MALEMORT-SUR-CORREZE (19) 26.08.2020

On the evening of 26 August 2020, a resident of Malemort-sur-Corrèze (19) with friends was alerted by his partner's son to an object moving from low down toward high up. Everyone looked in that direction and, over 6 minutes, saw 9 bright objects moving very quickly. Their brightness was comparable to stars, with some brighter than others. They appeared from a bearing described as 300° west and traveled in groups of 2 toward a bearing described as 53° north. No sound was heard. The first-quarter Moon shone brightly due south behind the witness. GEIPAN judges the unusualness moderate and the evidential strength good: several witnesses, but only 1 account summarizing all observations and no photograph. It considers misidentification of Starlink satellites probable. The description closely matches a Starlink passage. The sighting occurred less than 3 weeks after the launch of Starlink train 9, whose satellites had not yet dispersed widely and passed during the minutes around the reported time. However, the UAP's actual angular elevation is uncertain. A Starlink train did pass at the stated time, but lower than the elevation estimated for the UAP; see the investigation report. The case is classified as B: probable misidentification of Starlink satellites.