ALSACAT-1976-10-09-BRUNSTATT-1
The regional newspaper L'Alsace, in their Mulhouse issue for October 10, 1976, wondered about a UFO over Brunstatt.
The newspaper reported that several residents of Brunstatt had seen on October 9, 1976, shortly before 08:00 p.m., an unidentified flying object above their city.
It was a "luminous cross-shaped UFO" that had slowly moved towards Germany.
At various places in Brunstatt, people went out to the streets to better see the odd phenomenon.
Some people said they had seen a similar UFO in the evening of October 8, 1976, in the same part of the sky.
| Date: | October 9, 1976 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ~07:55 p.m. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | October 10, 1976 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, 1 day. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Brunstatt |
| Place: | From streets, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 47.720 |
| Longitude: | 7.317 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 2 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | Several. |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | ? |
| Witness(es) types: | Residents. |
| Reporting channel: | The regional Press. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | From the city streets, UFO in the sky. |
| Visibility conditions: | 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: | Puzzled. |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Unidentified, possible formation of jet fighters, or airliner. |
[Ref. lae1:] JOURNAL "L'ALSACE":
|
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 type Friday evening in the same part of the sky.
[Ref. ldl1:] MAGAZINE D'UFOLOGIE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
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ON 9 OCTOBER 1976 BRUNSTATT (Haut Rhin)
Around 8 p.m., several residents of Brunstatt saw a cross-shaped UFO moving slowly towards Germany, a similar craft was seen on the evening of the 8th in the same place.
("L'Alsace» for 10/10/76)
[Ref. cnu1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "CNEGU":
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Ref. F/00/68/76 10 09 (01)
On Saturday October 9, around 8 p.m. (UT: 7 p.m.), several residents of Brunstatt (68) saw a cross-shaped object moving slowly towards Germany, a machine of the same kind was reportedly seen on the 8th in the evening at the same place.
Source: "L'Alsace" for 10/10/76 (LDLN nr 161 p. 25).
[Ref. cnu2:] CNEGU:
In an article about cases of misinterpreting the Moon, CNEGU noted in a list a case Nr 113 in Brunstatt in the Haut-Rhin, on October 9, 1976, without indicating the Moon as explanation.
[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:
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 type Friday evening in the same part of the sky.
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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.
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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:
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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.
Unidentified, possible formation of jet fighters, or airliner.
* = 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 13, 2015 | Creation, [lae1], [cvn2]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | July 13, 2015 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | April 10, 2016 | Addition [cnu2]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | May 22, 2021 | Addition [ldl1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | January 15, 2023 | Addition [cnu2]. |
