ALSACAT-1978-07-09-BISCHHEIM-1
The regional newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace for July 21, 1978, reported a "UFO in the sky of Strasbourg" seen on the evening of Sunday, July 9, 1978, by several people.
A UFO specialist of the Strasbourg Cercle Français de Recherches Ufologiques (CFRU) team, Roland Lienhardt, was driving on the motorway between Hautepierre and Bischheim at 10:30 p.m. with his wife. They watched the sky, very beautiful at that moment, because of the presence of clouds, when they both saw a triangular yellow object, with a black dot in the center.
Roland Lienhardt stopped his car on the road side, and for half an hour he observed the object with binoculars. The object was at the vertical of the motorway center of Hautepierre, at about 2000 meters of altitude. After half an hour, at 11 p.m., the object left very quickly, in zig-zag.
At the same time, another member of the CFRU, Mr. Catalano and his wife, who were in Breuschwickersheim, made the same observation. Mr. Catalano visited Mr. Lienhardt to report the presence of a UFO.
The Strasbourg branch of the CFRU opened an investigation which determined that at the time of the observation there was no satellite passage over the Strasbourg area, that there was no weather balloon or other balloon in the air, and that the military and civilian flights had stopped, the last being that of a Fokker 28 which landed at 10:33 p.m..
According to information that had been communicated to the newspaper, the radars of the Entzheim airport recorded nothing particular between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m..
The CFRU had also collected corroborating testimonies from people living in Hautepierre, Eckbolsheim and Montagne-Verte in the outskirts of Strasbourg, among others.
| Date: | July 9, 1978 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 10:30 p.m. |
| Duration: | 30 minutes. |
| First known report date: | July 21, 1978 |
| Reporting delay: | 12 days. |
| Department: | Bas-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Bischheim |
| Place: | From Bischheim, Breuschwickersheim, Hautepierre, Eckbolsheim, Montagne Verte, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 48.575 |
| Longitude: | 7.737 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 12 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 7 or more. |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 2 to 7 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 2 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adults. |
| Witness(es) types: | 2 ufologists, wives, others. |
| Reporting channel: | The regional Press. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | From several villages, UFO in the sky. |
| Visibility conditions: | Night |
| UFO observed: | Yes |
| UFO arrival observed: | No |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes |
| Entities: | No |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | Puzzled. |
| Witnesses interpretation: | Not a plane, not a satellite, not a balloon. |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Unidentified, but meager information. |
[Ref. dna1:] NEWSPAPER "DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE":
|
Strasbourg. -- Everything suggests that a UFO (unidentified flying object aka flying saucer) was in the sky ofStrasbourg on the evening of Sunday, July 9th. Several people observed the unexplained phenomenon, among them two UFO specialists, who belong to the Strasbourg team of the French Circle of UFO research.
The first, Roland Lienhardt, was driving on the highway between and Hautepierre and Bischheim; it was 22:30. His wife who was with him, and he himself observed the sky, so beautiful then, because of a presence of clouds: both then saw a yellow triangular object with a black dot in the center. Mr. Lienhardt stopped his car on the road side, and for half an hour, he watched the object with binoculars. It was at the vertical of the highway center of Hautepierre motorway at 2000 m of altitude approximately. After half an hour, at 11 p.m., the object left very quickly, zigzagging.
Meanwhile, another member of the CFRU, Mr. Catalano and his wife, who were in Breuschwickersheim, made the same observation. Mr. Catalano went to Mr. Lienhardt to report to him the presence of a UFO. We know that Mr. Lienhardt was himself observing it then.
The Strasbourg section of the CFRU opened an investigation that allowed them to determine that at the time of the observation, there were no satellite passing over the Strasbourg region, that there were no weather balloon or other in the air, and that the military as well as civilian flights had stopped, the last being that of a Fokker 28 that landed at 10:33 p.m.. On the other hand, according to the information that we received, the Entzheim radar station detected nothing in particular between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m..
