ALSACAT-1977-03-19-RIXHEIM-1
From mid-March 1977 on, there were several sightings reports in the Haut-Rhin, about strange flying objects located above the Vosges; they were in fact debris from the PAGEOS satellite-balloon, a contraption which had orbited at very high altitudes since 1966 and which had exploded, leaving fragments of the Mylar shell of this balloon drifting at very high altitudes.
Among the observations reported in the newspaper L'Alsace, we found, accompanied by a call for witnesses, that of March 19, 1977, made by four people from Rixheim.
At 8:25 p.m., they had observed what the newspaper called "a pre-luminous dot", above Mulhouse, at an altitude estimated between 700 and 1000 m. The intensity of this dot was two or three times that of Venus.
This dot remained stationary above Mulhouse until 9:00 p.m. then suddenly disappeared to end up in a westerly direction, still hovering, from 9:00 p.m. to 9:10 p.m., orange-red in color, while a sometimes white, sometimes orange-red glow appeared at the same time intermittently for a total of 5 minutes in the sky, in the direction between Masevaux and Thann.
At 9:10 p.m., the newspaper reported, these two dots "disappeared from the sky."
The next day, L'Alsace told of the PAGEOS balloon-satelitte space junk, and reflected some debates going on as to whether it was the correct explanation or not.
| Date: | March 19, 1977 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 08:25 p.m. |
| Duration: | 35 minutes. |
| First known report date: | March 22, 1977 |
| Reporting delay: | 3 days. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Rixheim |
| Place: | ? |
| Latitude: | 47.747 |
| Longitude: | 7.402 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 2 km. |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 4 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | ? |
| Witness(es) types: | ? |
| Reporting channel: | The regional Press. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | ? |
| Visibility conditions: | Night. |
| 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: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Balloon-satellite debris reentry. |
[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":
|
On several occasions last week, luminous objects of bizarre shapes were seen in the sky of southern Alsace ("L'Alsace" for Sunday).
The last of these observations dates back to Saturday, March 19:
Four people, in Rixheim, observed in the evening a pre-luminous dot above Mulhouse, at an altitude estimated between 700 and 1000 m. The radiation from this dot was two or three times the radiation from Venus. This dot was seen for the first time at 8:25 p.m., it remained stationary above Mulhouse until 9:00 p.m. then suddenly disappeared to find itself heading west, still hovering from 9:00 p.m. to 9:10 p.m., and of an orange-red color although a sometimes white, sometimes orange-red glow appeared at the same time intermittently for a total duration of 5 minutes in the sky, in the direction between Masevaux and Thann. At 9:10 p.m., these two dots disappeared from the sky.
Anyone who made such a sighting on Saturday evening can make themselves known by calling 81.00.04, extension 27-01.
[Ref. lae2:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":
|
UFO here, ufo there. For a few days (is this the wave of the great conference held recently in Mulhouse and which had seen the confrontation of Professor Paul Muller and Jean-Claude Bourret) several witnesses observed in the "south" sky of the region of strange phenomena. In our issue of yesterday March 22, we reported that in Rixheim four people had noticed a very bright red-orange object located approximately in the direction of Masevaux-Thann and which after having remained stationary had suddenly disappeared. The phenomenon was observed between 8:25 p.m. and 9:10 p.m.
Another witness Mr. Marcel Brangard, technical agent at GdF living in Mulhouse, 175, rue de Bâle, visited us yesterday afternoon and, confirming earlier statements, nevertheless provided further clarification.
"Waiting for guests, Saturday evening around 8:15 p.m. and going to the window of my apartment I was struck by the luminosity of a sort of star much larger and abnormally located, almost within range eyes, and a twinkle that I would not qualify as orange, but bright white. The object was in the direction of the Vosges. Coming back to the window around 8:30 p.m., I noticed that the shiny object had moved to the right. At 9 p.m. I saw nothing anymore. The star of "first magnitude" had dissolved."
But Mr. Marcel Brangard had had the presence of mind to look for his camera. He took three pictures. The film produced was developed yesterday at the "L'Alsace" lab.
This document, it goes without saying, will be controversial if not at least debatable. We know from having read it in our previous editions ("L'Alsace" of March 20) that the craft currently observed in Alsace would be, as communicated to us by Mr. Karcher, observer at the Meudon observatory, one of the 80 fragments of the "Pageos" satellite-balloon put into orbit in 1966 and which exploded in July 1975. The object currently visible, both by day and at night, would be part of the envelope of the satellite in nylard [sic, Mylar]. This remaining envelope would spin on itself and the period of revolution would be 178.8 minutes. The crossings would last 25 minutes and be located to the east between 60 and 56 degrees high.
This explanation, very plausible, does not satisfy everyone. Some astronomers argue that a satellite having exploded most of the debris would have fallen back to earth and that in any case the extreme brightness of the object currently observed would tend to invalidate such a thesis. It appears, in fact, and most of the statements collected since Saturday confirm it, that the clarity given off by this immense star gives the impression "of a mirror reflecting the sun."
[Ref. cnu1:] GROUPE D'UFOLOGIE "CNEGU":
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Réf. F/00/68/77 03 19 (02)
Saturday March 19, at 8.25 p.m. (UTC 7.25 p.m.) four people from Rixheim (68} observe a luminous dot (three times like Venus) hovering above Mulhouse until 9 p.m. Everything disappears. Then, West, an orange-red dot lights up until 9:10 p.m. to suddenly disappear.
Explanation: satellite fragments, source: Meudon observatory.
Source: l'Alsace newspaper for 23/03/77 ("UFOLOGIA" nr 9 p. 6).
|
PAGEOS (PAssive Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite) was a geodetic balloon-satellite, launched by NASA in June 1966, set up to form a global triangulation network with accuracy of 3 to 5 meters.
|
The balloon had a diameter of 30 meters and was made of Mylar (the very solid "plastic" of the "chips" bags), aluminized, with a metallic-looking and highly reflective surface.
PAGEOS was placed in a polar orbit at a height of about 4000 km, which had gradually diminished over its 9 years of use, finally partially disintegrating in July 1975, with a second break-up in January 1976, which resulted in the release of a large number of fragments, most of which re-entered the atmosphere, slowly, over the next decade.
For the record, the predecessors of PAGEOS were Echo 1 (1960) and Echo 2 (1964), the astronomer and ufologist J. Allen Hynek having participated in the Echo 2 program.
Balloon-satellite debris reentry.
* = 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 | August 20, 2022 | Creation, [lae1], [lae2]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | August 20, 2022 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | January 17, 2023 | Addition [cnu1]. |
