had themselves located near treetops. Apparent stellar motion varies with position in the sky; they probably compared the source stars’ east-to-west movement with much higher stars, making the former seem stationary. GEIPAN finds explanations for all the unusual features and classifies the case A: misidentification of stars in Scorpius and Aquila.