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 Mertzen, on October 2, 1977:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1977-10-02-MERTZEN-1

Summary:

In a catalogue published in May 1980 in the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit, ufologist Eric Zurcher said that according to a communication to ufologist Alain Gamard by Mr. Seray, there was a case on October 2, 1977 in Mertzen in the Haut-Rhin:

An object landed in a field and a being all dressed in white came out of it.

Zurcher said there was an "ongoing investigation" about it.

I was then writing that this story could be an incorrectly dated and mistyped location to mention the very famous Merxheim case on November 6, 1977.

In 2021, I find that the first mention of this seems to be in the ufological magazine of GEOS of April 1978. On the occasion of an investigation report on an August 28, 1977 observation in the forest of Hardt, we find a mention that "Five weeks after this event" of August 28, 1977, "in Mertzein [sic], an object lands in a field and a white man comes out..."

This confirmed my idea of a mishmash due to errors of place and date, since this time it is no longer "Mertzen" but "Mertzein" - another source writes "Martzen" , all places that do not exit expect for Mertzen, needless to say - and a big suspicion about the date since here the only indication of date here was "5 weeks after August 28, 1977", so approximate enough not to doubt a precise date such as "October 2, 1977".

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	October 2, 1977
Time:	?
Duration:	?
First known report date:	May 1980
Reporting delay:	3 ans.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Mertzen
Place:	?
Latitude:	47.590
Longitude:	7.129
Uncertainty radius:	500 m

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	?
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	?
Witness(es) ages:	?
Witness(es) types:	?

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Personal communication from ufologist Patrice Seray to ufologist Alain Gamard.
Type of location:	In a field.
Visibility conditions:	?
UFO observed:	Yes
UFO arrival observed:	?
UFO departure observed:	?
Entities:	Yes
Photographs:	No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es):	No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):	No.
Witness(es) feelings:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	CE3
ALSACAT:	Possible misdated case with mistyped place.

Sources:

[Ref. geo1:] GROUPE D'UFOLOGIE "GEOS":

This ufology group presents an investigation of a case on August 28, 1977, in the Hardt forest near Mulhouse; and adds among other things this comment:

Five weeks after this event [of August 28, 1977], in Mertzein [sic], an object lands in a field and a small white man comes out ...

[Ref. ezr1:] ERIC ZURCHER:

201. 10/02/77. Mertzen (68)

Observation of an object that lands in a field and of a being all dressed in white that comes out of it. Ongoing investigation.

Communication from Mr Seray to Alain Gamard.

[Ref. rre1:] RAOUL ROBE:

The catalogue compiled by Raoul Robé is described as publishing the "humanoids" appearances - in a broad sense - that occurred since 1900 on the action area of the 'ufology group CNEGU, comprizing the Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin departments. It is said the work has been done thanks to the collaboration of associations members of CNEGU, and people from "Lumières Dans La Nuit", including Alain Gamard.

There is a "List of the Humanoid cases in the N.E.", where this appears, inter alia:

CASE Nr	DATE	HOUR	PLACE	WITNESSES	SEX
35	02.10.77	?	Mertzen (68)	?

(There are possibly details in the following pages but unfortunately I do not have them for now).

[Ref. rre2:] RAOUL ROBE - CNEGU - GPUN:

Case Nr 35

On October 2, 1877 [sic] in Mertzen (68).

An object lands in a camp [or likely, "field"] and a white man comes out. No press or investigation reference is mentioned for this case by the GEOS (?) (Ref.: GEOS # 6 p. 13).

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

Ref. F/00/68/77 10 02 (01)

On Sunday October 2, an object landed in a field near Mertzen (68) and a white man came out.

No reference is mentioned for this case published in the GEOS magazine (?)

Source: "LEs Extraterrestres" nr 5 p. 13 of the GEOS, case nr 35 of the regional catalog of the observations of humanoids of the CNEGU edition 1985 and 1991).

[Ref. mye1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LES MYSTERES DE L'EST":

Case nr38:

On Sunday October 2, 1977, in Mertzen (68), an object landed in a field and a small man came out.

Note: No press or investigation reference is mentioned for this case by GEOS? The local press does not mention this sighting.

Source: review "Les Extraterrestres" #6 page 13 of the GEOS.

[Ref. mye2:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LES MYSTERES DE L'EST":

The case nr38 Martzen on October 2, 1977; réf. LDLN #195 may 1980 page 28 who signals that an investigation by Patrick Seray is being made. We would very much like to know its result.

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN - "BASE OVNI FRANCE":

Mertzen (68) on 02 October 1977

General features

Num Base:	1402
Département:	Haut Rhin (68)
Place of observation:	Mertzen
Latitude:	47.583
Longitude:	+7.133
Date of observation:	02 October 1977
Hour:	Hour not known
Duration (HH:MM:SS):	N.C.
Weather:	No weather indication
Type of observation:	Visual close with figures
Nbr of witness(es):	undetermined number
Official investigation:	No

Features of the object

Nbr of object:	1
Type of object:	Non-defined
Size:	Not specified
Color:	not defined
Luminosity:	Not specified
Visual characteristics:	No indication
Speed:	not defined
Movement/Displacement:	Landing
Object on the ground:	Yes
Instantaneous disappearance:	No

Features of the entity/entities

Number:	1
Description:	Non defined
Action:

Observation

An object is said to have landed, and a white humanoid shape is said to have emerged from the object. No other detail.

