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 Schirmeck, on May 21, 1967:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1967-05-21-SCHIRMECK-1

Summary:

In the ufology magazine Phénomènes Spatiaux, of the ufology group GEPA, in December 1967, ufologist Joël Mesnard reported four of his investigations, one of which was about a case that occurred on May 6, 1967, at the Champ du Feu, (in Alsatian "Das Hochfeld", "the high field") at an altitude of 1000 meters, in the Vosges, in the Bas-Rhin, in Alsace, France.

Joël Mesnard reported the high strangeness sightings of the Schirrmann family from a chalet on May 6, 1967; he also reported that the same witnesses along with three other people saw unidentified flying objects again, 15 days later on Sunday, May 21, 1967 in broad daylight at 4 p.m., first noticed by a friend of the witnesses on May 5, 1967.

There were later ufology sources mentioning this second sighting at the Champ du Feu without mentioning the first one; hence this file.

For an overview of these events, see my file about the first sighting, that of May 5, 1967.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	May 21, 1967
Time:	04:00 p.m.
Duration:	Long while.
First known report date:	December 1967
Reporting delay:	6 months.

Geographical data:

Department:	Bas-Rhin
City:	Schirmeck
Place:	Outside in mountain near Le Champ du Feu.
Latitude:	48.407
Longitude:	7.259
Uncertainty radius:	4 km.

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	7
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	7
Witness(es) ages:	4 adults, 3 children.
Witness(es) types:	Firefighter family, policeman family.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Ufology investigation by Joël Mesnard.
Type of location:	Outside in mountain.
Visibility conditions:	Day.
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:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	DD
ALSACAT:	Possible extraterrestrial visitors, insufficient information.

Sources:

[Ref. fru1:] MICHEL FIGUET AND JEAN-LOUIS RUCHON:

In the afternoon of Sunday 21 [May 1967], the Schirrmann family accompanied by three friends: Mr. Winterhalter, assistant police officer, Mrs. Winterhalter and their 12-year-old daughter Dominique, go for a walk at Mount National. Jean-Luc Schirrmann notices that, over a fairly large area, all the fir trees have their tops broken. No storm having occurred recently, Mr. Schirrmann finds no explanation for this fact and imagines that it may be related to the observation of May 6 [1967].

Mr. Winterhalter, who showed some reluctance to believe the Schirrmann family story, saw a few kilometers away, above the "Champ de Feu", a row of 7 to 8 objects surrounded by halos which move slowly above the forest and remain visible for a long time. This time, there are no longer four witnesses, but seven.

The authors indicate as sources "Phénomènes spatiaux du G.E.P.A., nr 14, p. 18 to 20, investigation by Mr. Joël Mesnard" and "Le dossier des OVNI de Henry Durrand."

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN - "BASE OVNI FRANCE":

Schirmeck (67) on 21 mai 1967

General features

Num Base:	1463
Département:	Bas Rhin (67)
Place of observation:	Schirmeck
Latitude:	48.483
Longitude:	+7.216
Date of observation:	May 21, 1967
Hour:	Hour not known
Duration (HH:MM:SS):	N.C.
Weather:	No weather indication
Type of observation:	Visual: Distant
Nbr of witness(es):	7
Official investigation:	No

Features of the object

Nbr of object:	8
Type of object:	Not-defined
Size:	Not specified
Color:	not defined
Luminosity:	Not specified
Visual characteristics:	No indication
Speed:	Slow
Movement/Displacement:	Near the ground or low altitu
Object on the ground:	No
Instantaneous disappearance:	No

Observation

Seven witnesses observe above the Champ du Feu a row of 7 to 8 objects surrounded by halos which advance slowly above the forest.

Sources

Ovni, Premier dossier complet... by Figuet M./ Ruchon J.L. ** Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979

[Ref. spa1:] UFOLOGY ASSOCIATION "SPICA":

City	Date and hour of observation	General shape Identification	General color Hypothesis	Conclusion
SCHIRMECK	Sunday 21 May 1967	information not communicated Unidentified	information not communicated None	Unsolved -lack of info

Discussion:

Please refer to my file about the earlier sighting there on May 6, 1967.

Evaluation:

Possible extraterrestrial visitors, insufficient information.

Sources references:

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

[fru1] * "OVNI: le premier dossier complet des rencontres rapprochées en France", book by Michel Figuet and Jean-Louis Ruchon, Alain Lefeuvre publisher, France, pp 273-274, 1979.
[lcn1] * "Schirmeck (67) le 21 mai 1967", case record by Luc Chastan, on his ufology website Base OVNI France, France, circa 2004, at http://baseovnifrance.free.fr/listgen.php?typlist=1&page=0&numobs=1463
[spa1] * "DEPARTEMENT 67 - BAS-RHIN", listing of UFO sighting reports by the Alsatian ufology group SPICA, Alsace, France, not dated, found in May 2015, at http://www.spica.org/Page_Listing_67.htm

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	August 2, 2022	Creation, [lcn1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	August 2, 2022	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	January 16, 2023	Addition [fru1].

This page was last updated on January 16, 2023.