The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 16-Oct-54-Eguisheim.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper L'Alsace for October 19, 1954, reported among other observations that day, that in Eguisheim, on October 16, 1954, at 10:30 p.m., "a few people were surprised by the appearance of a spherical apparatus that at a breathtaking speed and in total silence, crossed the sky in the direction of the Trois-Châteaux."
[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":
After cigars, brooms, barrels, it is now the "melons" that appear in the sky of Alsace. In fact, many people claim to have seen a shining machine on Saturday night, in the form of a melon, and leaving a white-orange trail of two meters, flying over the Bas-Rhin.
This has indeed been observed not only in Strasbourg but also Niederhaslach, Haguenau and Wissembourg. Finally, in the Haut-Rhin, people also saw a craft that seems to be the same crossing the Bas-Rhin sky at a frightening speed.
It is at 07:30 p.m. that the phenomenon was observed for the first time on Saturday night in Strasbourg. Three people near the EDF plant on the street of Hobsheim saw a craft shining with light and in the shape of a bowler hat who spun in the sky.
">At 9:35 p.m. nine people were enjoying the warmth of the evening at the bar of the flying club, at the Polygone, also saw the same craft cross the night sky from east to west. The same description was given by a dozen young people in Niederhaslach awaiting the results of the election of the new mayor on the village square. A craft flew over them at 09:35 p.m., at an estimated altitude of very roughly fifteen thousand meters. The assumption that this would be a balloon lit by the last rays of the sun was rejected given the extraordinary speed at which the "flying melon" crossed the sky from one side of the horizon to the other. An investigation was opened by the police. A quarter of an hour before, that is to say, at 09:20 p.m., a flying saucer flew at low altitude, in a burst of sparks, on the Stanislas hospital in Wissembourg. The craft was seen by the local police and residents.
Finally in Haguenau, at 07:30 p.m., a round and red machine crossed the sky from north to south, followed by a bright white and orange trail. At 11:30 p.m., another craft was seen. In Masevaux, seven people who saw between 9:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. a craft that was shaped like a cigar and was followed by a green trail. From the Hundsrück, the "flying cigar was heading to the Sundel."
In Eguisheim, at 10:30 p.m., a few people were surprised by the appearance of a spherical apparatus that at a breathtaking speed and in total silence, crossed the sky in the direction of the Trois-Châteaux.
[Ref. cvn2:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:
Former journalist Christian Valentin published in 2012 a very interesting book telling the story of UFO sightings, flying saucers sightings, in Alsace, from the beginning to 1980.
In this book, he indicates that the 16th of October 1954 was an eventful evening throughout Alsace, from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. with numerous reports of bright balls in different directions, and that observations located around 21:30 were those of a superb meteor, visible that evening from twenty departments of France, according to "Mysterious Objects in the Sky" by A. Michel, Seghers publisher, on page 245, and "La Grande Peur Martienne" by G. Barthel and Brucker, Nouvelles Editions Rationalistes, page 202. He adds that the proximity, a few hours apart, of fireballs with opposite trajectories and perpendicular paths "is, according to the experts, a remarkable phenomenon."
He indicates that in the newspaper L'ALSACE for Tuesday, October 19, 1954, in the French-speaking issue, published the following article:
After cigars, brooms, barrels, it is now the "melons" that appear in the sky of Alsace. In fact, many people claim to have seen a shining machine on Saturday night, in the form of a melon, and leaving a white-orange trail of two meters, flying over the Bas-Rhin.
This has indeed been observed not only in Strasbourg but also Niederhaslach, Haguenau and Wissembourg. Finally, in the Haut-Rhin, people also saw a craft that seems to be the same crossing the Bas-Rhin sky at a frightening speed.
It is at 07:30 p.m. that the phenomenon was observed for the first time on Saturday night in Strasbourg. Three people near the EDF plant on the street of Hobsheim saw a craft shining with light and in the shape of a bowler hat who spun in the sky.
At 9:35 p.m. nine people were enjoying the warmth of the evening at the bar of the flying club, at the Polygone, also saw the same craft cross the night sky from east to west. The same description was given by a dozen young people in Niederhaslach awaiting the results of the election of the new mayor on the village square. A craft flew over them at 09:35 p.m., at an estimated altitude of very roughly fifteen thousand meters. The assumption that this would be a balloon lit by the last rays of the sun was rejected given the extraordinary speed at which the "flying melon" crossed the sky from one side of the horizon to the other. An investigation was opened by the police. A quarter of an hour before, that is to say, at 09:20 p.m., a flying saucer flew at low altitude, in a burst of sparks, on the Stanislas hospital in Wissembourg. The craft was seen by the local police and residents.
Finally in Haguenau, at 07:30 p.m., a round and red machine crossed the sky from north to south, followed by a bright white and orange trail. At 11:30 p.m., another craft was seen. In Masevaux, seven people who saw between 9:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. a craft that was shaped like a cigar and was followed by a green trail. From the Hundsrück, the "flying cigar was heading to the Sundel."
In Eguisheim, at 10:30 p.m., a few people were surprised by the appearance of a spherical apparatus that at a breathtaking speed and in total silence, crossed the sky in the direction of the Trois-Châteaux.
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If the witnesses were actually in Eguisheim for the observation, something heading toward the Three Castles of Eguisheim is roughly going from the East to the West. This would coincide with observations further in the north at 09:35 p.m., of a meteor. Maybe the hour was in error and it was the same meteor, but this is not certain.
Thus: possible meteor, insufficient information.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Eguisheim, Haut-Rhin, night, multiple, craft, sphere, silent, Trois-Châteaux
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | April 21, 2014 | Creation, [lae1], [cvn2]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | April 21, 2014 | First published. |
