ALSACAT-1970-05-26-MULHOUSE-1
The "Contact Lecteur" supplement #4 of the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit reported in November 1970 a sighting in Mulhouse in the Haut-Rhin, on April 24, 1970, at about 11:45 p.m.. The magazine gave no source reference.
One miss Chantal Denis, school teacher, had seen from the park to the University District of Mulhouse an object with an unusual behavior, of an apparent size of 2 to 3 millimeters at extended arm's length.
The object went down then up, doing this three times. It stayed at the bottom of this trajectory for 1 or 2 seconds maximum, it stayed motionless at the top of this trajectory for 1 to 2 seconds, to undertake maneuvers shaped like an "8".
It used 1 to 2 seconds to make the "8" maneuver, the biggest axis being two-thirds of the size of the vertical trajectory.
The object was white when it was performing the "8" maneuvers and when it remained motionless. It was "alternately white" when it descended or ascended along its trajectory.
The witness could see it looking in the east/southeast direction. The duration of the observation was 10 minutes.
| Date: | May 26, 1970 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ~11:45 p.m. |
| Duration: | 10 minutes. |
| First known report date: | November 1970 |
| Reporting delay: | 6 months. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Mulhouse |
| Place: | From the park of the University district in Mulhouse, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 47.733 |
| Longitude: | 7.314 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 200 m |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adult. |
| Witness(es) types: | Female schoolteacher. |
| Reporting channel: | Ufology magazine "Lumières Dans La Nuit". |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | From city edges park, UFO in the sky. |
| Visibility conditions: | Night. |
| 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: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Unidentified, possible extraterrestrial craft. |
[Ref. ldl1:] "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" MAGAZINE:
|
Miss Chantal Denis, schoolteacher, saw from the park of the university district in Mulhouse an object with an unusual behavior of an apparent size of 2 to 3 mm at arm's length (at most).
The object came down then ascended again and did this 3 times. It remained at the bottom of the trajectory only 1 to 2 seconds at most, at the top, motionless for 1 to 2 seconds to start maneuvers in the shape of an eight. It took 1 to 2 seconds to follow an eight whose large axis was two third of the vertical trajectory.
The object was white when it did the eights or stayed motionless. It was alternatively white when it went down or up along its trajectory. Direction of the object East/South-East. Duration of the observation 10 minutes.
[Ref. ldl2:] "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" MAGAZINE:
On May 26, 1970, it is Miss Chantal Denis who observes from the parc of the University, at 11:45 p.m., an object that descends and goes up again three times, following in addition a trajectory in a big 8 in the sky (Contact # 4, November 70).
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN - "BASE OVNI FRANCE":
General features
| Num Base: | 366 |
| Department: | Haut Rhin (68) |
| Place of observation: | Mulhouse |
| Latitude: | 47.75 |
| Longitude: | +7.333 |
| Date of observation: | May 26, 1970 |
| Hour: | 23:45 hours |
| Duration (HH:MM:SS): | 00:10:00 |
| Weather: | Nice weather, clear sky |
| Type of observation: | Visual: Distant |
| Nbr of witness(es): | 1 |
| Official investigation: | No |
Features of the object
| Nbr of object: | 1 |
| Type of object: | Luminous Ball |
| Size: | Not specified |
| Color: | White |
| Luminosity: | fluorescent |
| Visual characteristics: | No indication |
| Speed: | not defined |
| Movement/Displacement: | Complicated moves |
| Object on the ground: | No |
| Instantaneous disappearance: | No |
Observation
A young woman saw from the park of the University an object of the apparent size from 2 to 3 mm at arm's length. The object descended staying at the bottom of its trajectory for 1 to 2 seconds, then went up again to hover one to two seconds before starting to maneuver in a trajectory of an 8 on the horizontal. It did this three times. The color was a frank white during the times it was motionless or the eights, and blinking during the descent maneuvers or went it went up.
Sources
Lumières dans la Nuit
[Ref. cnu1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "CNEGU":
|
F/00/68/70 05 26 (01)
On Tuesday, May 26, 1970, 11:45 p.m. local time, for 10 minutes, a teacher from Mulhouse (68) observed a luminous white object performing 8s figures in the sky to the east/southeast, stopping several times.
Source: notification by Mr. Schirch in LDLN nr 4 Nov. 70 "Contact lecters" p.11.
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
26 May 1970 23:45
Mulhouse, Alsace, France
One object, larger than a star, was observed for over four minutes (Denis).
Hynek rating: NL Vallee rating: FB1
The sources are indicated as: "Poher, Claude, Etudes Statistiques Portant sur 1000 Temoignag [sic], Author, undated."
[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 there was a case in Mulhouse on May 26, 1970 at, 09:45 p.m., reported like this in Lumières Dans La Nuit "Contact Lecteurs" #4 for November 1970:
Miss C. D., teacher, saw from the park of the University City of Mulhouse an object with an unusual behavior of an apparent size of 2 to 3 mm at arm's length (maximum).
The object rose ans then came down 3 times. It remained at the bottom of the trajectory for 1-2 seconds maximum, at the top, also 1-2 seconds, to start to change in the shape of an eight. It used 1-2 seconds to make an eight whose major axis was two-thirds of the vertical trajectory.
The object was white when it was performing the 8 or remained motionless. It was alternatively white when it came down or up along its trajectory. Direction of the object East/South-East. Duration of the observation 10 minutes.
[Ref. spa1:] "SPICA" UFOLOGY ASSOCIATION:
| City | Date and hour of observation | General shape Identification |
General color Hypothesis |
Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MULHOUSE | Tuesday 26 May 1970 at 11:45 p.m. | information not communicated Unidentified |
white None |
Unsolved -lack of info |
|
LDLN gave no source for the observation report, but I think it might have come from the local ufologist J-P. Schirch, author of the [ldl2] mention and LDLN correspondent.
I should note that the location of the witness is unfortunately somewhat imprecise - and the coordinates in [lcn1] correspond to the city center of Mulhouse, 2 km too far in the northeast:
|
We are in the southwest of Mulhouse. The red dots indicate the "parks" that can be designated as "park of the Cité Universitaire." The yellow dots could also have been called that way, with less reason.
The buildings of the university itself are in the green circles, the surroundings coudl also have been called "the park". The blue circle identifies building of student housing.
I know very well the places as I lived 300 meters from there for nearly 20 years. I can say that I know of no construction or permanent installation between 1970 and 2015 that could have produced the described show. A brief search did not allow me to find some "event" in Mulhouse on the sighting date, with illuminations for example, that could have matched.
From the possible observation points, the South-East is more or less pointing at the tower of the prominent TV transmitter mast on a hill, but its anti-collision warning lights are red and do not produce at all the reported effects of maneuvers.
For once, we are given an angular size. It is very small.
But what we did not get is:
How did the observation start? Did Miss Denis saw something "coming" or "appear", or did she notice something already there?
How did it end? Did the thing go away with some move, did it go off on the spot? Was it her who left, uninterested after the 10 minutes?
Venus set down at 11:49 p.m., it could be a candidate, the planet was often adorned with virtues of oscillation and a variety of "maneuvers". But then we must ignore the observation direction, between 100 and 130 degrees, as Venus was 310 degrees toward the northwest, so almost the opposite of the indicated viewing direction.
Unidentified, possible extraterrestrial craft.
* = 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 17, 2015 | Creation, [ldl1], [ldl2], [lcn1], [uda1], [cvn2], [spa1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | September 17, 2015 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | January 13, 2023 | Addition [cnu1]. |
