QUESNOY-LE-MONTANT (80) 16.09.2023

On 16 September 2023 at about 05:55, a witness at home in Quesnoy-le-Montant (80) noticed an intense white light in the sky, brighter than the surrounding stars. He filmed through the window. When zooming in, he saw a circular shape containing a second white or gray circle, which did not match its appearance to the naked eye. The light lay due east and moved very slowly. The sighting lasted about 1 hour 30 minutes. As daylight made the point of light less visible, it seemed to move farther away and gain altitude. The case has good evidential strength: a detailed account written on the day of the sighting, with 18 videos. GEIPAN identifies the object as Venus. Astronomical analysis using Stellarium showed that Venus's position matched the witness's date, time, azimuths and initial elevation, although he may have estimated the final elevation incorrectly. GEIPAN explains the object's brightness by Venus's magnitude at the time, -4.28 compared with an average of -4.14. The prolonged sighting and reported straight-line movement are typical of an astronomical observation. GEIPAN attributes the perceived unusualness to the object's brightness and its unusual appearance in the smartphone videos. It explains that the device was unsuitable for filming point light sources at night and could produce defocusing: a blurred circular patch shaped like the camera aperture, often accompanied by concentric circles described as diffraction patterns. Venus's brightness at the time also helps explain the exceptional luminosity. GEIPAN classifies the case as A: observation of Venus. Under its criteria, the evidential strength is good; this term refers to the amount of information considered reliable that is collected for an account.