SENAS (13) 28.07.2022

On 28 July 2022 at about 22:30, T1 stepped onto his terrace in Sénas (13) and saw something resembling a satellite but much larger and brighter, moving generally straight west to east. It seemed repeatedly to slow, accelerate and stop briefly. After 30 seconds he called his wife, T2, who also saw it. It eventually shrank in place, briefly turned red and disappeared. The case has moderate evidential substance*: only one of the two observers reported to GEIPAN, with no photograph or video. The investigation finds a very probable ISS observation (see investigation report), supported by its round, bright white appearance; overall straight path; and orbital data from CNES’s space-surveillance service confirming the ISS then. The estimated observation lasted about 1 minute, compared with an actual visibility window slightly over 3 minutes, possibly underestimated by the witness. Initial and final elevations and azimuths from CNES’s space-surveillance operations centre broadly match his estimates; precise orientation was difficult in a brief nighttime observation. Low elevation explains disappearance from view, with a brief red colour attributed to atmospheric dispersion. GEIPAN attributes the apparent jerky motion to small involuntary eye movements and the autokinetic effect: few references in the dark sky permit eye drift (see “Méprises du ciel”). GEIPAN classifies A: observation of the International Space Station. *Evidential substance is the amount of information collected for an account considered reliable and objectively substantiated.