ALSACAT-1952-05-30-COLMAR-1
Several newspapers in France reported on June 1, 1952, that on Friday, May 30, 1952 at 11:30 p.m., there has been or may have been a flying saucer sighted from Colmar.
The papers say that Mr. Kurt Folt, night watchman of a transport company in Colmar, and his assistant Mr. Xavier Schaffhauser, saw in the sky north of Colmar, a white disk that moved at great speed from east to west, leaving behind red-bluish trails.
The guard and his friend said formally that the disc; which took "the direction of Freiburg," disappeared after a few moments behind the Haut-Koenigsbourg and had the shape of flying saucers they had seen in magazines.
I had the opportunity to publish two of these newspaper articles earlier, and stated that this was probably a meteor, but two UFO websites have found it useful to make a "real UFO" of it again, one of them mistakenly putting Colmar in Mallorca!
| Date: | May 30, 1952 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ~11:30 p.m. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | May 31, 1952 |
| Reporting delay: | Minutes, hours, 1 day. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Colmar |
| Place: | ? |
| Latitude: | 48.08333 |
| Longitude: | 7.3666 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 10 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 2 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 2 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adults |
| Witness(es) types: | Men, a night warden and his assistant. |
| Reporting channel: | Press? |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | North of city, UFO crosses Rhine Valley. |
| 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: | Puzzled. |
| Witnesses interpretation: | Flying saucer like those in some magazines. |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | NL probable meteor |
[Ref. dnh1:] NEWSPAPER "DERNIERES NOUVELLES DU HAUT-RHIN":
Colmar. -- Last night, around 11:30 p.m., two people, the well-known night watchman of the "SITRAP" Mr. Kurt Folt, and his accompanist, Mr. Xavier Schaffhauser, of Wettolsheim, saw in the sky on the north side, an amazing glow moving at high speed from east to west, from Fribourg to beyond the Hochkönigsburg in the Vosges. It looked like a round and white disc large of about fifteen centimeters, leaving behind a blue red trail. The appearance resembled almost perfectly to the description that was made in a weekly magazine.
The witnesses formally admit that it was a flying saucer, not a large shooting star.
[Ref. dnh2:] NEWSPAPER "DERNIERES NOUVELLES DU HAUT-RHIN":
Colmar. -- In yesterday's issue we mentioned, just before closing, the curious observation made??by two residents of Colmar Friday night north of the city.
Yesterday , Mr. Folt, the night watchman with his colleague Schaffhauser. who witnessed this strange apparition, brought us some details:
It was exactly 10:35 p.m. (not 11:30 p.m. ) when they saw a white disc at high speed coming from the Black Forest in a horizontal path toward the West, only to disappear two or three seconds later above des Vosges, in the direction of Hochkönigsburg.
The disc was followed by a tail in the colors of the rainbow, like drops of water raised by the rapid passage of a car's wheel.
The witness confirmed once again that the object had the appearance of a flying saucer seen recently in a weekly publication.
In addition, a third witness came forward, Mr. F. J. , who had left Mr. Folt and Schaffhauser, to return home shortly before observing the same phenomenon.
[Ref. lml1:] NEWSPAPER "LE PROVENCAL":
|
Colmar. -- Yesterday evening, at approximately 11:30 p.m., Mr. Kurt Folt, night watchman of a transport company, in Colmar, and his assistant, Mr. Xavier Schaffhauser, saw in the sky, in the north of Colmar, a disc of white color which was moving at a great speed from East to West, leaving behind red-bluish trails.
The guard and his comrade are formal in affirming that the disc, which took the direction of Freiburg, disappeared a few moments afterwards behind the Haut Koenigsbourg, and that it had the shape of flying saucers that they had seen reproduced in a weekly magazine.
