ALSACAT-1977-03-16-MULHOUSE-1
The regional newspaper L'Alsace for March 17, 1977, reported that a group of amateur astronomers from Mulhouse had observed the day before, thus on March 16, 1977, over the valley of Thann, six unidentified flying objects; which were, according to them, visible to the naked eye from 8:30 to 9:30 (p.m. actually). One of the objects, orange in color, had the shape of a cigar, the others were cubic.
The next day, March 18, 1977, L'Alsace headlined that UFOs were seen everywhere, "bananas, cigars, cubes...". The newspaper recalled what they had published the day before, and explained that this information had triggered many reactions the day before, as a dozen people claimed to have also seen UFOs.
The newspaper quoted other testimonies; which I included in this catalogue.
On March 20, 1977, L'Alsace explained that these UFOs were probably a fragment of the "Pagéos" satellite. It was a young scientist, Mr. Daniel Karcher, who had been an observer at the Meudon satellite observatory, who told them that the observations in the newspaper may relate to the passage of that satellite-balloon in orbit since 1966; which exploded in July 1975, leaving about 80 fragments, some of which were falling back now. The object that people had seen in the sky was a piece of the big mylar envelope, rotating on itself, clearly visible to the naked eye at times, until mid-April. The revolution period was 178.8 minutes, and it was currently visible between 05:03 p.m. and 09:13 p.m. eastward at 60 degrees of elevation; and from 06:03 p.m. to 09:03 p.m. at 58 degrees, and from 07:03 p.m. to 08:54 p.m. at 56 degrees.
The passages lasted about 25 minutes from horizon to horizon, the direction was from South to North, and they were at times invisible to the naked eye.
He explained that many features described by the readers of Sausheim and Riedisheim can be explained by the passage of the satellite: its stellar appearance, its variable brightness. He explained that the altitude given is fanciful because it is impossible to really determine it like this. The different forms can be explained by chromatic aberrations, frequent with binoculars.
The following day, March 21, 1977, the newspaper wondered about an "epidemic" of UFOs in the south of the Vosges, especially in the Thur valley where a dozen people had been intrigued during the week by luminous objects. It usually lasted about thirty minutes, and it would be due, "according to some opinions", to fragments of a satellite-balloon that exploded and which fell on earth at this time.
| Date: | March 16, 1977 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 08:30 p.m. |
| Duration: | 1 hour. |
| First known report date: | March 17, 1977 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Mulhouse |
| Place: | ? |
| Latitude: | 47.747 |
| Longitude: | 7.333 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 4 km. |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | Several. |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adults. |
| Witness(es) types: | Amateur astronomers. |
| Reporting channel: | To the regional newspaper L'Alsace. |
|---|---|
| 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: | Debris of the PAGEOS balloon-satellite. |
[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":
A group of amateur astronomers of Mulhouse observed yesterday evening above the valley of Thann 6 unidentified flying objects. The phenomenon was visible according to them from 8:30 to 9:30 and could even be seen with the naked eye. One of the objects of orange color was reportedly cigar shaped; the others were cube-shaped.
[Ref. lae2:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":
Wednesday morning, you read this in our columns yesterday, a group of amateur astronomers from Mulhouse observed in the sky of Thann a group of UFO: an orange object in the shape of a cigar, the others being rather cubical.
This information yesterday triggered many reactions: ten people claiming to have seen UFOs also. Among them, two people whose testimony is here:
A resident of Sausheim told us he observed several times recently and again on Wednesday a luminous flying object which, according to his estimates, must have been each time in the sky at about 2 km altitude in the Thann-Cernay region. This reader, a trustworthy man, never wanted to tell anyone about this, for fear of ridicule, and it is only after reading our article yesterday that he reacted.
"From the window of the building where I live", he says, "I can sometimes follow with the binocular the moves of a UFO that moves generally northward from the mount of the Rossberg. It is not a cube-shaped object, but rather a sort of luminous banana so that one could at times confuse it with a star. Yesterday evening, the UFO suddenly went off, and for a while I realized it was like hanging under a trapezoidal, or triangular shape. The duration of the phenomenon? More than half an hour some evenings."
