ALSACAT-1980-11-11-ILLFURTH-1
The regional newspaper L'Alsace for November 13, 1980, reported that an inhabitant of the Sundgau region who was traveling by car on November 11 around 7 p.m. near Illfurth, had seen a luminous ball of green color moving from north to south.
The trajectory bent towards the ground and the witness had the impression that the fireball ended its course by crashing beyond Walheim. The occupants of a car driving behind the motorist had also observed the phenomenon.
The newspaper stated that on Wednesday, a quick investigation in the area had not enabled them to find any other witnesses, and that the gendarmerie, on their side, had found nothing abnormal.
Finally, the newspaper reported as a "strange fact" that the same phenomenon had been observed the same day at the same time in Corsica where a resident of the Bonifacio region had seen "a ball of fire ten meters in diameter" cross the sky for 45 seconds, from northeast to southwest, and that other witnesses had seen "a triangular-shaped white light, with a blue-green center, which split into several pieces before disappearing in the sea," above the Gulf of Ajaccio, at 6:35 p.m. The phenomenon had also been observed in Nice, where the observatory had received numerous calls, in Marseilles and even in Rome.
At no time did the newspaper give an explanation or talk about UFOs; but the article was published, without further explanation either, in a ufology bulletin in 1981.
| Date: | November 11, 1980 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 07:00 p.m. |
| Duration: | Not reported. |
| First known report date: | November 13, 1980 |
| Reporting delay: | 1 day. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Illfurth |
| Place: | Road. |
| Latitude: | 47.670 |
| Longitude: | 7.266 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 3 km. |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adults. |
| Witness(es) types: | ? |
| Reporting channel: | The regional Press. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | Road. |
| 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: | Nocturnal light. |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Meteor. |
[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":
|
A resident of the Sundgau who was driving around 7 p.m. on November 11 near Illfurth saw a luminous green ball moving from north to south. The trajectory bent towards the ground and the witness had the impression that the fireball was finishing its course by crashing beyond Walheim. The occupants of a car driving behind the Sundgauvian motorist also observed the phenomenon.
On Wednesday, a quick investigation in the area did not allow us to find other witnesses and the gendarmerie, for their part, had found nothing abnormal.
Strangely enough, the same celestial phenomenon was observed Tuesday evening at the same hour... in Southern Corsica.
A resident of the Bonifacio region saw "a ball of fire ten meters in diameter" cross the sky for 45 seconds, from northeast to southwest.
Other witnesses saw the phenomenon over the Gulf of Ajaccio at 6:35 p.m. They described it as "a white light of triangular shape, with a blue-green center, which split into several pieces before disappearing into the sea."
Finally, we learned last night that the phenomenon had also been observed in Nice (where the observatory received many calls), in Marseille and even in Rome.
[Ref. ufa1:] UFOLOGY BULLETIN "UFOLOGIA":
This bulletin reproduced the above newspaper article [lae1].
|
The Sundgau is the part of Alsace at the South of Mulhouse.
Walheim is 3 kilometers due South of Illfurth.
It is rather obvious that it was a big meteor.
Meteor.
* = 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 | July 26, 2022 | Creation, [lae1], [ufa1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | July 26, 2022 | First published. |
