ALSACAT:

Landing in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin)

Investigation by J.-P. Schirch

Joël Scheweitzer [sic, "Schweitzer"], of Mulhouse-Riedisheim and his friend (who requested anonymity) that night had visited a friend living in the suburbs and returned to their home around 11:00.

The place where they came from is located on a hill culminating at 283 m.; which overlooks Mulhouse. The descent is quite fast and, before reaching the railway tracks, covers a large meadow basin surrounded by overlooking newer homes except on the E side where fields extend to the vast forest of the Hardt.

The night was quite dark, in the evening a storm broke out, the weather was heavy, dark clouds passing in the sky, the moon did not appear to light up the nature (set down or about to set down and young of 3 days).

Our two young people came down a vague path on the edge of the meadow, when they saw towards the NE a light in the distance. It had the appearance of a flashlight being far away from them. It seemed to come closer; which intrigued them, and they began to observe it.

It was very clear, they say, like an electronic flash, and gave the impression of swirling, while approaching more and more to them. It now took the form of a disc. According to testimonies collected by Mr. Schirch, this disc would have had a flat face and another curved face, and the advance was more or less perpendicular to this flat face situated in the direction of the move.

The object descended arriving to the two witnesses, and soon was vertical to the meadow, and at a height of 15 m as they judged. At that moment, it stopped its advance, stayed on thr spot for 2 to 3 seconds, then appeared to weaken its brightness (without otherwise disappearing in the entire period of observation). Both witnesses saw perfectly that light that they found to be very white, and they noticed that the ground was lit below because they were able to distinguish the grass of the meadow.

While it had hovered, the object performed a turning upside down maneuver: the flat face tilted towards the ground, and from that time the disc was in the form of a spherical segment. It gave a very good impression of turning on itself very quickly, like a top. One saw the light located above the machine, and it gave a flickering appearance: the witnesses could not explain the cause of the flash.

After a few seconds of hovering, the object began to descend to the ground. The maneuver was done very slowly and the descent was vertical. The ground was now well lit and the object took 3 or 4 seconds before reaching the ground: no particular movement was observed during the descent. At no time did the witnesses hear a sound, and yet the numerous dogs in the area did not bark.

The two friends who sat down during their observation were a little frightened, close to flee when they saw the object stopped in its descent and remain stationary at 25 meters from them. The brightness was

LOCATION MAP (F. Lagarde)

T Place of the landing
A Direction the object came from
D Direction the object departed to Mulhouse: 47' 45 N -7° 20 E
Riedisheim: 47' 45 N -7° 22 E

increased during the descent, and then it faded, always blinking a bit.

The object appeared to have landed, or stood close to the ground. It was not moving at all, and the light illuminated the grass. One saw a gray area under the object where it was impossible to distinguish anything. The area around it was illuminated.

It was impossible to see whether the object was on a landing gear or on the ground, and if it had legs, the contrast between the gray area and the illuminated outer part was too strong.

The object remained in that position for about a minute and a half. Then it rose vertically, always

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very slowly, and resumed for a moment its position before the descent to 15 m. above the ground, the flat face facing the ground. It then began to swirl and went away slowly. The light illuminated the ground as when it came, that is to say weakly, and this, lesser and lesser as its distance increased; the ground was darkening progressively.

Finally, last move, it went away at a very high speed, almost horizontally, and everything vanished into the night.

THE OBJECT

Little is known about it in addition to what has been said. It looks like a spherical cap that showed itself in the form of a disc and of a segment. No appendage has been noticed, but the craft had a sort of beacon at the top, which seemed to be able of directing itself or at least to tilt.

The dimensions may have been 8 meters in diameter and 2 meters high. The hue is difficult to define, some parts were shining as if they were of metal, particularly the edges.

