ALSACAT-1857-04-06-ANDOLSHEIM-1
A book published in 1953, written by the Irish Desmond Leslie tells with little detail and without citing any source that "on April 6, 1856, in Colmar", France, "doctor Dussort" saw a flying black "torpedo."
When the thing is passed overhead it "gave off a low melodious whistling sound."
The story was picked up by ufologists thereafter sometimes with omissions of form and color, or addition that the object would have "hovered backwards."
The real story can be found in the Press of the time and goes like this:
On April 6, 1857 between 4 and 5 p.m., Mr. Charles-François Dussourt, M.D. of the military hospital of Colmar, was near Andolsheim, a suburb of Colmar, on the left bank of the River Ill, when his attention was suddenly attracted by a whistling sound quite like the sound of a projectile going fast through the air. At the same time he saw, at a height given as about 100 meters, pass above him, at fast speed from west to east on a strongly titled trajectory, a very black body, elongated in a pointed manner in the front part and terminated by a spherical mass, the whole measuring, as far as can be judged, from 30 to 40 centimeters long. Apparently the middle part was about the size an arm.
The short interval of time which elapsed between the appearance of the meteorite and the sound of its fall allowed the observer to assess with sufficient accuracy the distance at which it met the ground.
We see that this is a report of a meteorite fall and not a report about some torpedo-shaped UFO emitting a melodious sound. I found no indication that the meteorite was recovered.
In 2014, Christian Valentin who had mentioned the case in his 2012 book about UFOs in Alsace, having read my file, resumed his research and found the press source which is undoubtedly the primary source, the newspaper Le Glaneur du Haut-Rhin for April 12, 1857, which reported in a local chronicle:
Colmar. -- An aerolite was seen, falling, last Monday, April 6, between 4 and 5 p.m., in the suburb of Andolsheim, arrondissement of Colmar.
Fortunately, it happened that a competent observer, Dr. Dussourt, chief physician of the Colmar military hospital, being on the scene, was able to observe the phenomenon and determine in a fairly approximate manner, the region of the country where the bolide fell.
This circumstance gives hope that one will be able to find it without much difficulty. Some searches made these last days, did not bring yet any result; but they will continue and the higher authority has taken the necessary precautions to ensure the preservation of this precious object of natural history, if it is discovered.
The circumstances that accompany the fall of aeroliths are almost always the same.
We collected the following details about Andolsheim.
Mr. Doctor Dussourt was on the left bank of the Ill when his attention was suddenly attracted by a whistle of a particular nature, quite similar to the noise of a projectile, or of birds rapidly crossing the air.
At the same time he saw, at a height of about 100 meters, pass above him with great speed, heading from west to east, describing a steeply inclined line on the horizon, a very black body, elongated to a point in its anterior part, ending in a spherical mass. The whole measuring as far as it is possible to judge, 30 to 40 centimeters long, and appearing in the middle part to be about the size of an arm.
The short interval of time that elapsed between the appearance of the aerolith and the sound of its fall, allowed the observer to appreciate with some accuracy the distance at which it had encountered the ground.
| Date: | April 6, 1857 |
|---|---|
| Time: | Between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | April 12, 1857 |
| Reporting delay: | Days. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Andolsheim |
| Place: | Outside near the River Ill, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 48.061 |
| Longitude: | 4.409 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 2 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adult. |
| Witness(es) types: | Military MD. |
| Reporting channel: | Local Press. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | Outside, near small river, UFO in the sky, falling. |
| Visibility conditions: | Daylight |
| UFO observed: | Yes |
| UFO arrival observed: | Uncertain. |
| UFO departure observed: | N/A, fall. |
| Entities: | No |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | Meteorite fall. |
| Hynek: | DD |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Probable meteorite fall. |
[Ref. gdh1:] NEWSPAPER "LE GLANEUR DU HAUT-RHIN":
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Colmar. -- An aerolite was seen, falling, last Monday, April 6, between 4 and 5 p.m., in the suburb of Andolsheim, arrondissement of Colmar.