Finally, what seems to confirm that something strange happened that evening. The CFRU has already collected testimonies going in the same direction and coming from people living in Hautepierre, Eckbolsheim and the Montagne verte [Green Mountain] (outskirts of Strasbourg) in particular.
[Ref. dhe1:] NEWSPAPER "DERNIERE HEURE":
An unidentified flying object must have flown over Strasbourg on Sunday evening, estimates the Strasbourg section of the Cercle Français de Recherche Ufologiques (C.F.R.U.) after an in-depth investigation.
This U.F.O. was observed by several people including two specialists who are members of the C.F.R.U.
The first, Mr. Roland Liénhardt, was driving with his wife at 10:30 p.m. They then saw a yellow triangular object in the sky with a black dot in its center. Mr. Liénhardt stopped his car on the side of the road and examined the object using a pair of binoculars. After half an hour, the craft, which was at an altitude of about 2,000 meters, left very quickly in a zigzag.
The testimonies of other people living in the outskirts of Strasbourg who observed the phenomenon that evening - including that of another member of the C.F.R.U., Mr. Catalino - were also collected.
On the other hand, the Strasbourg airport radars did not pick up anything particular between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
The investigation determined that at this time no satellite passed over the Strasbourg region, no weather balloon or other balloon was in the air and civilian and military flights had ceased.
[Ref. ldl1:] "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" UFOLOGY MAGAZINE:
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ON JULY 8, 1978. STRASBOURG (Haut Rhin)
At 10:30 p.m. Mr. Lienhardt driving on the highway between Haute Pierre and Bischheim saw in the company of his wife, a yellow triangular object with a black dot in the center. The witness stopped and observed the object with binoculars, for 1/2 hour, then the object suddenly left in zigzag. Another witness, Mr. Catalano, made the same observation in Breuschwickersheim.
("Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace" for 7/21/78)
[Ref. amt1:] MAGAZINE D'UFOLOGIE "UFO INFORMATIONS":
|
OBSERVED FOR A HALF HOUR ABOVE STRASBOURG
An unidentified flying object flew over Strasbourg on Sunday evening, according to the Strasbourg section of the French UFO research center (CFRU), after an in-depth investigation.
This UFO has been observed by several people, including two specialists who are members of the CFRU. The first, Mr. Roland Lienhardt, was in the car with his wife when at 10:30 p.m., they saw in the sky a triangular object with a black dot in its center. Mr. Lienhardt stopped his car on the side of the road and examined the object with a pair of binoculars. After half an hour, the craft, which was at an altitude of about two thousand meters, left very quickly in a zigzag.
The investigation made it possible to determine that at this time, no satellite had passed over the Strasbourg region, no weather balloon or other was in the air and civil and military flights had ceased.
"Est Républicain" for 7/23/1978
(Communicated by the GPUN)
[Ref. o431:] UFOLOGY "OVNI 43":
|
- A U.F.O. observed above Strasbourg.
An unidentified flying object must have flown over Strasbourg on Sunday evening, the Strasbourg section of the Cercle Français de Recherches Ufologiques (C.F.R.U.) estimates after an in-depth investigation.
This U.F.O. was observed by several people, including two specialists who are members of the C.F.R.U.
The first, Mr. Roland Lienhardt, was in the car with his wife at 10:30 p.m. They then saw in the sky a yellow triangular object with a black dot in its center. Mr. Lienhardt stopped his car on the side of the road and examined the object using a pair of binoculars. After half an hour, the craft, which was at an altitude of about 2,000 meters, left very quickly in a zigzag.
The testimonies of other people living in the outskirts of Strasbourg who observed the same phenomenon that evening - including that of another member of the C.F.R.U., Mr. Catalino - were also collected.
On the other hand, the radars at the Strasbourg airport did not pick up anything particular between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.
The investigation has determined that at this time no satellite passed over the Strasbourg region, no balloons or other were in the air and civil and military flights had ceased. (Dernière Heure 07/24/78)
[Ref. aldl:] MRS. GUEUDELOT, "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" ARCHIVE:
|
JULY 16 or 23, 1978.-
STRASBOURG. - (67)
Time: 10:30 p.m.