THE TRACES ON THE GROUND

The object left traces that were very visible, as soon as the next day when the two friends returned to the place. The meadow had been mowed several days ago and the grass was 5 to 10 cm in height. I noticed it was mostly alfalfa mixed with grass and growth had not resumed since the last cut, the ground is very dry. On the traces, this grass had a curious appearance, like blackened without having been burned by a heat source, ie without being consumed, maintaining its grass appearance.

One first saw a circle of 6.20 meters in diameter, three circular marks of 30 cm in diameter, arranged in a triangle, and finally a small square hole in the ground.

In the central part of the circle was visible, very well designed, as a kind of capital H letter: the height of the branches of the H is 2.20 m and the spacing was of this dimension.

(Sketch by F. Lagarde)

THE TRACES IN MULHOUSE
NS direction north-south, The direction of the traces is spotted relative to the north in the direct sense,
A: arrival - D: departure.

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The traces of 30 cm, like the H, were formed by crushed grass, flattened and lying almost at ground level. They still appeared quite visible is September and the H looks great in photos. The three rounds were spread apart -5.1 4.2 and 5.5 meters.

See the sketch that was done.

A posteriori notes

The two young men did not notice anything in particular other than this machine. One may wonder why, in a populous place, surrounded by many houses, almost in the city, no other witness came forward. This is a note that is frequently made. It is possible that circumstances did not lend to a particular alarm. The craft made no sound, it came rather late: about 9:30 p.m., after a storm, few people actually had their eyes turned outwards during the short sequence of time during which the craft manifested.

The observation conditions were not the same as those of the witnesses, and how many of those who might have seen this would have had the courage to make their observation public?

Investigators do not explain the exact cause of the noted traces. If the craft is at the origin, it is impossible to know what is the mark of 6.20 meters in diameter which duplicates, one might say, with the three 30 cm round noted as could have been attributed to the imprint of three supports as is often observed. Same question mark about the center trace reminiscent of those of San Jose de Valderas in 1967 (Spain) and the arrangement of feet (and the H) is that of Aluche February 1966 (Spain). These observations confirm each other in some way, but the mystery remains unsolved.

Editors Note. - Mulhouse is located on a geological fault. BAVIC is going at 10 km at the NW. Mulhouse is moreover on the geodesic line of 1100 km of observations across borders of five countries cited by A. Michel (Southend to Po di Gnocco) in his book "About the Flying Saucers" which is still a good read. It is in Kembs-Niffer that an observation was made on October 15, 1954 (8 km). On 07/23/68 it was a Mr. Bouaziz who watched a huge luminous pale orange colored disc (Contact 96 bis for November 68). On May 26, 1970, it was Miss Chantal Denis who observes from the park of the University City, at 11:45 p.m., an object coming down and going back up three times, following the 8 of a rollercoaster in the sky (Contact No. 4, November 70).

If we go back in history, in Ruelisheim (6 km or N), according to the legend, young people lost in the forest would have seen a venerable oak suddenly darkened, and from the charred trunk a statue of the Virgin reportedly rose up, intact resplendent: a chapel was built in 1704 by subscription.

For the record: on the walls of the town hall in Mulhouse is suspended the "stone talkative." A chain is riveted in the earlobes like a pendant. It was an instrument of torture: the klupperstei [sic, "Klapperstein"]. The good burghers of the city always managed in case of crime for the guilty one to go get hanged elsewhere, no fault was found to be more serious than slander. Whoever was convinced saw himself condemned to wear the stone to his neck through the streets of the city while riding a donkey backwards.

A little more to the north, in Ensisheim (on BAVIC) the parish church has long owned a 140 kg meteorite that fell nearby on November 7, 1492.

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Photographs of the alleged UFO landing area, near Mulhouse.

Date: June 25, 1971. Time: 11 p.m.

Two witnesses, who were returning to Mulhouse by a path that descends from a hill overlooking the city, saw a "light" in the sky, which approaching them, soon appearing to them as a disc.