[Ref. lml1:] NEWSPAPER "LE MERIDIONAL":
|
Colmar. -- Yesterday evening, at approximately 11:30 p.m., Mr. Kurt Folt, night watchman of a transport company, in Colmar, and his assistant, Mr. Xavier Schaffhauser, saw in the sky, in the north of Colmar, a disc of white color which was moving at a great speed from East to West, leaving behind red-bluish trails.
The guard and his comrade are formal in affirming that the disc, which took the direction of Freiburg, disappeared a few moments afterwards behind the Haut Koenigsbourg, and that it had the shape of flying saucers that they had seen reproduced in a weekly magazine.
[Ref. vmr1:] NEWSPAPER "VAR-MATIN - REPUBLIQUE":
Colmar, 31 mai. -- Yesterday evening, at approximately 11:30 p.m., Mr. Kurt Folt, night watchman of a transport company, in Colmar, and his assistant, Mr. Xavier Schaffhauser, saw in the sky, in the north of Colmar, a disc of white color which was moving at a great speed from East to West, leaving behind red-bluish trails.
The guard and his comrade are formal in affirming that the disc, which took the direction of Freiburg, disappeared a few moments afterwards behind the Haut Koenigsbourg, and that it had the shape of flying saucers that they had seen reproduced in a weekly magazine.
[Ref. prs1:] NEWSPAPER "LE BIEN PUBLIC":
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Colmar, June 2. -- Friday evening, around 11:30 p.m., Mr. Kurtz Folt, night guard of a transport house in Colmar, and his assistant, Mr. Xavier Schaffhauser, saw in the sky north of Colmar, a white disc, which moved with great east to west, leaving behind bluish red streaks.
The guard and his comrade are categorical in asserting that the disc which took the direction of Fribourg disappeared a few moments later behind the Haut Koenigsbourg, and that it had the shape of a flying saucer like they had seen reproduced in a weekly magazine.
[Ref. aldl:] MRS. GUEUDELOT, "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" ARCHIVE:
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MAY 30, 1952.-
COLMAR. - (57) [sic]
HOUR: about 11:30 p.m..
Mr. Kurt FOIT, the night watchman of a transport company in COLMAR and his assistant, Mr. Xavier SCHAFFHAUSER, saw in the sky, north of Colmar, a white disc which moved very quickly from EAST to WEST, leaving behind red, bluish streaks. The guard and his comrade are categorical to affirm that the disc which took the direction of FRIBOURG disappeared a few moments later behind the HAUT-KOENIGSBOURG and that it had the shape of flying saucers which they had seen reproduced in a weekly.
LE REPUBLICAIN LORRAIN (METZ 57) for SUNDAY AND MONDAY 01.02.52
ARCHIVE SEARCH BY M. JEANTHEAU.
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN - "BASE OVNI FRANCE":
General features
| Num Base: | 2848 |
| Département: | Haut Rhin (68) |
| Place of observation: | Colmar |
| Latitude: | 48.083 |
| Longitude: | +7.366 |
| Date of observation: | May 31, 1952 |
| Hour: | 11:30 p.m. |
| Duration (HH:MM:SS): | N.C. |
| Weather: | No weather indication |
| Type of observation: | Visual: Distant |
| Nbr of witness(es): | 2 |
| Official investigation: | no |
Features of the object
| Nbr of object: | 1 |
| Type of object: | Disc |
| Size: | Not specified |
| Color: | White |
| Luminosity: | Not specified |
| Visual characteristics: | Trail |
| Speed: | Fast |
| Movement/Displacement: | In straight line |
| Object on the ground: | No |
| Instantaneous disappearance: | No |
Observation
|
Two witnesses saw in the sky north of Colmar, a disc of white color that moved with great rapidity from east to west, leaving red streaks. The object that took the direction of Freiburg disappeared a few moments later, behind the Haut Koenigsbourg. |
Sources
|
Var Matin |
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
30 May 1952 23:30
Colmar, Alsace, France
A meteor-like object was observed. One object was observed by two witnesses. Explanation: Meteor.
