LIMOUX (11) 11.08.2018

Around 22:25 on 11 August 2018, a witness watching shooting stars from his terrace in Limoux (11) noticed an almost overhead UAP. It was round, luminous, apparently unusually large and at low altitude, moving steadily in a straight line from southeast to northwest. It flashed and made no sound, appearing faster than a high-altitude aircraft. Its brightness and flashing gradually diminished until it faded into the night. The observation lasted about 3 minutes. GEIPAN assessed the case as low in strangeness with moderate evidential support: there was 1 witness and no photograph, although the account was fairly complete and precise. It defines evidential strength as the quantity of reliable, objectively supported information collected for an account. The investigation favoured a rapidly rotating satellite, ERS-2; see the report. The rapid brightness variations strongly suggested rotation. Satellite-trajectory analysis found 2 candidates, ERS-2 and AZUR, matching the witness's time and path. GEIPAN describes both as uncontrolled space debris rotating rapidly. ERS-2 matched more closely because of its higher apparent speed and particularly well-known rapid rotation. The case was classified B: probable observation of a rapidly rotating satellite.