Sources

Lumières dans la Nuit issue 195

[Ref. oio1:] "OVNIS INFO":

1977

- In Mertzen, October 2, 1977

[Ref. spa1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "SPICA":

City	Date and hour of observation	General shape Identification	General color Hypothesis	Conclusion
MERTZEN	Sunday 2 October 1977	information not communicated Unidentified	information not communicated None	Unsolved -lack of info

[Ref. cnu2:] UFOLOGY GROUP "CNEGU":

Case nr 53:

On Sunday, October 2, 1977, in Mertzen (68), an object landed in a field and a man came out.

Note: No press or investigative reference is mentioned for this case by GEOS? The local press does not mention this sighting. LDLN nr 195 May 1980 page 28 reports that an investigation by Patrice Seray was underway; in fact, unverified information gathered during an investigation of another regional case (info 2002).

Source: Review "Les Extraterrestres" n°6 page 13 of GEOS.

[Ref. ezr2:] ERIC ZURCHER:

201

10/02/77

Mertzen

1 witness

Discussion:

The communication by Patrice Seray may have been correctly quoted by Mr. Zurcher or not, I however have the strong feeling that this is possibly a mix-up about the case in Merxheim, not Mertzen, also in the Haut-Rhin, and on November 6, 1975, not October 2, 1977. The Merxheim case - a hoax as I found out - has its own file.

Indeed, we have only the repetition of the first sources by the others with absolutely no added value.

Update on May 24, 2021:

Now that I found [geo1], apparently the earliest source, the foul up is even more obvious. There is no "Mertzein", and this looks more like "Merxheim" than "Mertzen" did.

I am now 90% convinced that this is only confused mentions of the Merxheim affair, investigated, and found out to be a hoax when I heard a resident from the village who knew the main witness when they were kids.

Evaluation:

Possible misdated case with mistyped place.

Sources references:

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

[psy1] ? Personal communication from ufologist Patrice Seray, France, to the ufologist Alain Gamard, France.
[geo1] * "Objet au sol près de Mulhouse", in the ufology magazine Les Extraterrestres, GEOS, France, Series 2, #6, page 13, April 1978.
[ezr1] * "Catalogue Inédit", compiled by Eric Zurcher, Switzerland, in the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #195, page 28, May 1980.
[rre1] * "Catalogue régional des Observations d'Humanoïdes du Nord-Est de la France et du Luxembourg", compiled by Raoul Robé, France, page 39, in the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #267-268, September / October 1986.
[rre2] * "Catalogue régional des Observations d'humanoïdes du Nord-Est de la France et du Luxembourg (2 - suite et fin)", catalogue by the ufology groups CNEGU and GPUN, in the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #296-270, page 40, November / December 1986.
[cnu1] * "Catalogue des observations année 1977, catalogue by the Comité Nord-Est des Groupements Ufologiques (CNEGU), France, page 20, not dated, circa 1987.
[mye1] * "Catalogue Nord-Est des observations d'humanoïdes", in the ufology magazine Les Mystères de l'Est, CNGU, France, annual, #1, page 13, 1995.
[mye2] * "Complément à la 3ème édition du catalogue Nord-Est des observations d'humanoïdes", in the ufology magazine Les Mystères de l'Est, CNGU, France, annual, #2, page 7, 1996.
[lcn1] * "Mertzen (68) on 02 octobre 1977", case record by Luc Chastan, on his ufology website Base OVNI France, France, circa 2004, at http://baseovnifrance.free.fr/listgen.php?typlist=1&page=1&numobs=1402
[oio1] * "Statistiques des observations d'OVNIS, web page on the OVNIS Info UFO website, by Patrick Combes, France, not dated, found in 2014, at http://www.ovni-infos.fr/dep/HautRhin.htm#a1977
[spa1] * "DEPARTEMENT 68 - HAUT-RHIN", listing of UFO sighting reports by the Alsatian ufology group SPICA, Alsace, France, not dated, found in May 2015, at http://www.spica.org/Page_Listing_68.htm
[cnu2] * "Catalogue Nord-Est des Observations d'Humanoïdes", unsigned electronic catalogue, ufology group CNEGU, France, pp 31-32, not dated, circa 2020.
[ezr2] * "Les Apparitions d'Humanoïdes", book by Eric Zurcher, JMG publisher, France, page 359, 2020.

File history:

Authoring:

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

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	June 2, 2015	Creation, [ezr1], [rre1], [lcn1], [oio1], [spa1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	June 2, 2015	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	May 24, 2021	Additions [geo1], [mye1], [mye2]. In the Summary, addition of "I was then writing that this story..." and what follows. In the Explanations, addition of the "Update on May 24, 2021" part.
1.2	Patrick Gross	January 10, 2023	Addition [cnu1].
1.3	Patrick Gross	January 22, 2023	Additions [cnu2], [rre2].
1.4	Patrick Gross	February 3, 2023	Addition [ezr2].

This page was last updated on February 3, 2023.