Fortunately, it happened that a competent observer, Dr. Dussourt, chief physician of the Colmar military hospital, being on the scene, was able to observe the phenomenon and determine in a fairly approximate manner, the region of the country where the bolide fell.
This circumstance gives hope that one will be able to find it without much difficulty. Some searches made these last days, did not bring yet any result; but they will continue and the higher authority has taken the necessary precautions to ensure the preservation of this precious object of natural history, if it is discovered.
The circumstances that accompany the fall of aeroliths are almost always the same.
We collected the following details about Andolsheim.
Mr. Doctor Dussourt was on the left bank of the Ill when his attention was suddenly attracted by a whistle of a particular nature, quite similar to the noise of a projectile, or of birds rapidly crossing the air.
At the same time he saw, at a height of about 100 meters, pass above him with great speed, heading from west to east, describing a steeply inclined line on the horizon, a very black body, elongated to a point in its anterior part, ending in a spherical mass. The whole measuring as far as it is possible to judge, 30 to 40 centimeters long, and appearing in the middle part to be about the size of an arm.
The short interval of time that elapsed between the appearance of the aerolith and the sound of its fall, allowed the observer to appreciate with some accuracy the distance at which it had encountered the ground.
Credit for this find: Christian Valentin, 2014, see [cvn3].
[Ref. jda1:] NEWSPAPER "LE COURRIER DE LA DROME ET DE L'ARDECHE":
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L'Alsacien [newspaper] of Strasbourg tells that a fireball was seen falling, Monday, April 6, between four and five o'clock in the afternoon, in the suburbs of Andolsheim, district of Colmar.
The department of Haut-Rhin already has, as we know, a famous fireball, the one that fell on November 7, 1492, in Ensisheim, between eleven and twelve o'clock, almost under the eyes of the Emperor Maximilian the 1st.
This prince had it carried into the choir of the church of this city. It was brought in procession with great ceremony, and remained there until it was placed in the National Museum of Colmar, to be later returned to Ensisheim.
It weighed at the time of his fall, 260 pounds. Its weight is now much diminished, many fragments having been taken. The Natural History Museum of Paris has one that weighs 20 pounds.
[Ref. lpe1:] NEWSPAPER "LA PRESSE":
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The newspaper L'Alsacien reported the fall of a meteorite in the suburbs of Andolsheim, in the Colmar district. By chance a competent observer, Dr. Dussourt, chief physician of the military hospital in Colmar, was on the spot, he could see the phenomenon and determine a fairly approximate area of the country where the meteor fell.
Mr. Dr. Dussourt was on the left bank of the River Ill, when his attention was suddenly attracted by a whistling sound of a particular nature quite like the sound of a projectile, or a flock of birds going fast through the air. At the same time he saw, at a height of about 100 meters, pass over him at a high speed, moving from west to east following a line strongly inclined on the horizon, a very black body, elongated in a point in its front part and ending in a spherical mass; the whole measuring, as far as can be judged, from 30 to 40 centimeters long, and apparently in the middle part it was about the size of an arm.
The department of Haut-Rhin already has a famous fireball, who fell, on November 7, 1492, in Ensisheim, between eleven and twelve o'clock, almost under the eyes of the Emperor Maximilian. This prince had him carried it into the church of this city. It was brought in procession and with great ceremony, and remained there until it was placed in the National Museum in Colmar, to be later returned to Ensisheim. It weighed 260 pounds went in fell. Its weight is now much diminished, many fragments having been taken off. The Natural History Museum of Paris has a fireball that weighs 20 pounds.
[Ref. aae1:] "ALMANACH ASTRONOMIQUE 1878":
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On April 6 this year, a fireball was seen falling, between four and five o'clock in the afternoon, in the suburbs of Andolsheim, Colmar district.
