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 Cernay, Vieil Armand, on August 6, 1957:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1957-08-06-VIELARMAND-1

Summary:

A newspaper of the time reportedly headlined about "flying saucers over the Vosges?" and indicated that on August 6, 1957, between 9:10 p.m. and 09:30 p.m., several people had seen "strange luminous phenomena" in the sky.

One person, Mr. J. B., 28 rue Joseph Dépierre in Cernay, had told the newspaper:

"I was at the window and I looked in the direction of the Vieil-Armand, when I suddenly noticed two very bright white spots that did not move. It could not be stars because the brilliance of the "thing" was too intense. I grabbed binoculars and I found out that it was two bright discs. Suddenly one of the disks moved at breathtaking speed towards the west and disappeared behind the Vieil-Armand. It was then that I discovered a red ball, also luminous; which was heading north-east. Suddenly three more disks appeared and flew four times faster than a jet plane. They approached the red ball near which they stayed without moving. A fourth disc then came to join the other three and they all disappeared at an incredible pace behind the mountain."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	August 6, 1957
Time:	Between 09:10 p.m. and 09:30 p.m.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	November 1957 or earlier.
Reporting delay:	Hours, 4 months.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Vieil Armand
Place:	From 28 rue Joseph Dépierre in Cernay and other places, UFO in the sky.
Latitude:	47.813
Longitude:	7.171
Uncertainty radius:	20 m

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	Several
Number of known witnesses:	1 or more.
Number of named witnesses:	1
Witness(es) ages:	Adults.
Witness(es) types:	1 man, others.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	The Press.
Type of location:	From city, UFO in the sky.
Visibility conditions:	Night
UFO observed:	Yes
UFO arrival observed:	Yes
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:	Not stars.

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL
ALSACAT:	Possible military night drill.

Sources:

[Ref. ann1:] ALFRED NAHON:

In his magazine, the Swiss ufologist gives this newspaper clipping:

Flying saucers above the Vosges?

Tuesday evening, between 9:10 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., several people saw in the sky strange luminous phenomena. One of them, Mr. J. B., 28 Depierre street in Cernay, gave us the following story:

[Ref. jgu1:] JIMMY GUIEU:

The author indicates that there was an observation in Cernay, of two luminous discs and a red ball, on August 6, 1957.

[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:

August 6, [1957]

0910 p.m.: Cernay -- Ht-Rhin (red sph. + 4discs).

[Ref. aldl:] MRS. GUEUDELOT, "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" ARCHIVE:

AUGUST 6, 1957.-

CERNAY. - (68)

Time: between 09:10 p.m. and 09:30 p.m.

Several people have seen strange luminous phenomena in the sky. One of them, Mrs Justin BERNA, from CERNAY, told us the following story: "I was at the window and I was looking in the direction of the Vieil Armand, when I suddenly saw two very bright and which did not move. It could not be stars because the brightness of the "thing" was too intense. I grabbed some scoping glasses and saw that it was two discs, very luminous. Suddenly, one of the discs moved at a dizzying pace towards the WEST and disappeared behind the Vieil Armand. It was then that I discovered a red ball, also luminous, which was heading towards the NORTHEAST. Suddenly, three other discs appeared, which were still flying four times faster than a jet plane. They approached the red ball near which they remained without moving. A fourth disc then joined the three others and all disappeared. at a mind-blowing pace behind the mountain."

"L'ALSACE" for AUGUST 8, 1957, page 4. (sent by Mr. MOURIER)

[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on 6 August 1957 at 21:10 in Cernay, France, "Unidentified objects were sighted, but with appearance and behavior that most likely would have a conventional explanation. Five objects were observed."

The source is noted: "Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073)".

[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 indicates that the following case occurred on Tuesday, August 6, 1957 at 09:10 p.m. in Cernay- Vieil Armand in the Haut-Rhin, according to Le Courrier Interplanétaire # 33 for November 28, 1957:

Flying saucers above the VOSGES?

Tuesday evening, between 9:10 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., several people saw in the sky strange luminous phenomena. One of them, Mr. J. B., 28 Depierre street in Cernay, gave us the following story:

Discussion:

The Vieil Armand, or Hartmannswillerkopf, in the Vosges mountains, was the scene of terrible battles during WWI, and is roughly north of Cernay, at 348° and 6 km from the center of Cernay in the plain.

I am not able to give a sure trivial explanation for this seemingly complex, but briefly documented observation. I can think of nighttime military exercises or a commemoration operation with airplanes, helicopters, flares, but without any certainty.

Evaluation:

Possible military night drill.

Sources references:

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

[lae1] ? Article in the regional newspaper L'Alsace, France, page 4, August 8, 1957.
[ann1] * Ufology bulletin Le Courrier Interplanétaire, of the Association Mondialiste Interplanétaire, (AMI), Alfred Nahon editor, Switzerland, #33, November 28, 1957.
[jgu1] * Jimmy Guieu, in his chroncile "Les Soucoupes volantes", science-fiction magazine Galaxie, France, page 65, #48, November 1957.
[gqy1] * "Observations 1957", monograph by Guy Quincy, France - Algeria, private publication, unnumbered pages, late 1950's.
[jve1] * Jacques Vallée.
[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
[uda1] * "6 Aug 1957 - Cernay, France", case file on the UFOdna website, USA, circa 2008, at http://thecid.com/ufo/uf02/uf7/027829.htm
[cvn2] * "Mythes et Réalités des Phénomènes Aériens Non Identifiés - Histoire des soucoupes volantes en Alsace jusqu'en 1980", book by Christian Valentin, Grimoires d'Alsace publishers, France, pp 81-82, 2012.

File history:

Authoring:

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

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	November 28, 2014	Creation, [ann1], [jgu1], [uda1], [cvn2].
1.0	Patrick Gross	November 28, 2014	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	July 25, 2022	Addition [gqy1].
1.2	Patrick Gross	September 1, 2023	Addition [ald1].

This page was last updated on September 1, 2023.