MONTEGUT (32) 05.09.2022

A witness reports an observation that he dated in the free-text narrative of the questionnaire to September 6, 2022. Subsequently, in the questionnaire and in other witness documents (e-mail, PV) he indicates the date of Monday, September 05: GEIPAN adopts this date as the day of the observation. The witness takes photographs using his mobile phone in the early morning. On Monday, September 05, 2022, at about 06:05, the witness observed a luminous point moving, then a second point on the left, shifted downwards. He then distinguished a diffuse light between the two points. The slightly bluish light became more distinct, as a "hologram of rectangular shape between the two points". He then saw around the second point a white halo shaped like the iris of an eye, large compared with the point of light and finally a "helix" or "double spiral" of white light, parallel to the ground, and of size equal to that of the iris. The first luminous point was no longer visible, but a less vivid "bar" of light replaced it. GEIPAN concluded from the description and photographs that the witness saw the reignition and passivation of the Falcon 9 second stage following the 5 September 2022 launch to place Starlink satellites in orbit. GEIPAN now recognizes this as a familiar type of observation. This procedure controls the return to earth of this stage. This occurs during the second orbit, during the second passage over Europe and in this specific case above or near France. The stage is then at an altitude of approximately 320 km. The engine is restarted for 1–2 seconds to place the stage on the right re-entry orbit, then after the engine is extinguished, the second stage is passivated: the gases present in the tanks are ejected in order to reduce the pressure before the end of the mission to minimize the risk of explosion during the re-entry to the atmosphere that will follow. This ejection is done symmetrically on both sides of the stage, which gives a bow-tie appearance for an observer on the ground; however, if the gases are not ejected completely symmetrically, then the appearance is that of a spiral. Many witnesses contacted GEIPAN following this observation. You can find additional explanations in the article A Falcon rocket vents gas over France. This case is classified as A: phenomenon fully identified.