[MER] MINORQUE (ES.PM) 02.03.2018

On Friday 2 March 2018 at 02:32, a witness was on the balcony of a cruise-ship cabin in the Mediterranean. The full Moon lit a sky scattered with clouds. While taking souvenir photographs of the moonlight, the witness was surprised and intrigued by an extremely bright white phenomenon and took 2 photographs just before it disappeared abruptly. Back in the cabin, the witness was surprised to have spent much longer outside in the cold than expected. Only 1 account was collected. The witness observed and photographed Jupiter. The UAP in the photograph lies exactly at Jupiter's position: - It is slightly less than 90° left of the Moon. The Moon is described as directly to port of the ship, while the UAP is almost directly astern, a little to port as the photograph shows. The witness's drawing likewise shows a separation near 90°. - IPACO image-analysis software readily measures the elevations of both UAP and Moon. The Moon's elevation establishes the photograph's exact time. - At that place and time, Jupiter was at 19° elevation and 85° left of the Moon, matching the UAP. The long 1-second exposure produced substantial camera-motion blur, making Jupiter trace different arabesques in successive photographs. These images contributed much more strangeness than the naked-eye view. For example, the witness interpreted the 2 pictures as different faces of a changing UAP, saying that the second image, taken 4 seconds later, clearly showed a very different face. The description of a “clear sky with occasional remnants of cloud” explains both why bright Jupiter attracted attention and why it disappeared suddenly when a cloud obscured it. GEIPAN considers this account illustrative of experiences common to witnesses of all backgrounds: - A star-like object can cause considerable perceived strangeness, especially amplified by a camera. The witness lost track of time, spending 1 hour 40 minutes on the UAP while perceiving 15 minutes, and described “an immense flying object, extremely bright and of a very surprising shape, apparently larger than a large airplane.” - Witnesses can feel satisfaction at the experience and good fortune of seeing and photographing a UFO. - Someone sincerely perceiving strangeness may seek to explain why others in a position to notice it did not do so. This witness thought the ship's crew probably chose not to publicize information about a phenomenon “certainly TOO strange,” despite their interest, for fear of unsettling passengers or crew on a cruise. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of Jupiter.