Rocket elements over France 2009

Summary

On October 18, 2009, around 9:15 PM, hundreds of people across France observed two bright points moving from south to northwest. Witnesses frequently described two bright lights followed by a white halo, similar to a comet's tail, with no sound heard. The GEIPAN, the French organization responsible for investigating unidentified aerial phenomena, received multiple testimonies about this event. After investigation, they concluded that the observed phenomenon was the launch of a military meteorological satellite DSMP F18 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, USA, using an Atlas rocket. The observed event corresponds to the moment when the Centaur stage released its fuel.