ARRONNES (03) 31.05.2019

On 31 May 2019 at about 23:00 in Arronnes (03), a witness on an outdoor terrace noticed a white point of light moving slowly west to east across the distant sky. He called his female friend, who also saw it. It gradually dimmed and disappeared, but he recorded a video. On Saturday 1 June at about 22:00 he saw the same phenomenon again, in the same direction and on the same trajectory. When giving a gendarmerie statement on 2 June 2019, he showed the short video to gendarmes, who indeed saw a white circle against black. Unfortunately he later lost it, so it could not be attached to the official statement. Only 1 account was collected. GEIPAN finds low strangeness and good evidential substance: 2 observers but 1 account, and a video recorded but lost by T1. It identifies a misidentification of the International Space Station (ISS); see the investigation report. The description of a very bright white point closely resembles the ISS, which passed on the evenings of 31 May and 1 June 2019 at compatible times. Its west-to-east trajectory, south of the observation site on both occasions, also matches. The decisive feature is the progressive disappearance partway along the path, characteristic of the ISS entering Earth's shadow. The station did enter the shadow during its passages on both dates. The case is classified A: misidentification of the International Space Station.