An account in Hautes-Alpes, France

On September 13, 2011 at 11:15 PM, the gendarmerie was contacted by people who had spotted an unidentified flying object. The gendarmerie went to the scene, and the witnesses reported seeing in the sky an ovoid object with three different lights, first motionless, then moving slowly toward the North. The witness himself found an explanation by saying that he had seen the star Mira Ceti (constellation of the Whale). But this star turns out to be visible in the East at that hour, whereas the witness says he observed toward the West, in the direction of Rosans. Moreover, the witness says he saw the star disappear: a star visible in the East rises in the sky during the night. (See the document "eastern sky chart".) The star observed was therefore Arcturus, a very bright star (Magnitude 0), which does indeed set around 11:30 PM in the West, sliding toward the North. Like all bright stars, its color shifts toward orange at sunset, and it twinkles particularly. (See the document "western sky chart".) This case is classified A: identified.