Another reader, who lives in Riedisheim, saw Wednesday morning a UFO above La Vancelle. With his son and a friend, this reader was at the Taennchel, watching with binoculars the ruined castle of Frankenbourg, when he saw, like his companions, like -a sort of huge white balloon, of an intense shine above the ruins, a little away from the castle.
[Ref. lae3:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":
UFOs. They were called "flying saucers" not so long ago.
But then, the craft that people thought they saw in the sky were shaped like saucers. the craft that are currently reported in the firmament of the day and night, have odd shapes that are disks, but more often cubes, trapezes, cigars or triangles. A young scientist, Dr. D. K. was an observer at the Meudon Observatory, satellite service, and is uniquely qualified to speak. He says:
"The sightings published in "L'Alsace" may relate to the passage of the satellite-balloon "Pageos" in orbit since 1966, which exploded in July 1975, leaving about 80 fragments, some of which fell at now. The currently visible object in the sky is a piece of the envelope (mylar) of large size, rotating on itself and clearly visible to the naked eye at times, until mid-April. Revolution period 178.8 minutes.
Current schedule: 05:03 p.m. - 09:13 p.m. (standard time) in the east at 60 degrees up; 06:03 p.m.. - 09:03 p.m. at 58 degrees 07:03 p.m. - 08:54 p.m. at 56 degrees.
These passages take about 25 minutes from horizon to horizon. Direction: South to North, at times invisible to the naked eye.
Many features described by your readers (Sausheim and Riedisheim) can be explained by the satellite pass (stellar aspect, variable brightness). Altitude is fantasy because it is impossible to be determined directly. The different aspects (bananas, trapeze...) can be explained by chromatic aberrations common to binoculars."
[Ref. lae4:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":
Thann. -- An outbreak of UFO appeared in the Vosges mountains and especially in the Thur valley where ten people were intrigued during the week by luminous objects. This phenomenon; which usually lasted about thirty minutes, would have been caused, according to some opinions, by fragments of a balloon satellite that exploded and which currently falls back to earth.
However, the last observation made by a family of St. Amarin, could invalidate the hypothesis of the balloon. Indeed, the UFO observed by these people on Saturday night at 08:30 p.m. on at Fellering would have "moved below the line of ridges. If it were a balloon envelope, it would certainly not have been lit at this low altitude, and probably would not have stayed in the air for half an hour. Mystery...
[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
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MARCH 16, 1977. THANN (Haut Rhin)
From 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., a group of amateur astronomers observed over the Thann Valley, 6 objects, one of which was orange in the shape of a cigar and the others were cubic.
("Journal d'Alsace" for 3/17/77)
[Ref. aldl:] MRS. GUEUDELOT, "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" ARCHIVE:
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MARCH 16, 1977.-
THANN. - (68)
Time: 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
A group of amateur astronomers observed 6 objects above the THANN valley, one of which was orange in color and had the shape of a cigar and the others were cubic.
"DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE" for 3.17.1977
LDLN No. 163. MAY 1977. P. 35
[Ref. cnu1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "CNEGU":
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Ref. F/00/68/77 03 16 (02) IQ: 1,0,0,1,0 (2)
On Wednesday March 16, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (UTC 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.) a group of amateur astronomers observed above the Thann valley (68) 6 objects, one of which was orange in color in the shape of a cigar and the others were cubic.
Source: newspaper l'Alsace 03/17/77 ("UFOLOGIA" nr 9 p.6), LDLN nr 165, May 1977 page 35.
[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 the regional newspaper L'Alsace for March 17, 1977, reported this:
A group of amateur astronomers of Mulhouse observed yesterday evening above the valley of Thann 6 unidentified flying objects. The phenomenon was visible according to them from 8:30 to 9:30 and could even be seen with the naked eye. One of the objects of orange color was reportedly cigar shaped; the others were cube-shaped.
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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 et Réalités des Phénomènes Aériens Non Identifiés" (i.e. "Myths and Realities of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" (cover on the left) , ref. [cvn2]; 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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This report should not ne considered in isolation but together with these others; which occurred in the same timeframe and places relative to the PAGEOS explanation:
Debris of the PAGEOS balloon-satellite.
* = 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 | February 28, 2023 | Creation, [lae1], [lae2], [lae3], [lae4], [ldl1], [cnu1], [cvn2]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 28, 2023 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | September 9, 2023 | Addition [ald1]. |
