VERGEZE (30) 21.08.2017

On 21 August 2017 and several following evenings, a witness in Vergèze (30) saw a white point move across the sky with varying brightness. Its general path remained the same but shifted slightly from night to night. GEIPAN assessed the case as relatively low in strangeness with good evidential support: several witnesses, one precise account and videos. It identified the satellite Telkom 3; see the investigation report. The description and video strongly suggested a rapidly rotating satellite. The search required an object passing overhead on 21 August between 21:10 and 21:25, travelling northwest to southeast to the left of Altair, then returning at the same time on several consecutive evenings along a path gradually shifting west. Only Telkom 3 matched. GEIPAN describes it as an Indonesian satellite whose Russian-rocket launch failed in 2012, known for fairly bright, irregular flares. The case was classified A: misidentification of Telkom 3.