ALSACAT-1977-01-13-RUELISHEIMBATTENHEIM-1
The regional newspaper Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace for January 18, 1977, headlined about a "ball of fire in the sky" observed by many people including "credible witnesses" on January 13, 1977, a "strange luminous phenomenon that disappeared an hour later" and sparked UFO talks.
The thing had been seen above Ruelisheim and Battenheim from 08:30 p.m. to 09:30 p.m.. It was fixed high up in the sky and then reportedly split into three parts, leaving trails of light behind.
The three ball-shaped parts then went eastwards towards the Black Forest.
The newspaper said that such a phenomenon had already been observed in this area several times the previous summer. Some days, always at the same hour, there was a luminous apparition that disappeared afterwards over the Vosges. The newspaper thinks this was "maybe just a meteorite."
| Date: | January 13, 1977 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 08:30 p.m. |
| Duration: | 30 minutes. |
| First known report date: | Jauary 18, 1977 |
| Reporting delay: | 4 days. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Ruelisheim, Battenheim |
| Place: | ? |
| Latitude: | 47.820 |
| Longitude: | 7.369 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 3 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | Numerous. |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | ? |
| Witness(es) ages: | ? |
| Witness(es) types: | ? |
| Reporting channel: | The regional Press. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | ? |
| 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: | Puzzled. |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Unidentified, uncertain information. |
[Ref. dna1:] NEWSPAPER "DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE":
Mulhouse. -- Last Thursday, many people managed to observe in the Mulhouse region a strange luminous phenomenon that disappeared an hour later. And immediately one talk about a UFO. Indeed, this mysterious fireball was seen over Ruelisheim and Battenheim. The apparition lasted from 08:30 p.m. to 09:30 p.m. According to reliable witnesses, this ball, set high in the sky, then split into three parts, leaving behind trails of light.
These three balls later went eastwards towards the Black Forest.
It should be noted that such a phenomenon has been observed in this area several times last summer. One had seen on some days, always at the same hour, a luminous apparition that disappeared afterwards over the Vosges. But it was perhaps just a meteorite.
[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 January 13, 1977, there was a UFO sighting in Mulhouse rrprted as below in the newspaper Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace for Tuesday, January 18, 1977:
Mulhouse. -- Last Thursday, many people managed to observe in the Mulhouse region a strange luminous phenomenon that disappeared an hour later. And immediately one talk about a UFO. Indeed, this mysterious fireball was seen over Ruelisheim and Battenheim. The apparition lasted from 08:30 p.m. to 09:30 p.m. According to reliable witnesses, this ball, set high in the sky, then split into three parts, leaving behind trails of light.
These three balls later went eastwards towards the Black Forest.
It should be noted that such a phenomenon has been observed in this area several times last summer. One had seen on some days, always at the same hour, a luminous apparition that disappeared afterwards over the Vosges. But it was perhaps just a meteorite.
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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 and 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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Between the centers of Ruelisheim and Battenheim, there are about 1.70 kilometers.
A meteor may well explode into three pieces. But in no case its passage could last half an hour. It is possible that the newspaper had misspoken of the situation, making a half-hour of continuous observation because of uncertainty or differences between the reports from the different places; but this is in no way certain or obvious.
I therefore leave the case as an "unidentified", noting that it is possible if there is an error on the duration that it either a meteor or the return of rocket or satellite debris or a military operation.
Unidentified, uncertain 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 | July 7, 2015 | Creation, [dna1], [cvn2]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | July 7, 2015 | First published. |