By chance a competent observer,
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Mr. Dussourt, M.D., was on the left bank of the River Ill, when his attention was suddenly attracted by a whistling sound of a special nature quite like the sound of a shot, or a flock of birds quickly going through the air. At the same time he saw, at a height of about 100 meters, pass above him with a great speed, moving from west to east, describing a line strongly inclined on the horizon, a very black body, elongated in a pointed manner in the front part and terminated by a spherical mass, the whole measuring, as far as can be judged, from 30 to 40 centimeters long, and apparently in the middle part it was about the size an arm.
The short interval of time which elapsed between the appearance of the fireball and the sound of its fall allowed the observer to assess with sufficient accuracy the distance at which it met the ground.
The Department of Haut-Rhin already has a [... other fireballs cases...]
[Ref. dll1:] "REPERTOIRE DES CONNAISSANCES USUELLES":
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here are some details on the latest bolide explosions and recent falling fireballs:
On April 6, 1857, a meteorite fell between four and five
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in the evening, in the vicinity of Andolsheim, district of Colmar. Dr. Dussourt, who was on the left bank of the River Ill, heard a hissing sound of a particular nature quite like the sound of a projectile or birds quickly going through the air. At the same time he saw, at a height of about 100 meters, pass over him, at a great speed, moving from west to east, following a strongly inclined line on the horizon, a very black body, elongated at the front tip and terminated by a spherical mass, the shole measuring about 30 or 40 centimeters long and appearing to be in its middle part the size of an arm. The department of Haut-Rhin already has a famous fireball, that fell on November 7, 1492, in Ensisheim between one hour and noon, almost under the eyes of Emperor Maximilian the First. This prince had it carried in the choir of the church of this city, in a processional manner and with great ceremony, and it remained there until it was placed in the National Museum in Colmar, from where it later returned to Ensisheim.
[Ref. dla1:] DESMOND LESLIE AND GEORGE ADAMSKI:
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1856 April 6th. Colmar, France. Dr. Dussort saw a black flying "torpedo". As it passed overhead it gave off a low melodious whistling sound. |
In his acknowledgements, Desmond Leslie wrote:
No acknowledgment would be complete without a most grateful thought cast in the direction of the shade of the late Charles Fort, whose researches have literally saved me years of labor.
[Ref. hct1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "URANUS":
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Finally, on 6th April, 1856, a Dr. Dussort, of Colman [sic], France, saw, during the afternoon, "a black object spherical at one end and pointed at the other. It was about 100 yards above him, and was accompanied by a whistling sound."
[Ref. krs1:] "KRONOS, CHEMISTRY ENGINEER":
This author published an exact quote of the Leslie and Adamski version ([dla1]).
[Ref. ine1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "INFORESPACE":
On April 6, 1856, Dr Dussort observed a "torpedo flying backwards" above Colmar. This strange aerodynamically shaped craft emitted a "melodious whistle".
[Ref. cps1:] CHRISTIANE PIENS AND JACQUES SCORNAUX:
April 6, 1856, Colmar (France). Dr. Dussort observes an object in the shape of a "torpedo that hovers backwards", which emits a melodic whistling sound 12.
12 Inforespace 1792,#4, p. 40.
[Ref. pvy1:] PIERRE VIEROUDY:
On April 6, 1856, it is a "torpedo" with an aerodynamic shape that passes over Colmar "with a melodic whistling sound."
[Ref. mbd1:] MICHEL BOUGARD:
Meteors do not explain everything...
[.... other case...] On April 6, 1856, Dr. Dussort observed a "torpedo flying backwards" above Colmar. This strange aerodynamically shaped craft emitted a "melodious whistle".
[Ref. jsr1:] JEAN SIDER:
In a list of observations "by astronomers", Jean Sider writes:
April 6, 1856: Dr. Dussort makes an observation over Colmar. He sees a "torpedo flying backwards". It is a craft with a shape that we would call aerodynamic and which emits "a melodious whistle" 3 p.132. There too, one could think that this observer could be an astronomer, but our source does not specify it.
