GEIPAN Case 2012-07-08299 — MONTCHABOUD (38) 26.07.2012

Brief

GEIPAN investigators queried the CalSky celestial-calendar service to identify potential conventional explanations for a witness report of a rapid, silent, vaporous ball traveling south-to-north with luminous sub-points beneath it over Montchaboud (Isere, France) at 22h20 on July 26, 2012. The printout, retrieved September 3, 2012, lists 18 items/events calculated for WGS84 coordinates Lon +5d45m46.4s, Lat +45d05m42.9s at 577 m altitude, using orbital data from July 25, 2012. The closest temporal and directional match to the sighting is the NOSS 3-1 Rocket (catalog 26906/2001-040-B), which traveled SSW to NE and disappeared at 22h21m40s — 100 seconds after the reported observation — reaching magnitude 3.3 at culmination. Despite the analysis, GEIPAN retained the case at classification D1.

Metadata

Agency

GEIPAN / CNES

Release

2007-03-22

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

6 pages

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED (GEIPAN case classification D1)

Programs

GEIPAN, SEPRA, GEPAN

Tags

vaporous ball, south-to-north trajectory, silent, 6-second duration, trailing jets, luminous sub-points, satellite candidates, Montchaboud France, Isere, 2012, GEIPAN D1

Key points

• The CalSky lookup is anchored to Montchaboud, France at WGS84 coordinates Lon +5d45m46.4s, Lat +45d05m42.9s, altitude 577 m, on the evening of July 26, 2012, matching the witness location precisely.p.2
• The NOSS 3-1 Rocket (catalog 26906, 2001-040-B) was visible from 22h03m10s through 22h21m40s, traveling from azimuth 210.8 degrees SSW to 39.2 degrees NE — a south-to-north arc matching the witness's reported trajectory — reaching magnitude 3.3 at culmination at elevation 79.1 degrees.p.3
• Three Yaogan 9 satellites (9A, 9B, 9C — catalog IDs 36413–36415, launched 2010) transited in close formation from NW to SSE between approximately 22h03 and 22h11, each at magnitude ~4.7 at culmination and altitude ~1,138 km, with pass times separated by only seconds — a configuration capable of producing the appearance of multiple luminous sub-points.p.2
• OBJECT G (catalog 38083, 2012-006-G) flew a near-identical SSW-to-NNE arc and was the brightest object of the evening at magnitude 2.0 at culmination, but its pass ended at 22h04m33s, approximately 15 minutes before the reported sighting.p.2
• The orbital data used to compute the calendar was from July 25, 2012 — one day before the incident — introducing small but nonzero timing uncertainty for low-Earth-orbit objects.p.4
• The CalSky calendar logged 18 items/events in total for the observation window at this location and time.p.4
• Astronomical context: at 22h20 the Sun was approximately 10 degrees below the horizon (nautical twilight), meaning satellites in the 1,000+ km altitude range could still be sunlit and visible to ground observers against a darkening sky.p.3

Verbatim

• Observer Site Montchaboud, France WGS84: Lon: +5d45m46.4s Lat: +45d05m42.9s Alt: 577m All times in CET or CEST (during summer)

  p.2

• 22h12m02s NOSS 3-1 Rocket (26906 2001-040-B) → Ground track → Star chart Appears 22h03m10s 6.2mag az:210.8° SSW horizon at Meridian 22h11m22s 3.3mag az:180.0° S h:71.2° Culmination 22h12m02s 3.3mag az:124.6° SE h:79.1° distance: 1043.9km height above Earth: 1028.3km elevation of Sun: -10° angular velocity: 0.41°/s Disappears 22h21m40s 6.5mag az: 39.2° NE horizon

  p.3

• 22h03m46s Yaogan 9A (36413 2010-009-A) → Ground track → Star chart Appears 21h53m59s 11.0mag az:320.9° NW horizon Culmination 22h03m46s 4.7mag az:234.6° SW h:82.9° distance: 1145.3km height above Earth: 1138.3km elevation of Sun: -9° angular velocity: 0.35°/s at Meridian 22h04m14s 4.6mag az:180.0° S h:77.7° Disappears 22h11m12s 6.2mag az:148.3° SSE h:9.4°

  p.2

• 22h00m39s OBJECT G (38083 2012-006-G) → Ground track → Star chart Appears 21h43m20s 4.5mag az:209.5° SSW horizon Culmination 21h54m46s 2.0mag az:298.5° WNW h:80.0° distance: 1287.4km height above Earth: 1271.6km elevation of Sun: -7° angular velocity: 0.31°/s at Meridian 21h55m45s 2.1mag az: 0.0° N h:69.6° Disappears 22h04m33s 4.5mag az: 28.1° NNE horizon

  p.2

• Used satellite data set is from 25 July 2012

  p.4

• 18 Items/Events: Export to Outlook/iCal Print

  p.4

• 3 Sep 2012, 8:53 UTC

  p.6

Most interesting

• OBJECT G (catalog 38083, 2012-006-G) belongs to the same 2012-006 launch family as XaTcobeo (catalog 38082, 2012-006-F), which is listed separately in the same printout — suggesting OBJECT G was an undesignated co-passenger from the same 2012 launch, flying a nearly identical SSW-to-NNE arc but 15 minutes too early to match the sighting.
• The Yaogan 9 constellation — three Chinese satellites flying in tight formation at roughly 1,138 km altitude, passing within seconds of one another — is widely assessed in open-source analysis as a naval ocean-surveillance system analogous to the US NOSS program; both appear in this same CalSky printout for the same evening.
• The CalSky service was developed and operated in Switzerland by Arnold Barmettler, as the document itself states: 'Dieser Service wird in der Schweiz entwickelt und betrieben' — a civilian public tool that became a standard instrument for UAP investigators seeking to cross-check witness times against satellite ephemerides.
• NOSS 3-1 (Naval Ocean Surveillance System) satellites are tracked separately from their payloads; the 'Rocket' entry (2001-040-B) refers to the spent upper stage, which is often considerably brighter than the paired payload satellites and independently cataloged by NORAD.
• Despite 18 tracked objects computed for the observation window, no single candidate simultaneously accounts for all reported features — vaporous appearance, trailing jets, 6-second duration, south-to-north travel, and luminous sub-points — which is the operative reason the case remains D1 rather than D (conventional explanation found).
• The USA 186/KH entry (catalog 28888, 2005-042-A) is a probable KH-series US reconnaissance satellite; at magnitude 3.4 and 275.6 km altitude it had the highest angular velocity of the evening at 0.98 degrees per second, meaning it crossed the visible sky in roughly 30 seconds — fast, but not as fast as a 6-second observation would imply.