ALSACAT:

ALSACAT is my comprehensive catalog of UFO sighting reports in Alsace, the region is the North-East of France, whether they are "explained" or "unexplained".

The ALSACAT catalog is made of case files with a case number, summary, quantitative information (date, location, number of witnesses...), classifications, all sources mentioning the case with their references, a discussion of the case in order to evaluate its causes, and a history of the changes made to the file. A general index and thematic sub-catalogs give access to these Alsatian case files.

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Case of Mulhouse, on March 25, 1977:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1977-03-25-MULHOUSE-1

Summary:

The regional newspaper L'Alsace for March 26, 1977, reported that one of their readers told them the day before around 8 p.m. that he had seen a UFO above his home, rue de la Loi in Mulhouse. The object, triangular in shape and apparently small in size, came from the Europe Square and headed West. Its speed was quite slow and it took about 30 seconds to cross the observer's field of vision.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	March 25, 1977
Time:	08:00 p.m.
Duration:	30 secondes.
First known report date:	March 26, 1977
Reporting delay:	Hour, hours.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Mulhouse
Place:	From home rue de la Loi.
Latitude:	47.746
Longitude:	7.333
Uncertainty radius:	70 m.

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	1
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	0
Witness(es) ages:	?
Witness(es) types:	Male resident.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	To the regional Press.
Type of location:	From home in town center.
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:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	?
ALSACAT:	Unidentified, insufficient information.

Sources:

[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":

Last evening

UFO in the Mulhouse sky

One of our readers reported to us yesterday around 8 p.m. that he saw a UFO above his home, rue de la Loi in Mulhouse. The object, triangular in shape and apparently small in size, came from the Europe Square and headed West. Its speed was quite slow and it took about 30 seconds to pass through the observer's visual field. An additional finding to be added to the increasingly thick file of Alsatian UFOs.

[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":

MARCH 25, 1977. MULHOUSE (Haut Rhin)

Around 8 p.m., a witness saw a craft above his home. The triangular-shaped object, came from the place of Europe and headed towards the West with a slow speed.

("Alsace" for 3/26/77)

[Ref. lae2:] JOURNAL "L'ALSACE":

This newspaper published a long article on the history of UFO sightings in Alsace; it included a list of the observations that the group of ufology GREI of Colmar had provided to them.

An observation in Mulhouse in March 1977 was noted there.

[Ref. cnu1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "CNEGU":

Ref. F/00/68/77 03 25 (01) IQ: 1,0,0,0,0 (1)

Friday March 25, around 8 p.m. (UTC 7 p.m.), a resident of Mulhouse (68) saw a craft above his home. The triangular-shaped object, coming from the Europe square and heading west at slow speed.

Source: l'Alsace for 03/26/71 , LDLN nr 166 p. 33.

Discussion:

The witness is located at "W", rue de La Loi, a street that I know well, 130 meters long. Place de l'Europe is 600 meters away in a straight line at about 50° from the witness.

At 8 p.m. on March 25, 1977, it was dark; the sun had set since 6:50 p.m. Therefore, we cannot classify the thing as "DD, Daytime Disc"; on the other hand, there is no mention of lights, the classification "NL - Nocturnal lights" does not fit either. No sighting distance has been indicated, so we also don't know if this is a "close encounter" or not.

The newspaper indicates that the UFO was moving west. When the newspaper says that the witness saw the UFO "above is home", it is probably without real value, since it was initially in the direction of the place de l'Europe, and going towards the West. Unless, of course, the distance it was at was so short that it passed very close to the rue de la Loi; but then the witness would probably not have used the Place de l'Europe as a landmark. But we are also told of a slow speed and 30 seconds duration; which does not fit well a distant moving object.

The sighting may be really interesting, but the absence of quality information in the newspaper ("very small size" for example, does not mean much), the apparent absence of any investigation, leave me with an "unidentified" but with insufficient information.

Evaluation:

Unidentified, insufficient information.

Sources references:

* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.

[lae1] * "OVNI dans le ciel mulhousien", article in the regional newspaper L'Alsace, France, March 26, 1977.
[ldl1] * "Nouvelles Récentes", newsclipping by L. Tahon, in the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #166, page 33, June / July 1977.
[lae2] * Article in the regional newspaper L'Alsace, France, pages 9,10,11, May 22, 1977.
[cnu1] * "Catalogue des observations année 1977, catalogue by the Comité Nord-Est des Groupements Ufologiques (CNEGU), France, page 13, not dated, circa 1987.

File history:

Authoring:

Main author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	None
Reviewers:	None
Editor:	Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	February 14, 2023	Creation, [lae1], [ldl1], [lae2], [cnu1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	February 14, 2023	First published.

This page was last updated on February 14, 2023.