The source "3 p.132" is described as "Michel Bougard, la Chronique des OVNIS, Paris, France-Loisirs, 1978.
[Ref. uwb2:] "UFOWEB" WEBSITE:
| CITIES | DEPT | LATITUDES | LONGITUDES | YEARS | |
| Colmar | 68 | 48.083 | 7.367 | 1856 | 1990 |
[Ref. jbu1:] JEROME BEAU:
April
06 In Colmar (France), Dr. Dussort observes a torpedo that hovers backwards while emitting a melodic whistling sound.
Inforespace # 4, 1972, p. 40 in Piens, C. & Scornaux, J.: A la recherche des ovnis, 1976, p. 182
[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 cites:
"1856. 6 April. Colmar, France. Dr. Dussort saw a flying "torpedo", black, round at one end and pointed at the other. The object emitted a melodious whistling sound through the sky. "
He indicates that the source is the book "Flying Saucers Have Landed", The British Book Centre, New York, and London, Werner Laurie, by Desmond Leslie and George Adamsky [sic, "Adamski" ], published in 1954, and that he gives his personal translation.
He was surprised to find this in a foreign book, whose first part is devoted to the "contactee" Adamski, so that it is hard to give it some credit, but he searched for the source. He searched the available newspapers of that time unsuccessfully, and consulted the 1858 Census file to find a doctor "Dussort" without success either.
But a friend to whom he mentioned the difficulty in finding the source was able to tell him that during a search unrelated to UFOs, he stumbled upon a handwritten draft of a letter dated April 9, 1859, sent by the office of the Prefect to the Mayor of Andolsheim under the M54 reference in the departmental archives of the Haut-Rhin. The letter said that there is a claim a meteorite fell two days earlier in the Andolsheim suburb, and that "MM Dussourd and Hugot" should be assisted to find it for exhibition at the Museum of Colmar.
The author also notes that though he did not find a "Dussort", he found a 2nd class medical officer named "Dussourt" at the military hospital in Colmar in the "Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin directory", of which gives the reference.
With the proximity of the premises, the error of almost three years and the name, he wondered if the case is not the same, and says he continues his research.
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
6 April 1856:
Colmar, Alsace, France
An unidentified object was sighted, but with appearance and behavior that most likely would have a conventional explanation. One object was observed (Dussort).
Hynek rating: NL
Vallee rating: FB1
The sources are indicated as: "Leslie, Desmond, Flying Saucers Have Landed, British Book Center, 1953; Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073)."
[Ref. tma1:] FRANCESCO TOSCANO AND ENRICO MESSINA:
These two authors published an exact quote of the Leslie and Adamski version ([dla1]).
[Ref. cvn3:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:
Published on October 28, 2014 by VALENTIN Christian
Patrick Gross has just lifted the veil of mystery that covered one of the first Alsatian UFO sightings mentioned in ufological books.
As a reminder, here is what I write in "Mythes et Réalités des Phénomènes Aériens non Identifiés" published in November 2012:
"1856, April 6. Colmar, France. Dr. Dussort saw a flying "torpedo", black, round at one end, and pointed at the other. The object emitted a melodious hissing sound as it passes through the sky."
This description appears in the book "The flying saucers have landed" by Desmond Leslie and Georges Adamski (1) published in 1954 (Personal translation of the American edition).
It takes place in a chronology of ancient observations and very interesting unusual events, but all without any reference or indication of source, and appears regularly since in specialized books and journals with translation errors, slight variations in the terms or in the positioning of the quotation marks.
Finding this information in the book of a British author (the first part of the work including the chronology is credited to D. Leslie and not to the American contactee G. Adamski) seems curious to say the least: how this local phenomenon was able to cross the Channel, then the Atlantic, to return to us a century later is a mystery in itself.
