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 Brunstatt, on October 8, 1976:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1976-10-08-BRUNSTATT-1

Summary:

In the regional newspaper L'Alsace, of Mulhouse, for October 10, 1976, there was an article wondering if a UFO was seen in Brunstatt.

We learn that on October 9, 1976, shortly before 8 p.m., several residents of Brunstatt saw an unidentified flying object above their city.

The thing, bright and cross-shaped, moved slowly toward Germany. At various places in Brunstatt, people came into the streets to better see this curious phenomenon.

Some people claimed to have seen a UFO of the same type on Friday night, October 8, 1976, in the same part of the sky.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	October 8, 1976
Time:	Evening
Duration:	?
First known report date:	October 10, 1976
Reporting delay:	2 days.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Brunstatt
Place:
Latitude:	47.720
Longitude:	7.317
Uncertainty radius:	2 km

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	The regional Press.
Type of location:	From city, UFO in the sky.
Visibility conditions:	Evening or night.
UFO observed:	Yes
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
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:	Unidentified, possible formation of jet fighters, or airliner.

Sources:

[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":

A UFO in Brunstatt?

Several residents of Brunstatt saw yesterday, shortly before 8 p.m., an unidentified flying object above their city. The "luminous cross-shaped ufo" was moving slowly in the direction of Germany. In different places of Brunstatt, people went down in the street to better see this odd phenomenon. In addition some people claimed to have observed a UFO of an identical typeFriday evening in the same part of the sky.

[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 on Friday 8 and Saturday 9, in October 1976, there were UFO sightings told like this in the newspaper L'ALSACE for Sunday, October 10, 1976 in the Mulhouse issue:

A UFO in BRUNSTATT?

Discussion:

This case would have remained unpublished in the UFO literature without the work of Christian Valentin.

As for what that could have been...

One sometimes invokes the star constellation of Orion (below) when it comes to a "cross-shaped" UFO. But at that date and time, it was not visible from Brunstatt anyway.

Other celestial bodies were present: the moon, Jupiter low on the horizon, but I see no big chance that they would be described as cross-shaped, or making people go out in the street "from various places", and they did not move "towards Germany."

As often with the Press reports, we miss simple and crucial information. Here for example the "cross-shape" could be many configurations, it would have been useful to specify which one it was:

If I were forced to give an ordinary explanation, I would probably choose a high-altitude formation of jet fighters with afterburners on; which would have taken that trip two nights in a row.

Or if there had been flashing lights and varied colors, that of an airliner at altitude, with winds blocking its noise to spread down to the city.

Evaluation:

Unidentified, possible formation of jet fighters, or airliner.

Sources references:

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

[lae1] * "Un OVNI à Brunstatt?", article in the regional newspaper L'Alsace, Mulhouse, France, October 10, 1976.
[cvn2] * "Mythes et Réalités des Phénomènes Aériens Non Identifiés - Histoire des soucoupes volantes en Alsace jusqu'en 1980", book by Christian Valentin, Grimoires d'Alsace publishers, France, page 122, 2012.

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 22, 2016	Creation, [lae1], [cvn2].
1.0	Patrick Gross	July 22, 2016	First published.

This page was last updated on July 22, 2016.