MARCIAC (32) 09.02.2022

On 9 February 2022 at about 19:45, a woman driving in Marciac (32) saw a colored luminous phenomenon consisting of bright balls moving west to east on a slightly descending path. She subsequently saw a trail in the UAP's direction, described as reddish in the French summary. GEIPAN assesses the unusualness and evidential strength as moderate: a single witness, no photograph or video, and a fairly complete account, but uncertainty about the precise time because its request for clarification received no reply. It considers a fireball probable; see the investigation report. The spherical shape, green and yellow colors, strong brightness, straight, generally horizontal but slightly descending path and lingering traces suggest atmospheric entry, either a natural fireball or reentering satellite debris. Checks with CNES's Space Surveillance Operations Center found no artificial reentry over France at the time. However, the FRIPON camera at Dax (40) recorded a fireball at 20:05 local time with a direction and trajectory consistent with the UAP. The witness may have overestimated the duration, as a fireball visible for 2 to 3 minutes would be exceptional. Her approximate time of 19:45 might also have been closer to 20:05. GEIPAN retains those uncertainties and classifies the case as B: probable observation of a fireball.