Embrun, France — 7 September 1820
Arago’s unknown formation: Military precision
Astronomer Frangois Arago, director of Paris observatory, reports that “numerous people have seen, during an eclipse of the moon, strange objects moving in straight lines. They were equally spaced and remained in line when they made turns. Their movements showed military precision.”
Source: Frangois Arago, Oeuvres Completes de Frangois Arago (Paris, 1857), v. 11, 575-8; “Etoiles filantes en plein jour”, in Annales de Chimie et de Physique, vol. 30 (1825): 575-8. Fig. 35: French astronomer Francois Arago (1786-1853) 401. Case: W353