SAINT-THURIAU (56) 13.08.2018

On the evening of 13 August 2018, a Saint-Thuriau (56) resident was watching for shooting stars in a clear sky when movement from south/southwest towards north/northeast caught her eye. She saw 3 equally spaced points forming a triangle, moving at the same speed and as bright as the surrounding stars. After about 30 seconds she lost them among the stars. GEIPAN finds low strangeness and a moderate amount of reliable, objectively supported information: a single but precise account. It identifies a Yaogan 31 satellite triplet; see the investigation report. The evidential assessment concerns the quantity of such information collected for an account. The description is characteristic of 3 formation-flying satellites using the NOSS, Naval Ocean Surveillance System, concept adopted by China; see China's NOSS-Like Triplets. The features were 3 faint points moving together in an isosceles triangle, an apparent size described as 10 cm, visible sky through the formation and an apparent speed of about 0.5°/s. The source also refers to NOSS Double and Triple Satellite Formations. During the reported time window, the Yaogan 31 triplet followed a matching trajectory. The case is classified A: observation of the Yaogan 31 satellite triplet.