Under these conditions, it seems difficult to give credit to this story; so we tried to find the source.
We searched without success the available periodicals of the time to find traces of the event and browsed, in vain, the census carried out in Colmar in 1858 to try to find out a Dr Dussort.
Recently, a friend keen on local history to whom I confided my difficulties in this research, told me of a most curious event: during his own research in a field completely foreign to the one who we are concerned with, this colleague found under the reference M54 of the departmental archives of Haut-Rhin the draft of a handwritten note sent on April 9, 1859 by the cabinet of the Prefect to the mayor of Andolsheim. Here are the terms: "we are assured that an aerolite fell two days ago in the suburbs of Andolsheim. If that were so, I would attach great importance to collecting this object for the Colmar city museum.
I therefore come to ask you to lend your assistance to MM Dussourd and Hugot, in order to find and remove, if necessary, the object xxx (illegible)."
Between the two aerial phenomena, we note a proximity in the places, as well as in the time of year. Is this the same event with a three year error almost to the day? The presence of a man named Dussourd can only reinforce the doubt: is it a confusion between two events?
Furthermore, it so happens that if we did not find Dussort in Colmar, the "directory of addresses of the Haut and Bas-Rhin" of 1860 mentions the presence of a 2nd class military doctor from name of Dussourt at the Colmar military hospital. (2)
Other research still in progress may shed some light.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
(1) "FLYING SAUCERS HAVE LANDED" Desmond Leslie and Georges Adamsky. New York: The British Book Centre. / London: Werner Laurie. 1954.
(2) DIRECTORY OF ADDRESSES FOR TRADE, INDUSTRY, PROFESSIONS AND ADMINISTRATIONS, DEPARTMENTS OF HAUT AND BAS-RHIN. J. Scalabrinaux. J; Noiriel. bookseller-publisher. Strasbourg 1860.
On his "alsacat" site, Patrick Gross, following his own research, places the phenomenon on the correct date of April 6, 1857 and masterfully redraws its history by publishing several contemporary sources of the event.
As for the handwritten note addressed to the mayor of Andolsheim by the office of the Prefect, it is obvious to me, a posteriori, that I misinterpreted the last digit of the date.
The articles found by Patrick Gross leave no doubt: what has been presented for decades as a ufological phenomenon is a meteorite whose fall could be observed up close.
Here is the original source published in Le Glaneur du Haut-Rhin on Sunday, April 12, 1857.
LE GLANEUR DU HAUT RHIN for Sunday April 12, 1857.
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFODATENBANK":
| Case ID | 19610831 |
| Global case number: | 19610831-0001-UDB |
| Date of observation (Day) | 31 |
| Date of observation (Month) | 8 |
| Date of observation(Year) | 1961 |
| Hour of observation | |
| Zip Code | |
| Place of observation | Guebwiller |
| County | |
| Federal state | |
| Country | France |
| Witnesses | |
| Hynek Classification | NL |
| Vallee Classification | |
| Ruthledge Classification | |
| Henke Classification | |
| Evaluation | |
| Identification | |
| Investigations | |
| Status of the investigation | |
| Domain | UFO-Datenbank |
| Case added by | |
| Latest change by: | |
| Investigator in charge of the case | |
| Source | DUFOA-Deutschland - SiDat - 1996-2002 |
| State of the information | 25.04.2015 22:16 |
| Accesses to this record | 2 |
| Link to Openmap | http://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/search?q=Guebwiller,France |
| Link to theobservation | http://www.ufo-db.com/WfrmSetupSichtung.aspx?uid_Sichtung=6e407220-2bb9-46e9-9a50-0526498e7d86 |
| Summary for guests | Les faits et éventuellement d'autres documents seront publiés progressivement. Nous vous remercions de votre patience. |
| Preview image |
| Case ID | 18560406 |
| Global case number: | 18560406-0002-UDB |
| Date of observation (Day) | 6 |
| Date of observation (Month) | 4 |
| Date of observation(Year) | 1856 |
| Hour of observation | |
| Zip Code | |
