An account in Côte-d'Or, France

On August 12, 2015 between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., a witness and his grandson, out for a walk, observed a particularly bright point in the sky which, after a few minutes, began to move, crossed the sky in a straight line, and disappeared behind a forest. Only one testimony was collected. The observation of a very bright point moving in a straight line can have several origins: - Satellite: the impression of immobility at the start may have been an illusion because the witnesses were walking. That day, around 9:50 p.m., there was a pass of the ISS, very bright, on a northeast to east trajectory, but slightly before the time window defined by the witness. Several satellites passed on this northeast to east trajectory within the time window: Cosmos 2082, Rocket, Cosmos 1833 Rocket, USA 29/DMSP 5D-2/F9, but they are a priori not bright enough (magnitude 3 at best) to have produced this impression. However, one cannot rule out that one or another was that day in a position such that it became very bright (negative magnitude). - Airplane head-on: this explanation is possible but unlikely: to have such an appearance, an airplane must be seen fairly low on the horizon (less than 30°), and when it changes direction, its blinking lights become visible. Verification is impossible (too late). - Helicopter: this hypothesis could also fit, loosely; the perceived silence fits this hypothesis poorly, and blinking lights should have been seen. In summary, due to the strong similarity of the described phenomenon with the appearance of the International Space Station, despite the slight discrepancy with the time window defined by the witness, GEIPAN classifies this case "B": observation of the ISS.