PETITE-ILE (974) 15.12.2024

From 15 December 2024, a resident of Petite-Île, Réunion (974), observed unusual yellow-to-white lights above the ocean to the south between 19:15 and 19:30 UTC on 4 consecutive evenings. On 31 January 2025, the witness submitted a completed technical questionnaire and several videos to GEIPAN. The witness described a first ball appearing above the sea as if approaching from far away, growing while consistently moving west to east. A second of similar size and colour sometimes followed along a more irregular path. The passages were brief and rapid: lights disappeared southeastward and reappeared moments later, up to 20 times in one evening. GEIPAN found the description and images a precise match for Starlink satellite flaring: brief sunlight reflections from satellites already in their final operational orbits. Under a particular illumination geometry, reflected sunlight can be seen with the naked eye from the ground or an aircraft. The source refers to GEIPAN's investigation note 'Starlink satellite flashes'. It explains that these flares occur a little above the horizon, vertically above the Sun when the Sun is 30°–45° below the horizon. GEIPAN found those conditions satisfied here. The lights were southward and low. Although the witness estimated elevation as 30°, IPACO analysis of a video containing 2 UAPs measured 3.1° and 4° (Annex 1). GEIPAN attributed part of the overestimate to use of 5× zoom. Stellarium confirmed the Sun to the south, 30°–45° below the horizon, at the observation time (Annex 2). GEIPAN judged the evidential support very good because the sighting recurred over several days and videos were available. It defines evidential support as the amount of information collected for an account that is considered reliable and objectively established. It classified the case A: Starlink satellites in their final operational orbits producing satellite flares. IPACO is GEIPAN's image-analysis and processing software, referenced at IPACO.fr; Stellarium is free planetarium software.