The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Bien Public, France, on September 11, 2002.
On Saturday night, the drivers of two vehicles returning from Dole observed a strange phenomenon near the Dijon-Crimolois toll station, between 10:30 PM and 11:00 PM. A very bright yellow object, which they were unable to identify, was sparkling in the sky at approximately 45° above the horizon, descending extremely rapidly towards the northwest.
UFO or natural phenomenon? The Burgundy Astronomical Society, consulted on the matter, initially thought it could be Venus, which is currently very low on the horizon and very bright. However, Venus disappears from our field of vision around 9:00 PM. So, another explanation had to be found. In any case, a planet cannot descend towards the horizon as quickly as the two witnesses described.
Could it have been the ISS (International Space Station)? It did pass over Dijon on September 7. However, it was expected at 3:36 AM and in a south-southeast direction, at 29° above the horizon.
After ruling out all these possibilities, Pierre Causeret from the SAB favored the hypothesis of a meteorite. Based on its direction, this shooting star could indeed have originated from the constellations of Hercules or Lyra. In any case, for these scientists, it was not a UFO. The others can still dream.