Several people including two members of the SFRU saw a yellow triangular object with a black dot in its center.
Iz hovered at an altitude of 2000 m for half an hour above the city before leaving in a zig zag.
EST REPUBLICAIN FOR JULY 23, 1978.
LES CHRONIQUES DE LA COMMISSION LUXEMBOURGEOISE D'ETUDES UFOLOGIQUES.
|
JULY 9, 1978.-
STRASBOURG.- (68)
TIME: 10:30 p.m.
Mr. R. LIENHARDT driving on the highway between Haute Pierre and Bishheim, saw, in the company of his wife, a yellow triangular object with a black dot in the center. The witness stopped and observed the object using binoculars for half an hour, then the object suddenly zig-zagged.
Another witness, Mr. CATALANO, made the same observation in Breuschwickersheim.
"DERNIERES NOUVELLES DD'ALSACE" for 7/21/1978.
LDLN No. 178 (Oct. 1978) P. 34.
[Ref. nos1:] "NOSTRADAMUS" MAGAZINE:
ON JULY 9 IN ALSACE
At around 10.30 p.m., two psersonns were driving on the motorway between Hautepierre and Bischeim when they saw a flying object of yellow trangular shape, with a black dot at its center. The witnesses stopped their vehicle and quietly watched the object for half an hour.
Other testimonies, among which that of a member of the C.F.R.U., support this nocturnal observation.
[Ref. eae1:] ERIC ANTOINE:
Note by the investigator.
[...] after research in the archives of "L'Alsace", several observations took place between this period: (source: Nostra + L'Alsace).
a) July 9, 1978. At around 10:30 p.m., two people were driving on the highway between Hautepierre and Bischeim when they saw a yellow triangular-shaped flying object with a black dot in its center. The witnesses stopped their vehicle and quietly observed the object for half an hour. Other testimonies, including that of a member of the C.F.R.U. [local ufology group], supported this nocturnal observation.
[... Other cases...]
Although some of these observations were later explained, [...]
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH:
13175: 1978/07/09 22:30 30 7:45:00 E 48:37:00 N 3333 WEU FRN HRH 6:8
nr BISCHHEIM,FR:2/BINOCS+SEP.OBS:TRIANGLE HVRS/30min:SUDDENLY ZIGZAGS AWAY
Ref#194 LUMIERES dans la NUIT.(LDLN France) Issue No. 178 : TOWN &CITY
[Ref. mye1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LES MYSTERES DE L'EST":
Réf. F/15/67780716 (01)
On Sunday July 16 or 23, at 10:30 p.m., in Strasbourg, several people, including two members of the CFRU, saw a yellow triangular object with a black dot in its center. It hovers at an altitude of 2000 meters for half an hour above the city before setting off in zigzags.
Source: L'Est républicain for 07/23/1978.
The breakdown of the case number goes like in this example: F/98/88781202 (01):
F = France
/98/ = group code ((15 = GPUN)
88 = department code
78 = year
12 = month (00 if unknown)
02 = day (00 if unknown)
(01) = numer of observation for that date, department and group considered.
This for this case: France, GPUN, Bas-Rhin, 16 juillet 1978.
[Ref. cnu1:] GROUPE D'UFOLOGIE "CNEGU":
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Ref. F/15/67780716 (01)
On Sunday July 16 or 23, at 10:30 p.m., in Strasbourg, several people, including two members of the CFRU, saw a yellow triangular object with a black dot in its center. It hovers at an altitude of 2000 meters for half an hour above the city before leaving in zigzags.
Source: L'Est républicain for 07/23/1978.
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
9 July 1978 22:30
Bischheim, Alsace, France
Zigzag maneuvers.
An object was observed. It zig-zagged through the air. Multiple independent witnesses. One object was observed by two witnesses in a town for 30 minutes.
Hynek rating: NL
Vallee rating: MA1
The sources are indicated as: "Lumieres dans la Nuit, Lumieres dans la Nuit; Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002."
