SEMUY (08) 24.02.2019

On 24 February 2019, a witness watching television used an advertising break to close his living-room shutters. After a previous sighting in 2016, he had developed the habit of looking at the sky. At about 18:43 he saw a stationary point of light changing colour. He photographed it and thought something unusual was happening. At 19:19 he stopped, considering that he had enough evidence: 31 photographs and 5 videos. No other account was collected. GEIPAN identifies Sirius with certainty (see the investigation report). The sighting has all the characteristics of a Sirius misidentification: a long observation in fine weather, a star-like appearance at normal magnification, strong brightness and coloured scintillation. Sirius’s position matches the UAP both in azimuth, with only a 1° difference from the account, and angular elevation. The witness estimated 30°, but his sketch suggests about 15°. GEIPAN additionally states that Sirius is the only star showing such a wide range of colours when scintillating, as visible in the photographs and videos. Its low position above the horizon intensifies the effect. The case is classified A: a misidentification of Sirius.