LOUVIERS (27) 10.08.2020

According to the gendarmerie report, on 10 August 2020 at about 23:30, a witness in the living room saw “a large, very strong light.” The witness went onto the balcony as it slowly faded. A little later, a similar light appeared farther to the left. The technical questionnaire instead dates the observation to 9 August around midnight and describes a powerful, stationary white light that went out and came on again a little farther away. It gives a duration of 10 minutes. No other account was collected. The evidence is poor because the major date discrepancy between the gendarmerie report, 10 August, and questionnaire, 9 August, could not be resolved, and both contain little usable information. Comet NEOWISE was considered, but it could not appear as described, still less in 2 separate positions within such a short period. The description suggests satellite flashes: brief, intense white light appearing twice in different parts of the sky. For 10 August 2020, CNES's Operational Space Surveillance Center (COSE) identified several Starlink satellites visible from the witness's position. Nothing matched on 9 August (see the COSE analysis file). Because the observation date remains unresolved and important information is missing, the case is classified C: insufficient information.