ALSACAT:

ALSACAT is my comprehensive catalog of UFO sighting reports in Alsace, the region is the North-East of France, whether they are "explained" or "unexplained".

The ALSACAT catalog is made of case files with a case number, summary, quantitative information (date, location, number of witnesses...), classifications, all sources mentioning the case with their references, a discussion of the case in order to evaluate its causes, and a history of the changes made to the file. A general index and thematic sub-catalogs give access to these Alsatian case files.

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Case of Mulhouse, in the Summer of 1956:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1956-00-00-MULHOUSE-1

Summary:

In the 1970s, Ms. Gueudelot was the archivist of the main French ufology magazine, Lumières Dans La Nuit, and collected reports sent by the magazine's correspondents from all over France. This archive became available in the 2020s through the action of the "Sceau" association aiming at the preservation of UFO documentation in France.

There are some previously unpublished cases in there, such as this case, reported by Raymond Veillith, who founded and directed the magazine for a long time. Mr. Veillith himself received it from Jean-Pierre Schirch, local ufologist and magazine correspondent, who collected the testimony in June 1975.

The report indicated that in the summer of 1956 at 11 p.m., in Mulhouse, Barbara Scouflaire, 7 years old, her parents, her sister in a stroller, her godmother, her godfather, her sister's godfather, were in Mulhouse on Boulevard des Alliés, arriving at Neppert Street, and were intrigued by a light which illuminated the street very brightly, even though the gas burners had not yet been replaced by electric street lights.

Barbara had looked up at the sky and attracted the attention of her family who observed at about 45° five white, circular lights with sharp edges, which illuminated the street.

After a few seconds, these five lights arranged in a square with one in the center, disappeared; Barbara no longer remembers how this disappearance took place.

The five lights were on the axis of the street, at 142° towards the South-East.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	Summer 1956
Time:	11:00 p.m.
Duration:	A few seconds.
First known report date:	June 1975
Reporting delay:	19 years.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Mulhouse
Place:	Outside Bvd des Alliés near rue Neppert.
Latitude:	47.758
Longitude:	7.341
Uncertainty radius:	200 m.

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	6
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	1
Witness(es) ages:	Adults and children.
Witness(es) types:	Family.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Local ufologist Jean-Pierre Schirch
Type of location:	Street in town.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	No.
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:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL
ALSACAT:	Unidentified.

Sources:

[Ref. aldl:] MME GUEUDELOT, ARCHIVES "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":

SUMMER 1956.-

MULHOUSE. - (68)

Time: 11 p.m.

WITNESSES: Barbara SCOUFLAIRE (7 years old), her parents, her sister (in a stroller), her godmother, her godfather, her sister's godfather.

LOCATION: Boulevard des Alliés.

THE FACTS: When they reached Rue Nepper, they were intrigued by a light that illuminated the street very brightly, whereas the gaslights had not yet been replaced by electric street lamps. Barbara looks up and gets her family's attention; at about 45° they see five white, sharp-edged circular lights illuminating the street. After a few seconds, these five lights arranged in a square with one in the center, disappear. The witness no longer remembers how this disappearance took place. The five lights were in line with the street, 142° SUD.EST.

REPORT BY M. SCHIRSCH - testimony collected in June 1975.

sent by Mr. VEILLITH.

Discussion:

The witnesses would have been on the Boulevard des Alliés "arriving at the height of Rue Nepper" (Neppert); the two streets do not intersect. They were probably at the level of rue Vauban, which joins the two streets after 80 meters.

The direction of 142° indicated to be "in the axis of the street", means that they were indeed on Boulevard des Alliés which has its axis at 142° exactly.

Daytime location in 2023 in the direction of observation:

What is reported does not resemble anything known to me. On the other hand, one would criticize the report by noting that only one witness is interviewed, 19 years later, and this witness was 7 years old at the time of the reported sighting.

Evaluation:

Unidentified.

Sources references:

* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.

[ald1] * Record in the archive by Mrs. Gueudelot, of the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, not dated, published circa 2020 by the ufology association SCEAU, France, at https://sceau-archives-ovni.org/fonds/fond_gueudelot/base_guy_jpr_fiches_gueudelot.html

File history:

Authoring:

Main author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	None
Reviewers:	None
Editor:	Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	September 12, 2023	Creation, [ald1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	September 12, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on September 12, 2023.