Bright star seen in Mayotte on December 31, 2009

Summary

A witness from Mayotte reported through a questionnaire having observed a very bright fixed point of light on December 31, 2009, around 9:00 PM local time, towards the east. Initially, the witness described an apparent fast movement at high altitude, but this turned out to be caused by cloud movement. The observation lasted about 10 minutes and the object changed color, which is typical of a bright star like Sirius. Astronomical data confirm that Sirius was visible in the eastern sky at that time. Therefore, the case was classified as A, meaning explained as the observation of the star Sirius.