ALSACAT-1977-00-00-BLOTZHEIM-1
In an article about ufologists from the Haut-Rhin department, the newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace for August 11, 1999, recalled that one of them had reported an observation.
Jean-Jacques Goetschy, 13-year-old at the time, had witnessed a strange phenomenon near Blotzheim, in the winter of 1977:
It was, said the newspaper, a "static orange ball, the size of a house, placed over a farm, an appearance of about fifteen seconds in the night, and then nothing anymore..."
Jean-Jacques Goetschy was then in the company of comrades of his age. He told the newspaper that at the time they were not sensitized to UFOs, and that during the observation, there had been "sweats, anxieties, we were paralyzed by fear!"
It was this experience, still very vivid in his memory, that led him later to take an interest in unidentified aerospace phenomena.
| Date: | Winter 1977 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ? |
| Duration: | ~15 seconds. |
| First known report date: | August 11, 1999 |
| Reporting delay: | Day, 22 years? |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Blotzheim |
| Place: | Near a farm, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 47.601 |
| Longitude: | 7.496 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 5 km. |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 3 or more. |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Witness(es) ages: | 13 |
| Witness(es) types: | Male teenager. |
| Reporting channel: | Told to the Press. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | Near a farm, UFO in the sky. |
| Visibility conditions: | ? |
| UFO observed: | Yes |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| 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: | ? |
| Hynek: | ? |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Unidentified, lack of information. |
[Ref. dna1:] NEWSPAPER "DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE":
It is a strange trio. Jean-Jacques Goetschy, Thierry Guichard and Henri Loos are ufologists. Their passion: to watch out the skies for unidentified aerospace phenomena. Here is an introduction into their very serious group...
The three ufologists are not at all nutcases. Jean-Jacques Goetschy, Thierry Guichard and Henri Loos from Hégenheim share the same passion: they collect and evaluate unidentified aerospace phenomena within their association "S.O.S OVNIS" (OVNI = UFO), created in 1974. The objective? To devote themselves to the study of the UFO phenomenon by respecting an objective method, without dogmatism or mystical consideration. They benefit of a solid organization on the national and international level, association who has representations everywhere in France. In the East, Christian Morgenthaler from Odratzheim is the regional delegate, assisted by three local correspondent-investigators in the Haut-Rhin department, Jean-Jacques, Thierry and Henri.
In the order of arrival in the team of the three buddies, Jean-Jacques comes first. At thirteen years already, he witnessed a strange phenomenon close to Blotzheim:
"A static orange ball, size of a house, hovering above a farm; it was visible for approximately fifteen seconds in the night, and then it vanished... I was with buddies of my age. At the time we were not aware of the UFO phenomenon: we were frightened, sweating, anxious, we were paralyzed with fear! It is this experiment, still very vivid in my memory which drew my latter interest in unidentified aerospace phenomena, UFOs."
[Ref. pgs1:] MYSELF:
On March 20, 2001, I posted on my website the above newspaper article. It was in web pages about UFOs in Alsace, my region, web pages still very thin at the time; as I had not started this ALSACAT catalog yet.
I wrote in the introduction:
"I wondered if there are UFO sighting reports in my own area, Alsace, in France. What are the cases? How many are there? Were they investigated, mentioned in the local or national media? What is the proportion of hoaxes, misinterpretations? Time to start to investigate..."
"This case is not documented in the ufology litterature at all. There is a short mention in an article of the "Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace" regional newspaper, on Wednesday August 11, 1999, in an article about with three Alsatian ufologists one of them giving an account of an observation he made when he was 13 years old, observation which was determining in the awakening of its interest for the UFOS. I opened this file in 2001, and in 2007 I was told during a ufology meeting by one of the witnesses that the content of the page is accurate."
It is from my web page of the time that the article has been recopied, without reference to my website, by the following source.
[Ref. is2:] "ISUNDGAU" BLOG:
After the appearance of UFOs during the 1950s, we tell you about some observations and testimonies during the period 1970 - 2000. The descriptions seem more detailed and the bizarre demonstrations are sometimes supported by the gendarmerie the police or the army.
[... Other cases...]
Observation made in 1977
Text from an article in the daily newspaper Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, for August 11, 1999, about 3 ufologists in Alsace, one of which reports an observation when he was 13 years old.
It is a strange trio. Jean-Jacques Goetschy, Thierry Guichard and Henri Loos are ufologists, of the English "unidentified flying object". Their passion: to be alert on unidentified aerospace phenomena. Introduction in their very serious network ...
Not crazy at all, the three ufologists. Jean-Jacques Goetschy, Thierry Guichard and Henri Loos from Hégenheim share the same passion: they collect and evaluate unidentified aerospace phenomena within their association SOS Ovni, created in 1974. The objective? To be devoted to the study of the UFO phenomenon by respecting an objective method, without dogmatism or mystical consideration. Benefiting from a solid organization on the national and international level, the association relies on representations throughout France. In the East, Christian Morgenthaler of Odratzheim (67) is a regional delegate, assisted by three local correspondent-investigators in the Haut-Rhin, Jean-Jacques, Thierry and Henri.
In the order of arrival in the team of three friends, Jean-Jacques. At thirteen already, he witnessed a strange phenomenon near Blotzheim:
"A static orange ball, the size of a house, placed over a farm; an apparition of about fifteen seconds in the night, and then nothing... I was with friends of my age. At the time we were not aware of UFOs: fear, sweat, anxiety, we were paralyzed by fear! It is this experience still very strong in my memory that pushed me later to be interested in 'uap' (unidentified aerospace phenomena)."
[... Other cases...]
|
Although the witness confirmed to me in 2002 what the article was telling, I did not yet have the project to catalog all the observations in my area at the time; so I did not start asking questions.
As this is a Press presentation, and as the case was not in itself the topic of the article, it lacks information; which does not allow to conclude any further.
Unidentified, lack of information.
* = 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 |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | June 1, 2018 | Creation, [dna1], [pgs1], [isu1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 1, 2018 | First published. |