It stabilized at a height of fifteen meters above a meadow located 25 m only from the witnesses, who evaluated the diameter of the object to a little less than 10 meters.

Then the disc, which seemed to turn on itself, slowly descended to the ground, increasing its brightness.

A minute and a half later, it rose and then went horizontally very quickly.

This type of testimony, considered in isolation, would be in no way conclusive of the UFO's reality, if it did not include ground marks discovered the next day, at the location of the alleged landing, by the alerted investigators.

These marks may not have been made by any known craft and any possibility of fraudulent manufacture by witnesses is also excluded.

The grass (mainly alfalfa) is scorched (but not burned) on a circumference of 6.20 m in diameter, inside which there is a kind of capital H of 2.20 m on one side.

Other smaller traces, 30 cm in diameter, form an eccentric isosceles triangle.

The grass is flattened at the place of all these marks.

(L.D.L.N. document)

COMMENTS.

- These traces, recorded and photographed, are well connected to a UFO sighting by the testimony of two young people who are obviously not the authors of those. The index of strangeness of their testimony, separate but concurring, is extremely high and perfectly supports the sincerity of their statements.

- The circular traces, 30 cm in diameter, arranged in a triangle, are making one think of a contact to the ground by a tripod landing gear system; but in this case the circular trace of 6.20 m in diameter would be redundant. Perhaps there was an approach maneuver with palps and an actual landing. Anyway, how could these traces be explained other than through the intervention of a UFO.

- F. Lagarde noted that Mulhouse is located on a geological fault. The activity of this UFO therefore would attach to the theory of this researcher, the study of the seismic activity of the earth by UFOs. The Incident is also on the line Southend (England) to Po di Gnocca (Italy) of 1100 km indicated by Aimé Michel; the observation could therefore be inserted, possibly in Michel's orthoteny, certainly in the Dohmen theory of the UFO traffic lanes. You may find about these theories in the File IX, "Coincidences".

- Finally, the "H" trace left in the center of the circle vaguely recall the sign that the UFOs observed in Spain on 6 February 1966 in Aluche were showing, on June 1, 1967 in San Jose de Valderas, although this sign looks more like the capital letter of the Cyrillic alphabet corresponding to the "J" in the Latin alphabet (LDLN Document).

We wish to thank most sincerely the direction of the Lumières Dans La Nuit for their fraternal cooperation so amiable and efficient.

T 25061971 1 p.m. Mulhouse Riedisheim 68400 C5.

WITNESSES. Joël Scheweitzer [sic, "Schweitzer"] and his friend Mr. (XX).

OBSERVATION. A disc, like a a spherical cap 8 m in diameter and 2 cm high. It has a white light at its top.

EVENTS. The night is quite dark. Joel Scheweitzer [sic] and his fellow come back down from a hill peaking at 283 meters, from where one oversees Mulhouse. The descent is quite steep toward the railroad tracks, the two young people borrow a path beside a meadow basin surrounded by newer dominant homes except on the east side where fields extend to the vast forest of the Hardt. Suddenly, they see far to the NE a light comparable to that produced by a flashlight. It is very bright and approaches giving the impression of swirling. They compare it to an electronic flashlight.

It then takes the form of a disc having a planar face and the other convex. It moves perpendicular to its base in the direction of its path. It is at the vertical of the meadow, and at an altitude of about 15 m. At this point, it stops its advance and stays put for 2 to 3 seconds, its brightness seems to dim. The meadow is lit under the machine and witnesses fail to distinguish the grass of the meadow.

During this hovering, it performs a reversal: the flat face is inclined to turn to the ground. It is then in the form of a spherical segment and gives the impression of turning on itself very quickly, like a top. The white light that overcomes it gives a flashing appearance. After a few seconds of stop the object slowly descends vertically to the ground, without noise.

The two friends sit during their observation and distinguish no particular movement during the descent. At no time do they hear barking of neighborhood dogs. The object appears to have landed, or stands close to the ground.

