ALSACAT-1977-01-08-COLMAR-1
The regional newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace for January 8, 1977, wondered whether a UFO had been seen in the sky of the Haut-Rhin.
The newspaper told that the previous night, January 7, 1977, several witness reports could indicate it, "though, as always in such cases, one should be cautious."
The most interesting of these reports, according to the newspaper, came from of a couple living in Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine. The spouse, who remained anonymous, said that at 05:45 am, she and her husband were awakened by the barks of their dog. They tried to silence it, but there was nothing to do. They then looked out of the window bay in the direction that the dog was staring at.
They then saw three lights "like headlights" above the trees of the forest of Herrlisheim. These three lights were one next to each other, and below, were two smaller lights of reddish color.
These lights went, came back, went away in a kind of horizontal swing. Zhis lasted two to three minutes, and then the lights disappeared behind the buildings of a factory; which ended their observation.
The paper said a Mulhouse resident made a "similar observation." The man came at the Colmar airfield control tower on January 7, 1977, in the morning, to ask whether they had noticed something unusual, like he had. The answer was negative, the air traffic control function of the airfield baginning only a bit later.
The newspaper article gives no further details about this observation, stating only that there was then no movement of planes from the Air Force base of Colmar-Meyenheim and the Colmar airfield, as the first plane took off at 06:28 a.m.
| Date: | January 7, 1977 |
|---|---|
| Time: | Night |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | January 8, 1977 |
| Reporting delay: | Hour, hours. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Colmar |
| Place: | ? |
| Latitude: | 48.109 |
| Longitude: | 7.358 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 30 |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Young adult, adult or aged. |
| Witness(es) types: | Man from Mulhouse. |
| Reporting channel: | Reported to airfield control tower. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | ? |
| 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: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Totally insufficient information. |
[Ref. dna1:] NEWSPAPER "DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE":
|
An unidentified flying object may have crossed the Upper Rhine sky last night. In any case, several witnesses reports may indicate this, though, as always in such cases, one should be cautious.
The most interesting of the stories that reached us comes from a couple living in Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine. "It was 5:50 a.m., explained the lady who wishes to remain anonymous, when my husband and I were awakened by the barks of our dog. We tried to silence it, but there is nothing to do. So we looked out of the window bay in the direction it was staring.
"That's when we saw above the trees of the forest of Herrlisheim, lights: there were three that could be described as headlights, one next to the other, and, below, two smaller reddish lights; the lights went, came back, went away in a kind of horizontal swing. It lasted two to three minutes, then the lights disappeared behind the buildings of a factory; which prevented us from continuing our observation."
A resident of Mulhouse also made a similar observation. Yesterday morning a man came to the Colmar aerodrome control tower to ask if they had noticed something abnormal, like he did. The answer was negative, as the control work started only a bit later.
This observation could be interesting. Indeed, it is not common that an animal gives the alert, but it is a phenomenon already observed that animals are affected by an unusual presence of this type, the description of the lights is of a classic UFO type; the witnesses were at different locations.
Moreover, there was no movement of planes from the base of Colmar-Meyenheim and the Colmar Airfield, where the first plane took off at 6:28.
[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 tells that on January 7, 1977, in Sainte-Croix-En-Plaine, this observation occurred, reported in the newspaper DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE for Saturday, January 8, 1977:
An unidentified flying object may have crossed the Upper Rhine sky last night. In any case, several witnesses reports may indicate this, though, as always in such cases, one should be cautious.
The most interesting of the stories that reached us comes from a couple living in Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine. "It was 5:50 a.m., explained the lady who wishes to remain anonymous, when my husband and I were awakened by the barks of our dog. We tried to silence it, but there is nothing to do. So we looked out of the window bay in the direction it was staring.
"That's when we saw above the trees of the forest of Herrlisheim, lights: there were three that could be described as headlights, one next to the other, and, below, two smaller reddish lights; the lights went, came back, went away in a kind of horizontal swing. It lasted two to three minutes, then the lights disappeared behind the buildings of a factory; which prevented us from continuing our observation."
A resident of Mulhouse also made a similar observation. Yesterday morning a man came to the Colmar aerodrome control tower to ask if they had noticed something abnormal, like he did. The answer was negative, as the control work started only a bit later.
This observation could be interesting. Indeed, it is not common that an animal gives the alert, but it is a phenomenon already observed that animals are affected by an unusual presence of this type, the description of the lights is of a classic UFO type; the witnesses were at different locations.
Moreover, there was no movement of planes from the base of Colmar-Meyenheim and the Colmar Airfield, where the first plane took off at 6:28.
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It is clear that the newspaper published only partially the information they probably received. Thus, it is by no means clear that the two observations mentioned are the only two, it is by no means clear that they relate to the same phenomenon, it is not known what the man who went to the airfield had seen or when and where he had seen it.
Let's not even talk about quantitative data such as viewing directions, elevation, angular sizes etc., none is given. As often, the Press prefers to issue words of "caution" rather than give useful information.
Crucial information for example would be the presence or absence of noise. With noise, the Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine couple might have seen one or more maneuvering helicopters. The newspaper excludes planes, but says nothing about a presence or absence of helicopters.
All this means that although I can not give an identification of what was reported, for lack of information we do not have a "good case" or two "good cases."
The best I can do is to provide some indications on the locations.
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We have a couple witnesses from Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine watching the lights in the direction of the forest of Herrlisheim, so apparently between their southeast and northeast.
The man from Mulhouse came to the control tower at the Colmar-Houssen airfield, but we do not know where his sighting occurred. The Meyenheim Air Force Base is at BA132.
From the Colmar-Houssen airfield to Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine, there are approximately 11 kilometers.
Totally insufficient 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 |
| Editeur: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | September 10, 2015 | Creation, [dna1], [cvn2]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | September 10, 2015 | First published. |
