ALSACAT-1976-04-29-ROUFFACH-1
The regional newspaper L'Alsace for Wednesday, May 12, 1976, wondered if UFOs were seen in the sky of Rouffach on Thursday, April 29, 1976, at 10:15 p.m.
The newspaper had received a letter from G. K., a young student residing at the agricultural school in Rouffach, his letter neing signed by twenty other students.
The young man was in bed on the east side of the school dormitory. He was stargazing like he did every night, and suddenly saw at a dozen kilometers, a big motionless "star".
Suddenly, this star split in two, and after a while, it started move slowly. It appeared like two big headlights.
The "craft" approached more and more the school and passed over it at some fifty meters high. There was a jet engine noise "but not as strong as jet engines."
Suddenly, the craft accelerated tremendously and disappeared on the horizon.
Ten minutes later, the same show happened again, but this last craft was followed by two "Mirages" jet fighters.
The young man stated that the measures he gave were only approximate.
The newspaper asked about the author of the letter and found that he appeared to be credible. At the Air Force Base of Colmar-Meyenheim, the newspaper was told that pilots perform overnight flights usually on Thursday and that "craft" could very well have been a jet plane getting ready to land the Air Force Vase BA 132, headlights on and landing gear out, and jet engine at low throttle.
| Date: | April 29, 1976 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 10:15 p.m. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | May 12, 1976 |
| Reporting delay: | 12 days. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Rouffach |
| Place: | Farm school, 8 rue aux Remparts, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 47.956 |
| Longitude: | 7.300 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 200 m |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 to 20 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 to 20 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 to 20 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Teenagers. |
| Witness(es) types: | Farm school students. |
| Reporting channel: | Signed letter to the regional Press. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | Farm school of village, UFO in the sky. |
| 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: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Jet fighters approaching their base to land. |
[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":
UFO or not UFO? The controversy will not close anytime soon if we judge from the letter just sent to us by a young resident of the agricultural school in Rouffach (letter also signed by twenty other students).
G. K., our correspondent, tells us what he saw on the evening of Thursday, April 29, at 22:15 in these words:
"I was in my bed on the east side of the school dormitory. Being interesting in stars, like every evening, I suddenly saw a dozen kilometers a big motionless "star"... Suddenly a second star came from it and moments leter began to move slowly. You could recognize two big headlights.
"This machine approached more and more the high school and passed over it at fifty meters in height. We heard noises of jet engines but not as strong as jet engines. Suddenly the craft sped terribly and disappeared on the horizon. Ten minutes later, the same show was renewed. But just passed by, this latter craft was followed by two "mirages"."
P.S. "The measurements are approximate."
Upon inquiry, the author of the letter seems in good faith while at the air base of Colmar-Meyenheim were told that pilots maintain the overnight flight usually on Thursday and that "the craft" could very well be a jet about to land at the BA 132, headlights and landing gear out, and jet engine at slow speed.
[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 this case of Thursday, April 29, 1976, in Rouffach, was reported in L'Alsace for Wednesday, May 12, 1976:
UFO or not UFO? The controversy will not close anytime soon if we judge from the letter just sent to us by a young resident of the agricultural school in Rouffach (letter also signed by twenty other students).
G. K., our correspondent, tells us what he saw on the evening of Thursday, April 29, at 22:15 in these words:
"I was in my bed on the east side of the school dormitory. Being interesting in stars, like every evening, I suddenly saw a dozen kilometers a big motionless "star"... Suddenly a second star came from it and moments leter began to move slowly. You could recognize two big headlights.
"This machine approached more and more the high school and passed over it at fifty meters in height. We heard noises of jet engines but not as strong as jet engines. Suddenly the craft sped terribly and disappeared on the horizon. Ten minutes later, the same show was renewed. But just passed by, this latter craft was followed by two "mirages"."
P.S. "The measurements are approximate."
Upon inquiry, the author of the letter seems in good faith while at the air base of Colmar-Meyenheim were told that pilots maintain the overnight flight usually on Thursday and that "the craft" could very well be a jet about to land at the BA 132, headlights and landing gear out, and jet engine at slow speed.
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It is not at all my habit to "advertise" a book or anything, and I have no interested relationship with the author, but I wanted to say a word on the book by Christian Valentin, "Mythes et Réalités des Phénomènes Aériens Non Identifiés" (i.e. "Myths and Realities of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" (cover on the left) , ref. [cv2]; which, as its subtitle indicates, is about Alsatian UFO sighting reports and the saucer lore in Alsace.
I think Alsatian ufologists and generally people interested in the UFO question, or in the history of Alsace, my region, would probably like this book.
The 144 pages book is sober but well presented, unbiased, richly documented and illustrated. It is the first work in print specifically about UFO sightings in Alsace. (There was another one a few years ago, but it was partly made by copying - pasting without mention of the sources, portions of my website, especially the Alsatians cases I almost exhaustively documented in my catalog of UFO sightings in France in 1954, and copies from another websites; the trivial explanations I proposed or gave there being almost always stripped off!)
The author does not want to prove or disprove the possibility of extraterrestrial visitors or some other so-called "extraordinary" explanation, he rather offers a chronologically ordered review of Alsatian UFO reports, starting from the origin and stopping in 1980, based on known sources ufology, on the articles of the regional Press, and cases less known or even unreleased so far that he collected directly with the witnesses. His own comments are printed in a different color, references to the sources are always given. A very nice work in my opinion!
The author currently has a blog where he shows what libraries in Alsace have the book available, see: christian.valentin.overblog.com
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Jet fighters approaching their base to land.
* = 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 | July 18, 2015 | Creation, [lae1], [cvn2]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | July 18, 2015 | First published. |
