ALSACAT:

ALSACAT is my comprehensive catalog of UFO sighting reports in Alsace, the region is the North-East of France, whether they are "explained" or "unexplained".

The ALSACAT catalog is made of case files with a case number, summary, quantitative information (date, location, number of witnesses...), classifications, all sources mentioning the case with their references, a discussion of the case in order to evaluate its causes, and a history of the changes made to the file. A general index and thematic sub-catalogs give access to these Alsatian case files.

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Case in Alsace, on August 7, 1287:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1287-08-07-ALSACE-1

Summary:

In the chronicles of the Dominican monks of Colmar, written between 1294 and 1296, we read that on August 7, 1287, during the night, two stars appeared, one very large, and the other small; they suddenly and strongly illuminated the night, as if the sun had shone, then suddenly disappeared.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	August 7, 1287
Time:	Night.
Duration:
First known report date:	1296
Reporting delay:	9 years.

Geographical data:

Department:	?
City:	?
Place:	Colmar?
Latitude:	48.078
Longitude:	7.356
Uncertainty radius:	60 km.

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	?
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	?
Witness(es) ages:	?
Witness(es) types:	?

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Contemporary local chronicle.
Type of location:	?
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	Yes.
Entities:	No.
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL
ALSACAT:	Possibles meteors.

Sources:

[Ref. hby1:] HENRI BARDY:

About the climate of Alsace in the XIII^th century

The following facts are recorded in the Annales des Dominicains de Colmar, a work from the 13th century which constitutes one of the important monuments in the history of Germany in the Middle Ages, and which is, without a doubt, the capital document of the history of Alsace during the period to which it refers (1211 - 1308).

These notes are given according to the excellent edition of the royal library of Stuttgart, by Messrs. Gérard, lawyer at the imperial court of Colmar, and Liblin, director of the Revue d'Alsace (Colmar, 1854).

[...]

1287. -- [...]

On the seventh of the ides of August (August 7), during the night, two stars appeared, one of which was very large, and the other small; they suddenly brightly lit up the night, as if the sun were shining, then suddenly disappeared.

Discussion:

We can obviously think here that it was a meteor that would be broken into two fragments. There is not enough information, neither to make it a certainty, nor to rule it out.

Evaluation:

Possibles meteors.

Sources references:

* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.

[cdc1] ? "Colmarer Dominikaner Chronist", Colmar, France, 1294 to 1296.
[hby1] * "Du Climat de l'Alsace au XIIIe siècle2, chapter by Henri Bardy, member of the Société Météorologique de France, in "Annales de la Société d'Emulation du Département des Vosges", Auguste Coin publisher, France, Volume XII, part 2, page 188, 1866.

File history:

Authoring:

Main author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	None
Reviewers:	None
Editor:	Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	February 7, 2023	Creation, [hby1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	February 7, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on February 7, 2023.