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.

◀ Previous case Next case ▶

Case of Erstein, on August 5, 1973:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1973-08-05-ERSTEIN-1

Summary:

In his 1974 UFO book, ufologist Charles Garreau said that on August 5, 1973, at 9 p.m., several people from the region of Strasbourg, Erstein and Furchhausen had followed the passage of a luminous, quite large, that moved from the northwest to the southeast.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	August 5, 1973
Time:	09:00 p.m.
Duration:
First known report date:	1974
Reporting delay:	Hours, 1 year.

Geographical data:

Department:	Bas-Rhin
City:	Furchhausen
Place:	?
Latitude:	48.422
Longitude:	7.662
Uncertainty radius:	3 km

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	?
Type of location:	?
Visibility conditions:	Night
UFO observed:	Yes
UFO arrival observed:	Yes
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:	LN
ALSACAT:	Possible meteor or space junk.

Sources:

[Ref. cgu1:] CHARLES GARREAU:

- At 9 p.m. [on August 5, 1973], several people of the area of Strasbourg, Erstein and Fuchhausen [sic] follow the passage of a luminous object, quite big, moving from the north-west to the south-east.

[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:

1973, August 5

France, Strasbourg, Erstein, Fuchhausen [sic]

Several people in the area are following the passage of a fairly large luminous object, which is moving from the northwest to the southeast. (Charles GARREAU: "Alerte dans le ciel: le dossier des enlèvements" Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1981, p.249)

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

Erstein (67) on 05 August 1973

General features

Num Base:	854
Department:	Bas Rhin (67)
Place of observation:	Erstein
Latitude:	48.433
Longitude:	+7.666
Date of observation:	05 August 1973
Hour:	21:00 hours
Duration (HH:MM:SS):	N.C.
Weather:	No weather indication
Type of observation:	Visual: Distant
Nbr of witness(es):	undetermined number
Official investigation:	No

Features of the object

Nbr of object:	1
Type of object:	Not-defined
Size:	Not specified
Color:	not defined
Luminosity:	Brilliant
Visual characteristics:	No indication
Speed:	not defined
Movement/Displacement:	In straight line
Object on the ground:	No
Instantaneous disappearance:	No

Observation

Observation of a quite big luminous object that moves from the North west to the southeast.

Sources

Soucoupes volantes, 25 ans d'enquêtes by Garreau Charles ** Mame

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

City	Date and hour of observation	General shape Identification	General color Hypothesis	Conclusion
ERSTEIN	Sunday 5 August 1973 at 21h00	information not communicated Unidentified	information not communicated None	Unsolved -lack of info

Discussion:

Charles Garreau unfortunately often interpreted meteors as alien spacecraft (example here).

The total lack of any description and any primary source reference makes it a speculation only, but the meteor is quite likely, given the spread of observations.

The distance from Furchhausen to Erstein is about 36 km; which reinforces the idea of a meteor - or something quite high in the sky.

Note that UFOCAT lists a sighting on 5 August 1973 at 9 p.m. in Bulle, Switzerland, just southeast of the places, of a "flying disc" seen by four witnesses including someone named Dupasquier. This reinforces the possibility of a large meteor.

There is still another possibility: that day at 05:45 p.m., the Russian rocket D-1-e / Proton-K / A (8K82K 281-01 / 11S824) was launched from Baikonur, carrying the Mars lander "Mars 6".

So it was, perhaps, the fall of debris from this rocket.

I cannot for now "scientifically prove" any explanation; I am interested in any serious information to reinforce or eliminate one possibility or another.

Evaluation:

Possible meteor or space junk.

Sources references:

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

[cgu1] * "Soucoupes Volantes - 25 Ans d'Enquêtes", book by Charles Garreau, Mame publishers, France, page 88, 1974.
[goe1] * "Chronologie OVNI", catalogue by Godelieve Van Overmeire, Belgium, was on the Web circa 1999.
[lcn1] * "Erstein (67) on 05 August 1973", 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=854
[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	July 10, 2015	Creation, [cgu1], [lcn1], [spa1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	July 10, 2015	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	January 18, 2023	Addition [goe1].

This page was last updated on January 18, 2023.