Hynek rating: NL
Vallee rating: FB1
The sources are indicated as: "National Investigations Committee Aerial Phenomena, NICAP investigation files".
[Ref. uda2:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
2 June 1952:
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 by two witnesses.
Hynek rating: NL
Vallee rating: FB1
The sources are indicated as: "Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073)".
[Ref. sua1:] "SATURDAY NIGHT UFORIA" WEBSITE:
Marseille, France Le Meridional - 1 Jun 52
Luminous Object Seen Over Mallorca
Colmar. -- Yesterday evening, at approximately 23 h. 30, Mr. Kurt Folt, night watchman of a transport company, in Colmar, and his assistant, Mr. Xavier Schaffhauser, saw in the sky, in the north of Colmar, a disc of white color which was moving at a great speed from East to West, leaving behind red-bluish trails.
The guard and his comrade are formal in affirming that the disc, which took the direction of Freiburg, disappeared a few moments afterwards behind the Haut Koenigsbourg, and that it had the shape of flying saucers that they had seen reproduced in a weekly magazine.
[Ref. cvn2:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:
Former journalist Christian Valentin published in 2012 a quite intersting book tracing the history of UFOs or flying saucers in Alsace, from the origins until 1980.
In his book, he tells that on Friday evening, May 30, 1952, a witness from Colmar referred to a photo published in a weekly to describe what he had seen and thus insist on the extraordinary aspect of his sighting, illustrating on this occasion that the "flying saucer" became a label. He cites a first article in Les Dernières Nouvelles du Haut-Rhin, German-speaking issue of Colmar, for May 31, 1952:
Colmar. -- Last night, around 11:30 p.m., two people, the well-known night watchman of the "SITRAP" Mr. K. F., and his accompanist, Mr. X. S., of Wettolsheim, saw in the sky on the north side, an amazing glow moving at high speed from east to west, from Fribourg to beyond the Hochkönigsburg in the Vosges. It looked like a round and white disc large of about fifteen centimeters, leaving behind a blue red trail. The appearance resembled almost perfectly to the description that was made in a weekly magazine.
The witnesses formally admit that it was a flying saucer, not a large shooting star.
He quotes the continuation published in Les Dernières Nouvelles du Haut-Rhin, German-speaking issue of Colmar, for June 1st 1952:
Colmar. -- In yesterday's issue we mentioned, just before closing, the curious observation made??by two residents of Colmar Friday night north of the city.
Yesterday , Mr. F, the night watchman with his colleague S. who witnessed this strange apparition, brought us some details:
It was exactly 10:35 p.m. (not 11:30 p.m. ) when they saw a white disc at high speed coming from the Black Forest in a horizontal path toward the West, only to disappear two or three seconds later above des Vosges, in the direction of Hochkönigsburg.
The disc was followed by a tail in the colors of the rainbow, like drops of water raised by the rapid passage of a car's wheel.
The witness confirmed once again that the object had the appearance of a flying saucer seen recently in a weekly publication.
In addition, a third witness came forward, Mr. F. J. , who had left Mr. F. and S., to return home shortly before observing the same phenomenon.
[Ref. spa4:] UFOLOGY GROUP "SPICA":
| City | Date and hour of observation | General shape Identification |
General color Hypothesis |
Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COLMAR | Saturday 31 May 1952 at 23:30 | Circular, round or disc (2D) Unidentified |
white None |
Unsolved -lack of info |
[Ref. vea1:] CATALOGUE "VERONICA" - PATRICK SERAY:
Note:
This catalog is not a "detailed" summary of the investigations that have been carried out by VERONICA. We simply limited ourselves to relating the facts with a minimum of explanation and a maximum of details. By copying this document in order to save it first and allow interested ufologists to read it later, I have endeavored to respect the entirety of the texts. It was essential to transmit this catalog as it was produced at the time. If by chance errors have slipped through my fault, I apologize to the reader. Sentences not being complete in my original, I completed as best I could.
