SATELLITES — NATIONAL (FR) 31.07.2025

On 31 July 2025 at 23:17, 2 witnesses, T1 and T2, observed a UAP from their garden in Mandres-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne, 94), in the eastern to northeastern sky. It appeared as an elongated, rectangular bar of light, light blue to bright white, with strong, constant brightness. It traveled in a straight line from south to north at a moderate apparent speed. T1 recorded 2 short videos in which the UAP is clearly visible intermittently through the clouds. The sighting lasted about 2 minutes, after which clouds and then a tree obscured it. The witness initially considered Starlink® satellites, but dismissed that explanation because of the observed characteristics. The evidence is good by GEIPAN's criteria, although only 1 of the 2 witnesses submitted an account. T1's 2 videos clearly show the UAP. For T1, its strangeness lay in how closely packed its constituent elements appeared. GEIPAN defines evidential consistency as the amount of information gathered in an account that is considered reliable and objectively supported. The investigation considered Starlink® satellites seen shortly after launch. That same day, 19 Starlink® satellites, including 2 Starshield satellites, had been launched from the US base named “Vanderberg” in the source, into a highly inclined orbit that took them over France from south to north after deployment (Appendix 1). Many other reports appeared online, some with photographs showing a resemblance to T1's recorded UAP (Appendix 2). GEIPAN also received an account of these satellites seen on the same date and at the same time from Beaumont-les-Valence, identified as department 27 in the source. GEIPAN classifies the case A: sighting of a Starlink® satellite train.