It does not move at all and witnesses perceive a gray area below where it is impossible to distinguish anything. The surroundings are illuminated. After having been parked for a minute, the craft rises again upright slowly, resumes for a moment the position it had before the descent, 15 m above the ground, the plane face facing the ground. It starts to swirl and slowly goes away. Finally a last movement, it goes away at a very high speed, almost horizontal, and vanishes into the night.

The next day, the two witnesses discovered traces on the grass mown several days ago. On the traces, the grass had a curious appearance, like blackened without being burned by a heat source, ie without being consumed, maintaining its grass appearance. First of all, one sees a circle of 6.20 meters in diameter, three circular traces of 30 cm diameter (one in the circle and the other two at 5.50 m apart) arranged in a triangle, and finally a small hole square in the earth. In the central part of the circle, one can see very well drawn, like a kind of capital H letter: the height of the branches of the H is 2.20 m and the spacing of the same size. The 30 cm traces, like the H, are formed by the crushed grass, flattened and lying almost at ground level. The three rounds are separated by 4.2 and 5.5 meters. The traces still appear significantly in September 1971. The H is sharp in the photos.

SOURCES. L.D.L.N., No. 117, p. 10-11 (Mr J.-P. Schirsch investigation).

Finally, on June 25, 1971, in the vicinity of the Alsatian town of Mulhouse (Upper Rhine), the landing of a UFO, spotted by several witnesses, would have occurred. Burnt grass, a kind of triangle and a distinct sign similar to a kind of capital "H" (which so much evokes the "seal" of Ummo) were the obvious traces that the mysterious object would have left on the ground.

1971, 25 juin

FRANCE, Mulhouse-Riedisheim (Haut-Rhin)

Witnesses: Joël Scheweitzer [sic] and a friend. Weather: fairly dark night, very cloudy after thunderstorm. Location: meadow on the edge of a path descending a hill (283 m) overlooking Mulhouse. Object: spherical, shining like polished metal, equipped with a kind of powerful, white, tilting headlight at its upper part. Diameter estimated at around 8 m, height around 2 m. The two witnesses saw to the NE a very white light, like a flash, which was heading towards them. As it approached, it took the shape of a rapidly spinning disc. One face was flat and vertical in relation to the direction, the other curved. The object stopped above the meadow, at 15 m altitude for two to three seconds. Its luminosity then weakens but still made it possible to see the grass. Its flat face tilted parallel to the ground, and the headlight above flashed. Stopping to turn, the object then descended towards the ground; very slowly, still silently, for three or four seconds. It was 25 m from the witnesses. It seemed to be on the ground for a minute and a half. Then it rose vertically to 15 m above the ground, started to spin again and slowly moved away. Finally, suddenly, it took off at very high speed without progressive acceleration. The next day the witnesses found very visible traces. Alfalfa and grass mowed for a few days, only 5 to 10 cm high, the ground was dry. A large circle 6.20 m in diameter was found. In its center a capital H with branches 2.20 m long separated by 2.20 m. Three circular traces 30 cm in diameter arranged in an off-center isosceles triangle, a small hole with a square section. Inside the big circle, on the capital H, on the three circular traces, the grass was lying, flattened, crushed. (Henry DURRANT: Le dossier des OVNI" - Laffont 1973, p. 265 to 267)

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9780: 1971/06/25 23:00 2 7:20:00 E 47:44:00 N 3333 WEU FRN HRH 7:7

MULHOUSE,FR:SCR TILTS AWAY/15M alt:LVLS OFF:LITES GND:CIRC+H TRC/GND:/r30p360

Ref#194 LUMIERES dans la NUIT.(LDLN France) Issue No. 117 : RESIDENT'L 9781: 1971/06/26 23:00 15 3:46:20 W 37:12:00 N 3333 WEU SPN GRN 5:7

TESTIMONY # 30

Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin) 25 Jun 1971 at 23 p.m.. Joël Schweitzer and his friend

"We saw a polished metal spherical cap that looked like a disk rapidly rotating on itself. It remained stationary at fifteen meters above the ground for two minutes slowing its speed. Then it began to turn on itself and went away."