Patrice SERAY
[...other case...]
COLMAR (Haut-Rhin) on 32 [sic] May 1952. Case 0 0 0 P
Excerpt from the Midi-Libre for June 01, 1952.
Yesterday evening around 11:30 p.m., Mr. KURT FOIT, night guard of a transport house in COLMAR, and his assistant Mr. Xavier SHAFFHAUSER, saw, in the sky north of COLMAR, a white disc which moved with great rapidity from E to W, leaving behind it bluish-red trails. The guard and his comrade affirm that the disc which took the direction of FRIBORG * disappeared a few moments later, behind the HAUT KOENIGSBOURG ** and that it had the shape of a saucer that they had seen reproduced in a weekly.
Editor's note: * FRIBORG IN BRISGAU (Germany)
** HAUT KOENIGSBOURG: 13 km from SELESTAT. Reconstituted Feudal castle, 270 m long enclosure located on a 755 m high peak overlooking the RHINE valley.
[...other case...]
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In the night, a "disc of white color that moved with great rapidity from east to west, leaving behind red-bluish trails" is a very good description of a meteor.
Regarding the course followed by the thing, there is likely an error in the Press. Since it had been lost from sight over the Haut-Koenigsbourg, so westward, since it was going from east to west, while Freiburg is in the East in Germany, Freiburg is not the direction it took, but the direction it came from.
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Above: the two men were likely at the blue spot "north of Colmar", the blue arrow shows the direction of Freiburg in Germany to the castle of Haut-Koenigsbourg, in the Vosges. The flying saucer or meteor could naturally be much further north than this line, which only indicates a direction, not a position. The north is at the top.
In addition, the two men said that it looked like the flying saucers they had seen in some magazines; but nothing says that these magazines were not actually showing meteors mistaken for flying saucers.
|
Above: a meteor.
Note that for no reason some newspapers put a plural onto the thing seen, in their title, "flyings saucers", while obviously only one thing was seen.
Luc Chastan [lcn1] catalog this observation with sources giving the two newspapers that were then only available on my website. It so happens that I wrote down with these articles that this was probably a meteor, but Luc Chastan silenced it and did not provide links to these Press articles and my comments.
When Luc Chastan used my information without citing the source, I had published only [lml1] and [vmr1] who wrote it happened "last night" as indication of the date. As the two articles were published on June 1, 1952, Luc Chastan dated the case May 31, 1952. Having found the [lpl1] source that says "Friday night," I can correct the date. Friday night indicates May 30, 1952, since May 31, 1952, was a Saturday. When the papers say "last night", one must be wary and understand that it could really be the night before last night, especially when they publish information coming from earlier, more local, newspapers.
The likely explanation appears in "UFOdna" [uda1]. Unfortunately there is a duplicate for [uda2] is indeed the case in [uda1], mistakenly dated.
In 2012, the "Saturday Night Uforia" website also took information from my website, without indicating that I was the source, also omitting my suggestion that it could have been a meteor, and moreover, they mistakenly mixed the headline of another newspaper article from my website, resulting in that the "bright object" was seen over "Mallorca" as if Colmar was in the Balearic!
The name "Kurt Folt" given in the press is probably actually "Kurt Foltz," a much more common name in Alsace.
Note that last curiosity: there is a "Xavier Schaffhauser street" in Cernay, near Mulhouse. But the name is obviously quite common in Alsace.
Probable meteor.
* = 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 |
| Editeur: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | March 14, 2014 | Creation, [lpl1], [lml1], [vmr1], [lcn1], [uda1], [uda2], [sua1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 14, 2014 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | May 11, 2015 | Addition [spa4]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | July 23, 2022 | Addition [prs1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | February 26, 2023 | Addition [vea1]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | August 3, 2023 | Addition [ald1]. |
