ALSACAT-1971-07-25-SCHILTIGHEIM-1
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.
| Date: | July 25, 1971 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 00:00 |
| Duration: | ~1 hour. |
| First known report date: | November 1972 |
| Reporting delay: | 16 months. |
| Department: | Bas-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Schiltigheim |
| Place: | ? |
| Latitude: | 48.605 |
| Longitude: | 7.748 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 2 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 2 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 2 |
| Witness(es) ages: | ? |
| Witness(es) types: | Male. |
| 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: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Probable Mars. |
[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
|
67) BAS-RHIN, in Strasbourg.
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":
|
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":
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 |
|
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.
Probable Mars.
* = 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 | 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]. |