The observation was made from a distance of 25 m.

Riedisheim (68) on June 25, 1971

General features

Num Base:	221
Department:	Haut Rhin (68)
Place of observation:	Riedisheim
Latitude:	47.75
Longitude:	+7.366
Date of observation:	June 25, 1971
Hour:	23:00 hours
Duration (HH:MM:SS):	N.C.
Weather:	Cloudy sky low altitude
Type of observation:	Visual : close
Nbr of witness(es):	2
Official investigation:	No

Features of the object

Nbr of object:	1
Type of object:	Half sphere
Size:	5 to 10 meters
Color:	Metallic (silver,)
Luminosity:	Brilliant
Visual characteristics:	No indication
Speed:	not defined
Movement/Displacement:	Landing then take off
Object on the ground:	Yes
Instantaneous disappearance:	No

Type of effects noted

Physical effects:

Trace on the ground,

Observation

Two witnesses, by a rather dark night, very cloudy after storm saw at a meadow beside a path down a hill (283 m) overlooking Mulhouse. [sic] A spherical cap object, bright like polished metal, equipped with a kind of powerful beacon, white, tilted at the top. Diameter estimated at about 8 m, height 2 m. Here is the testimony: Both witnesses saw in the NE, a very white light, flashlight type, coming toward them. By approaching it took the form of a disk rapidly rotating on itself. One side was flat, and vertical to the direction of movement, the other convex. The object stopped above the meadow, 15 meters, for two to three seconds. Its brightness then weakened but still allowed to see the grass. Its flat face bent parallel to the ground and above the flashing headlight. Stopping rotating, then the object went down to the ground, very slowly, always silently for three to four seconds, it was 25 m from the witnesses. It seemed set on the ground and stayed there for a minute and a half. Then it rose vertically, slowly, up to 15 m above the ground, began to turn on itself and slowly went away; Finally, suddenly, it went away at great speed, without gradual acceleration. The witnesses came back the next day and found very visible traces. Alfalfa and grass, mowed several days ago, having only 5 to 10 cm in height, the ground being dry. One noted a large circle of 6.20 m diameter; in its center a capital "H" with branches of 2.20 m long spaced by 2.20m; three circular indentations 30 cm in diameter set in eccentric isosceles triangle; a small square hole. Inside the large circle, the grass was blackened but not burned. On the large circle, the capital "H", the three circular marks, the grass lay flattened, crushed.

Sources

Le dossier des OVNI by Durrand [sic, "Durrant"] Henry ** Laffont 1973

The photograph of the trace

Observation on Mulhouse, Haut-Rhin, on June 25, 1971 at 11 p.m.. Mister Joël S. and one of his friends: "We saw a spherical dome in polished metal that resembled a disc rotating fast on itself. It hovered at fifteen meters from the ground slowing down its rotation speed. Then it rotated on itself again and went away." The observation was made from a distance of 25 meters.

24 June 1971 23:00

Mulhouse, Alsace, France

At 11:00 p.m. in Mulhouse, Haut-Rhine, France a disc-shaped object was seen tilting in the sky at 15 meters altitude above a residential neighborhood.

It leveled off, then lights were seen upon the ground. At the site a depressed circle and ground marks were found.

Hynek rating: NO

25 June 1971 23:00

Mulhouse, Alsace, France

Disc tilts at 15m altitude, levels off, lights upon ground. Depressed circle and ground marks.

An object was observed and photographed. Occupants of the craft were seen. Ground traces were found. One disc, about 40 feet across, was observed by one witness in a residential area for two minutes.

Hynek rating: CE2

Vallee rating: CE2