| Place of observation | Colmar |
| County | |
| Federal state | |
| Country | France |
| Witnesses | |
| Hynek Classification | NL |
| Vallee Classification | |
| Ruthledge Classification | |
| Henke Classification | |
| Evaluation | |
| Identification | |
| Investigations | |
| Status of the investigation | |
| Domain | UFO-Datenbank |
| Case added by | |
| Latest change by: | |
| Investigator in charge of the case | |
| Source | DUFOA-Deutschland - SiDat - 1996-2002 |
| State of the information | 25.04.2015 22:16 |
| Accesses to this record | 2 |
| Link to Openmap | http://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/search?q=Colmar,France |
| Link to theobservation | http://www.ufo-db.com/WfrmSetupSichtung.aspx?uid_Sichtung=dfa528e0-2b3f-4e7d-a093-99605eb3e8db |
| Summary for guests | Les faits et éventuellement d'autres documents seront publiés progressivement. Nous vous remercions de votre patience. |
| Preview image |
|
The first thing I want to expose is the entrabnce of the story in the UFO literature.
The origin is clear: Charles-François Dussourt, medical officer at the military hospital in Colmar, made the observation. It was on April 6, 1857, between 4 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon in Andolsheim near Colmar, along the River Ill. This was reported by the local press through the newspaper L'Alsacien and included in the Parisian press [Ref. lpe1], and at least one other newspaper of the time on April 18, 1857, a regional newspaper [Ref. jda1], an almanac, etc., suggesting that the event was surely mentioned in lots of other regional newspaper in France.
This rules out the idea that Desmond Leslie made it up from nothing.
One may certainly wonder how it found its was in a 1953 foreign book about flying saucers, Desmond Leslie's book, but it certainly is very simple: long ago, a man had collected reports of strange events, mainly from the Press, worldwide. He was collecting among other weird reports, the stories which to him evoked flying machines from another planet. This British man was Charles Fort, well known yet too often forgotten in the history of ufology, when people imagine that the idea of extraterrestrial visitors as an explanation for mysterious thing in the sky came up only the int 1950's and from the United States. Desmond Leslie took up ancient reports found by Charles Fort, and commended the work of the latter [dla1], because he is likely the main source for these old cases.
I found the local sources of the time for the story, and how it entered saucer literature is quite logical. After Desmond Leslie, the story is copied, sometimes with little care, no research effort, and without any mention of any primary source, simply because the copyists did not realize it was Charles Fort who recorded the report, as Desmond Leslie had not explicitly credited him, or because the primary source was never indicated by Charles Fort in the first place, or omitted by Desmond Leslie - more likely. Leslie gave no source for any of the several dozens old reports he listed in his book.
The British Desmond Arthur Peter Leslie, born in 1921 in Ireland, died in 2001 in Antibes, France. He was a pilot, filmmaker, author and pioneer of electronic music.
Maybe some of the copyists preferred to silence Desmond Leslie as their source: he co-wrote part of his book with the American "contactee" George Adamski, a proven big liar, so it would have given a bad look on the story.
Thus Piens and Scornaux say the source is "Inforespace", the newsletter of the Belgian ufology group SOBEPS, Jérôme Beau gives Piens and Scornaux citing "Inforespace" as source, and only Christian Valentin and "UFOdna" (a catalog based on the old UFOCAT) give Desmond Leslie as a source.
In the process, everyone copied Leslie's wrong date, which was maybe Charles Fort's error. The year is 1857 and not 1856. Christian Valentin in the only one before me who tried to go beyond copying the cpoyist, and he found this letter to the Prefect dated April 9, 1959, tellign of a claim of meteorite fall "two days ago". But it is necessarily a wrong year: the event is quoted in the press in 1857, two years earlier, I proved it.
