ALSACAT-1954-10-23-BATTENHEIM-1
The regional newspaper Le Nouveau Rhin Français, in their German-speaking issue for October 26, 1954, reported that on October 23, 1954, at 08:30 p.m., Mr. S. D., farmer in Battenheim, was in front of his house, preparing to cross the road, when a very strong light at the top of the street caught his attention.
He first thought it was a car's headlight, and that this light was dazzling, but the beam was actually much stronger than that of a car's headlight.
He realized that this light was located at approximately fifty meters above the ground, and came from a spherical object.
To make sure that it was not an illusion, he went closer to the phenomenon. As he was only at a few meters of the dazzling sphere, it suddenly changed its color to take the colors of a rainbow, and suddenly rose vertically.
As it was going away, it seemed to change its flight position and take the shape of a plate.
| Date: | October 23, 1954 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 08:30 p.m. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | OCtober 26, 1954 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, 3 days. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Battenheim |
| Place: | Outside in front of the house and in the street, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 47.819 |
| Longitude: | 7.381 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 2 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adult or aged. |
| Witness(es) types: | Farmer. |
| Reporting channel: | The regional Press. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | Outside in village in front of the house and in the street, UFO in the sky. |
| Visibility conditions: | Night |
| UFO observed: | Yes |
| UFO arrival observed: | No |
| 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: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | ? |
[Ref. nrf1:] NEWSPAPER "LE NOUVEAU RHIN FRANCAIS":
During last week the "unknown flying objects" as they are called circulated several times around Mulhouse, or even in the city. Thus we have been reported from Dornach that one of them stopped in a gully. Friday, residents of Wittenheim witnessed the show of a "flying disc", and Saturday evening in Battenheim Mister S. D. was the witness of an unexplanable inciden. In Battenheim eight days ago already a similar event was observed, but not with the same precision.
Mister S. D., farmer in Battenheim, was at 08:30 p.m. in front of his house and was preparing to cross the road when at the top of the street, a very sharp light caught his attention. He first thought it was a car's headlight and even thought that its light was blinding.
The beam was however much stronger than that of a car. Mister D. realized that it was located at about fifty meters above the ground surface. It came from a big object of spherical shape.
To make sure that it was not an illusion, he went closer to the phenomenon. As he was only at a few meters of this dazzling sphere, it suddenly changed its color to take the colors of the rainbow and rose suddenly vertycally.
As it was going away it seemed to change its flight position and take the shape of a plate.
[Ref. cvn1:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:
The journalist Christian Valentin notes in his file an observation on October 23, 1954 at 08:30 p.m.:
An inhabitant of Battenheim returning at his place prepares to make a U-turn in front of his home. He is then dazzled by what he initially thinks is a headlight of vehicle.
He realizes that the light comes from a point at 50 meters above ground-level and that it comes from a machine of spherical shape.
To check that he is not dreaming, the witness approaches that. The machine becomes suddenly multicolored and then flies away fast and vertically. When it moves away, the machine seems to take the shape of a disc.
[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 the case of Saturday, October 23, 1954, in Battenheim in the Haut-Rhin was told as follows in the newspaper Le Nouveau Rhin Français in their bilingual issue of Tuesday, October 26, 1954:
During last week the "unknown flying objects" as they are called circulated several times around Mulhouse, or even in the city. Thus we have been reported from Dornach that one of them stopped in a gully. Friday, residents of Wittenheim witnessed the show of a "flying disc", and Saturday evening in Battenheim Mister S. D. was the witness of an unexplanable inciden. In Battenheim eight days ago already a similar event was observed, but not with the same precision.
Mister S. D., farmer in Battenheim, was at 08:30 p.m. in front of his house and was preparing to cross the road when at the top of the street, a very sharp light caught his attention. He first thought it was a car's headlight and even thought that its light was blinding.
The beam was however much stronger than that of a car. Mister D. realized that it was located at about fifty meters above the ground surface. It came from a big object of spherical shape.
To make sure that it was not an illusion, he went closer to the phenomenon. As he was only at a few meters of this dazzling sphere, it suddenly changed its color to take the colors of the rainbow and rose suddenly vertically.
As it was going away it seemed to change its flight position and take the shape of a plate.
|
I see no "ordinary" explanation to this.
Possible extraterrestrial visitors.
* = 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 24, 2005 | First published in the France 1954 catalogue. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 25, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. |
| 3.0 | Patrick Gross | February 8, 2015 | Additions [nrf1], [cvn2], Summary. |
| 3.0 | Patrick Gross | February 8, 2015 | First published in the ALSACAT catalogue. |
