ALSACAT-1952-07-23-BARR-1
The newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace of July 25, 1952, reported that "mysterious craft" had been seen in the sky over Barr during the night of July 23 to 24, 1952, from midnight to one o'clock in the morning.
The report consisted of a letter to the newspaper from one of their loyal subscribers:
"I saw something last night, between midnight and one o'clock, that I cannot explain."
"Unable to sleep, I was at the window of my bedroom when I saw moving through the sky, toward the East (above Gerstheim), a luminous spot shaped like a child's balloon and the color of the moon. Shortly after, a second identical spot in size and color moved toward the first, and it then seemed to me that they were moving side by side. For more than an hour, I was able to observe these phenomena, and when the balloons finally disappeared, the place they had occupied in the sky was as bright as daylight."
"What does this apparition mean? Did other people notice it as well? However, it does not seem that these craft were flying saucers, such as those often described in your newspaper."
The newspaper stated that they were publishing this "in the spirit of finally seeing an official statement to reassure some of our readers, who are beginning to worry about these craft."
| Date: | July 23, 1952 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 11:59 p.m. |
| Duration: | 1 hours. |
| First known report date: | July 25, 1952 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, 1 day. |
| Department: | Bas-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Barr |
| Place: | |
| Latitude: | 48.405 |
| Longitude: | 7.453 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 2 km. |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adult or aged. |
| Witness(es) types: | Female resident. |
| Reporting channel: | Newspaper "Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace." |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | From home, UFO in the sky. |
| 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: | Probably not a flying saucer. |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Unidentified. |
[Ref. dnal:] NEWSPAPER "DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE":
|
BARR. -- On the night of July 23, one of our loyal subscribers noticed strange appearances in the sky. Here is her written testimony, which we publish in the spirit of finally seeing an official statement to reassure some of our readers, who are beginning to worry about these craft.
"I saw something last night, between midnight and one o'clock, that I cannot explain.
Unable to sleep, I was at the window of my bedroom when I saw moving through the sky, toward the East (above Gerstheim), a luminous spot shaped like a child's balloon and the color of the moon. Shortly after, a second identical spot in size and color moved toward the first, and it then seemed to me that they were moving side by side. For more than an hour, I was able to observe these phenomena, and when the balloons finally disappeared, the place they had occupied in the sky was as bright as daylight.
"What does this apparition mean? Did other people notice it as well? However, it does not seem that these craft were flying saucers, such as those often described in your newspaper." (R.)
|
Gerstheim, the direction of observation, is to the East-Northeast of Barr from center to center; the two towns are very close, and the direction of observation is between 14 and 110° since the witness's address is unknown.
At the time of the observation and visible from Barr, there were no bright stars or planets side by side between North and East.
The report lacks precision, but I have no obvious ordinary explanation to propose. I therefore leave the case as "unidentified."
Unidentified.
* = 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 | July 4, 2025 | Creation, [dna1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | July 4, 2025 | First published. |
