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 Colmar, on April 20, 1977:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1977-04-20-COLMAR-1

Summary:

Several sightings of a meteor occurred over Alsace on April 20, 1977, around 10:15 p.m.; one of the sightings was reported in the regional newspaper L'Alsace for April 23, 1977, which indicated that a young man from Colmar, Roland Kalck, reported this UFO story to them by describing:

"A curtain of blinding light. A white light that illuminated everything... It lasted a good ten seconds, then nothing; everything was back to normal."

The newspaper stated that Mr. Kalck had seen this light, for which he could find no natural explanation, "on Wednesday between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.," while he and a female friend were in his car, driving near the avenue de Lorraine in Colmar.

He hadn't paid much attention to it at first, but was then surprised to hear that he was not the only witness. This prompted him to try learn more about it; the newspaper then launched a call for witnesses.

It was only on May 16, 1977 that the newspaper, referring to "The UFO of April 20 observed by an astronomer", explained that the thing had been identified as a meteor by an astronomer from the Strasbourg observatory.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	April 20, 1977
Time:	09:45 p.m.
Duration:	About 10 seconds.
First known report date:	April 23, 1977
Reporting delay:	Hours, 3 days.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Colmar
Place:	From a car near avenue de Lorraine.
Latitude:	48.091
Longitude:	7.336
Uncertainty radius:	1.5 km.

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	3 or more.
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	1
Witness(es) ages:	Young adult or adult.
Witness(es) types:	Local man and a friend.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	To the regional Press.
Type of location:	In car in urban area.
Visibility conditions:	Night.
UFO observed:	Yes.
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	No.
Entities:	No.
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	Puzzled.
Witnesses interpretation:	Without natural explanation.

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL
ALSACAT:	Meteor.

Sources:

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

A UFO in Colmar...

"A curtain of blinding light. A white light that illuminated everything... It lasted a good ten seconds, then nothing; everything was back to normal." This UFO story was told to us by a young Colmar resident, Roland Kalck. He saw this light, for which he can find no natural explanation, Wednesday between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., while he was with a female friend in his car, on the edge of avenue de Lorraine in Colmar. Not having paid particular attention to the phenomenon at first, Roland was however surprised to hear that he was not the only one in this case, which prompted him to try to find out more. So if such an adventure had happened to you, could you contact the editorial staff of "L'Alsace".

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

ON APRIL 20, 1977. COLMAR (Haut-Rhin)

Around 10 p.m. several witnesses from different places observed a bright, very luminous blue glow which seemed to fall from the sky, and was heading towards Colmar.

("L'Alsace" for 4/30/77 and 5/10/77)

[Ref. aldl:] MRS. GUEUDELOT, "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" ARCHIVE:

APRIL 20, 1977.-

COLMAR. - (68)

Several witnesses, from different places, observed a bright, very luminous blue glow which seemed to fall from the sky and was heading towards Colmar.

"L'ALSACE" for 4.30.1977 and 5.10.1977

LDLN Nr 167 (August - Sept 1977) p. 36

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

Ref. F/00/68/77 04 20 (01) IQ: 1,0,0,1,0 (2)

On Wednesday April 20, around 10:15 p.m. (UTC: 8:15 p.m.), several witnesses from the Colmar region (68) observed a bright, very luminous blue glow which seemed to fall from the sky and was heading towards Colmar.

Explanation: disintegration of a meteor [sic] according to "L'Alsace" for 5/15/77.

Source: "L'Alsace" for 4/30/77, 4/23/77, 5/10/77, "Ufology" nr 10 p5, "Ufologia" nr 11 p. 6 , LDLN no. 167 p. 36.

Discussion:

See the observation of the meteor from Strasbourg.

Evaluation:

The meteor of April 20, 1977.

Sources references:

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

[lae1] * "Un OVNI à Colmar...", article in the regional newspaper L'Alsace, France, April 23, 1977.
[ldl1] * "Nouvelles Récentes", news clipping by L. Tahon, in the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #167, page 36, August / September 1977.
[ald1] * Record in the archive by Mrs. Gueudelot, of the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, not dated, published circa 2020 by the ufology association SCEAU, France, at https://sceau-archives-ovni.org/fonds/fond_gueudelot/base_guy_jpr_fiches_gueudelot.html
[cnu1] * "Catalogue des observations année 1977, catalogue by the Comité Nord-Est des Groupements Ufologiques (CNEGU), France, page 15, 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	January 14, 2023	Creation, [lae1], [ldl1], [cnu1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	January 14, 2023	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	September 8, 2023	Addition [ald1].

This page was last updated on September 8, 2023.