[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 tells that the case of Sunday, July 9, 1978, in Strasbourg, was told like this in Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace for Friday, July 21, 1978:
Strasbourg: Everything suggests that a UFO (unidentified flying object aka flying saucer) was in the sky of Strasbourg on the evening of Sunday, July 9th. Several people observed the unexplained phenomenon, among them two UFO specialists, who belong to the Strasbourg team of the French Circle of UFO research.
The first, Roland Lienhardt, was driving on the highway between and Hautepierre and Bischheim; it was 22:30. His wife who was with him, and he himself observed the sky, so beautiful then, because of a presence of clouds: both then saw a yellow triangular object with a black dot in the center. Mr. Lienhardt stopped his car on the road side, and for half an hour, he watched the object with binoculars. It was at the vertical of the highway center of Hautepierre motorway at 2000 m of altitude approximately. After half an hour, at 11 p.m., the object left very quickly, zigzagging.
Meanwhile, another member of the CFRU, M. C. and his wife, who were in Breuschwickersheim, made the same observation. M. C. went to Mr. Lienhardt to report to him the presence of a UFO. We know that Mr. Lienhardt was himself observing it then.
The Strasbourg section of the CFRU opened an investigation that allowed them to determine that at the time of the observation, there were no satellite passing over the Strasbourg region, that there were no weather balloon or other in the air, and that the military as well as civilian flights had stopped, the last being that of a Fokker 28 that landed at 10:33 p.m.. On the other hand, according to the information that we received, the Entzheim radar station detected nothing in particular between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m..
Finally, what seems to confirm that something strange happened that evening. The CFRU has already collected testimonies going in the same direction and coming from people living in Hautepierre, Eckbolsheim and the Montagne verte [Green Mountain] (outskirts of Strasbourg) in particular.
|
Witnesses of what would have been the same phenomenon are indicated as:
So, on a map, we get:
|
The distances factor is as follows: between the most distant witnesses, Breuschwickersheim and La Montagne Verte, we have a straight line of almost 10 kilometers.
Between the nearest witnesses, Eckbolsheim and La Montagne Verte, we have between 3 and 4 kilometers.
It should be noted that no precise position is given. The uncertainty radius for each observation spot is:
I mean, for example, for "Breuschwickersheim", we can assume that the witness or witnesses for this location were within the boundary of this small village, but we do not know where. There is then an uncertainty about their position it corresponds practically to a circle with a radius of 1 km. Again I am "generous" because if they were "at Breuschwickersheim" but in the countryside, Breuschwickersheim being simply the closest town to them, the radius of uncertainty goes up to 2 km.
No triangulation is thus possible with the data I have, in these 5 positions only one direction of observation is mentioned, by Lienhardt, but its position is so imprecise that one can only think that the direction of observation is between North, North East, East, Southeast.
It is extremely regrettable that an urban area case, with apparently 5 independent witnesses groups, and including two investigating ufologists, is not better documented than through a mere newspaper article, unlikely to provide ufologically reliable information.
The only barely detailed observation - at least seven witnesses may have given their description - is that of Mr. Lienhardt, but the information is insufficient, not only about the direction but on many other aspects. For example, "vertically" does not make sense for a position of an unknown phenomenon at an ungiven distance. What would have been required was a direction, an angular elevation and an angular size. The CFRU may have had all the information, but I have not found any trace of it, unfortunately.
It certainly appears that the case does not seem easy to explain to me. The long duration could be good for a star or a planet, but the description does not fit, and above all, a star or planet does not leave "suddenly in zig-zag."
Unidentified, but meager information.
* = 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 | September 17, 2017 | Creation, [dna1], [ldl1], [lhh1], [uda1], [cvn2]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | September 17, 2017 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | February 8, 2018 | Addition [nos1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | May 22, 2021 | Additions [amt1], [eae1], [mye1], [lhh1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | February 2, 2023 | Additions [o431], [cnu1]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | September 8, 2023 | Addition [ald1]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | September 11, 2023 | Addition [dhe1]. |
