Moving in formation in Var, France

On December 18, 2014, around 9:00 PM, two witnesses are intrigued by a luminous phenomenon in the sky. Observed while zooming with a camera, the object seems to be several colors and moves in all directions. The witness describes a kind of star larger than average and blinking, finally identified as a very mobile luminous object, like a kite. The observation lasts one hour. From a place near the train station, the observation direction is indicated roughly: "above Draguignan," which corresponds to an azimuth of 335° to 360°. It should be noted that the city of Draguignan is not directly visible from this location: the witness's azimuth estimate is probably approximate. The star Vega, a very bright star, is visible at 8.4° elevation and at an azimuth of 317° at 9:24 PM. Contacted by phone, the witness will indicate that he saw the same luminous object several evenings in a row at roughly the same place. The observation of a luminous point for nearly an hour above the horizon, several evenings in a row, very clearly suggests the observation of a star. The color changes are due to scintillation caused by atmospheric turbulence; the observed oscillations are also due to scintillation, but also to the autokinetic illusion or autokinesis, a perception illusion frequent when observing a luminous point in the dark (see the perception of the movement of a luminous point in the sky). Since the observation direction is not precisely known, the identification of the star is not certain. GEIPAN classifies this case "B": probable observation of a star above the horizon; Vega seems a good candidate.