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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 Schiltigheim, on July 25, 1971:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1971-07-25-SCHILTIGHEIM-1

Summary:

In the ufology magazine "Lumières Dans La Nuit" for November 1972, their correspondent J.-C. Knoll reported about an observation in the Bas-Rhin in Schiltigheim in the night of June 24 to 25, 1971, starting at midnight.

During their walk, Dany (or Danny) Lutz and Claude Franch (or Franck) saw in the sky in front of them an oval object of ocher-yellow color, the large diameter was 5 mm at arm length.

During their observation, they noticed that the object was stationary intermittently. It stopped a while, then it moveda little, then stopped again, on an apparent distance at arm's length of about 15 cm.

They had ceased observing after an hour because it was getting late.

They said they had been a little afraid by this observation, although it appeared to be quite remote. They thought the object must have been visible from Strasbourg at more than three kilometers away.

J.-C. Knoll stated that the two witnesses are credible and that he vouches for their credibility.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: July 25, 1971
Time: 00:00
Duration: ~1 hour.
First known report date: November 1972
Reporting delay: 16 months.

Geographical data:

Department: Bas-Rhin
City: Schiltigheim
Place: ?
Latitude: 48.605
Longitude: 7.748
Uncertainty radius: 2 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: 2
Number of known witnesses: 2
Number of named witnesses: 2
Witness(es) ages: ?
Witness(es) types: Male.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: Correspondent of the ufology magazine "Lumières Dans La Nuit".
Type of location: ?
Visibility conditions: Night
UFO observed: Yes
UFO arrival observed: ?
UFO departure observed: No
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: Probable Mars.

Sources:

[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":

Scan.

67) BAS-RHIN, in Strasbourg.

SCHILTIGHEIM

June 24-25 and 1971 starting from midnight.

During their walk, MM. Dany Lutz and Claude Franch saw in the sky before them, an oval object of ocher-yellow color, its large diameter was 5 mm at arm's length.

During their observation they noticed that the object stationed intermittently, a while, advancing a bit, stopping again ... The arm's length trajectory was 15 cm when they ceased their observation at the end of about an hour, because it was getting late.

They said they had got a little scared during this observation, although it had seemed quite far and they think that the object must have been visible from Strasbourg, more than 3 km away.

The two witnesses are worthy of faith and I vouch for their credibility.

(Reported by Mr. J.-C. Knoll).

[Ref. cnu1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "CNEGU":

Scan.

F/00/67/71 07 25 (01)

On Sunday July 25, 1971, from midnight, two walkers from Schiltigheim (67) saw in the sky an oval ocher-yellow object of 5 mm in apparent diameter which advanced and stopped intermittently.

Source: communicated by JC.Knoll in LDLN n°4 "C.L." Nov. 11 72 p. 15.

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

Schiltigheim (67) on July 25, 1971

General features

Num Base: 1681
Department: Bas Rhin (67)
Place of observation: Schiltigheim
Latitude: 48.6
Longitude: +7.75
Date of observation: July 25, 1971
Hour: 00:00 hours
Duration (HH:MM:SS): 01:00:00
Weather: No weather indication
Type of observation: Visual: Distant
Nbr of witness(es): 2
Official investigation: No

Features of the object

Nbr of object: 1
Type of object: Elliptical
Size: 3 to 6 mm at arm's length
Color: Yellow
Luminosity: Not specified
Visual characteristics: No indication
Speed: Slow
Movement/Displacement: By bumps (motionless then d
Object on the ground: No
Instantaneous disappearance: No

Observation

Two witnesses saw in the sky an oval object of ocher-yellow color with a diameter of 5mm at arms' length. It moved intermittently stoppping [sic] over long periods. The witnesses leave the observation after one hour while the object continues its path in the same way.

Sources

Lumières dans la Nuit

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

City Date and hour of observation General shape
Identification
General color
Hypothesis
Conclusion
SCHILTIGHEIM Sunday 25 July 1971 at 00:00 elliptical (2D)
Unidentified
yellow
None
Unsolved -lack of info

Discussion:

Map.

The color of the thing, and the duration of the observation, evoke something astronomical, specifically: Mars.

Having put that idea in my mind, I checked the ephemeris and found that Mars was at azimuth 172° (to the south of the witnesses), at the low height of 18°, suitable for the atmospheric effect of shake. Mars was up at at 8:22 p.m. and set down at 04:40 a.m..

Better still, it was then only 57.91 million away km from Earth. Let me recall that the distance between Earth and Mars varies from 55.7 to 401.3 million km. So Mars was, that night, almost closest to the Earth as possible, thus with an "unusually" large apparent size.

And that is not all. Although the viewing direction was not specified, the witnesses said that the phenomenon must have been visible from Strasbourg; indeed Strasbourg is precisely to their south, the same direction than Mars at that time, seen from Schiltigheim.

Evaluation:

Probable Mars.

Sources references:

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

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 March 16, 2014 Creation, [ldl1], [lcn1], [spa1].
1.0 Patrick Gross March 16, 2014 First published.
1.1 Patrick Gross January 16, 2023 Addition [cnu1].

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This page was last updated on January 16, 2023.