Another issue was raised by Christian Valentin only, was the identity of the witness. He found the right person, Dr. Dussourt, military doctor and the hospital of Colmar. I can confirm this finding, give the firstname, and even more sources than than the 1860 address book for Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin:
I found Charles-François Dussourt studied medicine, authoring "Questions about the various branches of medical science" in 1841. I found Charles-François Dussourt was appointed m ilitary senior physician of 2nd class in the Valenciennes Hospital in General Therapeutics Bulletin, volume 72, page 48, 1867. He is also mentioned in the Medical Archives, second series, page 217, 1856, and the Annals of Public, Industrial and Social Hygiene for 1857. I found Charles-François Dussourt was 1st class medical officer in the military hospital of Colmar, with 18 years of service, six active military campaigns in the Bulletin of Acts of the French Empire, Volume 6, page 895, 1856. Finally, he is quoted in The Medical Union, 1867 page 48 and in Lyon Medical, volume 7, page 191, 1871, we learn that he was promoted Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Dussort, Dussourd, Dussourt, that was quite a mess, but things are clear, the newspaper La Presse did write "Mr. doctor Dussourt, chief physician of the military hospital in Colmar".
Now, what about the observation?
We must thing "Fireball", meteorite, or at least meteor passing in the sky.
A meteor across the sky at night is bright. Swollen at the front with a luminous trail backwards. But here we have "a very black body". And it happens in the afternoon. The shape is the reverse of a flaming meteor, pointed tip in front and terminated by a spherical mass. What is described is a meteorite falling down - or something else if you want it at all costs.
Christian Valentin found that the recovery of the meteorite for exhibition at the Museum of Colmar was discussed. So I searched among known meteorites, documented, at that time, to trace this object. I did not find it. No meteorites catalog indicates that it was recovered. The letter found by Christian Valentin did not say it was, only that if the meteorite was recovered, it should be placed in Colmar, implying that it had not been found or not found yet.
The closest to our case that I found is:
ASTRONOMY. - Composition of a fireball stone fallen in April 1857:
Extract from a letter from Mr. Wohler to Mr. Dumas.
"I have recently analyzed a meteoric stone that fell at Kaba, Hungary, on April 15, 1857. This stone is black and its color is due to amorphous carbon. It also contains common elements of meteorites, an organic material, that is to say a carbon hydrogen somewhat similar to paraffin, or to ozokerite scheererite. The amount of bituminous material, it is true, is very small, but I found it for sure. It is soluble in alcohol and charred by calcination. Since then I found the same material in the meteorite that fell in 1838 in Cape Town, Africa [the Cold Bokkeveld Mountains meteorite]. The stone is colored in black and contains 1.5 per 100 carbon. probably the bituminous material is a product of organic nature, and that the presence of coal in these stones is due to the action of fire on the bituminous material at the time of occurrence of the glow of the meteorite in its passage through the Earth's atmosphere."
The source is:
This is the nearest date and nearest place. But obviously Andolsheim is far from Kaba in Hungary for a meteorite already "black" when seen falling, with its strongly inclined trajectory and the sound heard when it hit the ground. It must inevitably ave fallen near Dr. Dussourt. So where is it now? Or is it still over there?
Probable meteorite fall.
* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.
| Main author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | March 11, 2014 | Creation, [jda1], [lpe1], [dll1], [aae1], [rgg1], [dla1], [krs1], [jve1], [cps1], [uwb2], [jbu1], [cvn2], [uda1], [tma1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 11, 2014 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | October 6, 2016 | Addition [pvy1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | October 31, 2016 | Addition [hct1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | January 25, 2018 | Addition [hct1]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | June 8, 2021 | Addition [ine1]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | July 22, 2022 | Additions [gdh1], [mbd1], [jsr1], [cvn3]. In the Summary, addition of the information from [cvn3] including [gdh1]. |
