VINNEUF (89) 06.09.2025

On 6 September 2025 at about 05:00, a witness at home in Vinneuf (89) saw an unusual glow to the southwest at the horizon, resembling sunrise or sunset. The witness took several smartphone photographs and then stopped observing. GEIPAN considers the case well supported and only slightly unusual and identifies the Moon (see the investigation report). In GEIPAN’s terminology, evidential support is the amount of reliable, objectively established information collected for an account. The photographs allow direct comparison with the sky at the time. Using Stellarium, investigators established that the Moon lay precisely along the witness’s line of sight, at about 1° elevation, very close to the horizon. The unusual impression came from the luminous shape cast on clouds while the source itself was unseen. Although very bright on the day before full Moon, the Moon was too low and hidden by vegetation and buildings. GEIPAN classifies the case A: observation of the setting Moon.