ALSACAT-1953-11-15-STRASBOURG-1
In his 1954 book on the flying saucers, author Jimmy Guieu wrote that in Strasbourg, fifteen days before the observation of December 1st, 1953, in that city?, a secretary of the police had observed "a similar phenomenon."
The sighting that took place 15 days later was, according to Guieu, of "a brilliant disc, almost as big as the sun" that "twirled in the sky", but Jimmy Guieu does not specify the extent of the analogy, and does not give more information, such as the sighting hour, etc..
The observation, which does not seem to have any other source than Jimmy Guieu, may therefore have many possible causes.
| Date: | ~November 15, 1953 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ? |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | 1954? |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, months? |
| Department: | Bas-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Strasbourg |
| Place: | ? |
| Latitude: | 48.583 |
| Longitude: | -7.75 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 10 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 0 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adult. |
| Witness(es) types: | Male secretary of the police. |
| Reporting channel: | ? |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | ? |
| Visibility conditions: | ? |
| UFO observed: | Yes |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | ? |
| Entities: | No |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Hynek: | ? |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Totally insufficient information. |
[Ref. jgu1:] JIMMY GUIEU:
In the afternoon of December 1, 1953, two workers were working in the botanical garden of the University of Strasbourg. Looking up to see disappear at high altitude two jets, they suddenly noticed a bright disk, almost as big as the sun. This machine whirled into the sky and disappeared at high speed towards the south. Fifteen days ago, a police secretary, also in Strasbourg, observed a similar phenomenon.
[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
1953, December 1
FRANCE Strasbourg
In the afternoon two workers were working in the botanical garden of the University of Strasbourg. Looking up to see two jet planes disappearing at very high altitude, they suddenly noticed a bright disc, almost as big as the sun. This craft twirled in the sky and disappeared at high speed towards the South. A fortnight before, a police secretary observed, also in Strasbourg, a similar phenomenon. (Jimmy GUIEU: "Les S.V. viennent d'un autre Monde" Fleuve Noir 1954 - Réédition Omnium Littéraire 1972 p. 149)
##
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN - "BASE OVNI FRANCE":
General features
| Num Base: | 672 |
| Department: | Bas Rhin (67) |
| Place of observation: | Strasbourg |
| Latitude: | 48.583 |
| Longitude: | +7.75 |
| Date of observation: | 15 November 1953 |
| Hour: | Hour not known |
| Duration (HH:MM:SS): | N.C. |
| Weather: | No weather indication |
| Type of observation: | Visual: Distant |
| Nbr of witness(es): | 1 |
| Official investigation: | No |
Features of the object
| Nbr of object: | 1 |
| Type of object: | Disc |
| Size: | Not specified |
| Color: | not defined |
| Luminosity: | Brilliant |
| Visual characteristics: | No indication |
| Speed: | not defined |
| Movement/Displacement: | Not specified |
| Object on the ground: | No |
| Instantaneous disappearance: | No |
Observation
|
A witness, policeman, observes a luminous disc. |
Sources
|
Les soucoupes volantes viennent d'un autre monde by Guieu Jimmy ** Fleuve Noir 1954 |
[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 reports that early ufologist Jimmy Guieu stated in his book "Flying saucers come from another world" that 15 days before December 1, 1953, a secretary of the police in Strasbourg had observed a phenomenon analogous to the one seen on December 1, 1953, in Strasbourg also.
Christian Valentin regrets that as it often was at the time, there is no reference and no source.
[Ref. pcs1:] PATRICK COMBES:
Patrick Combes posted on his UFO forum a sourced copy of [Ref. lcn1:].
[Ref. ois1:] "OVNI-INFOS" WEBSITE:
- In Strasbourg, November 15, 1953 (Disc)
As source, there is a broken link.
[Ref. occ1:] "LES OVNIS COMMENT NE PAS Y CROIRE?" WEBSITE:
Strasbourg Bas Rhin (67)
Date of observation : November 15 1953 Hour : not known
Type of observation: Visual : Long distance Nbr of Witnesses:1
A witness, policeman, observes a luminous disc.
[Ref. spa4:] UFOLOGY GROUP "SPICA":
| City | Date and hour of observation | General shape Identification |
General color Hypothesis |
Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STRASBOURG | Sunday 15 November 1953 | Circular, round or disc (2D) Unidentified |
information not communicated None |
Unsolved -lack of info |
|
The information is extremely poor and I found no more comprehensive source.
There is neither an hour nor a place, no information on the witness(es), no evidence of investigation, no reference to a primary source, nothing.
The analogy with another observation is not reliable: should we really consider for example that it was exactly the same that had been seen, that it was also in the afternoon? I doubt it.
[lcn1] indicated that the witness was a "policeman", but it was not a police officer, it was a secretary of the police. All the others who copied his data made the same distortion.
With so little information, many possibilities are equally worthy: a balloon, a Chinese lantern, airplane, airplane headlight, projector, planet, moon in clouds, extraterrestrial spacecraft... Who knows?
Totally insufficient information.
* = 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 | September 10, 2014 | Creation, [jg1], [lcn1], [pcs1], [cvn2], [ois1], [occ1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | September 10, 2014 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | June 12, 2015 | Addition [spa4]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | January 10, 2023 | Addition [goe1]. |
