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 Modenheim, on October 7, 1981:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1981-10-07-MODENHEIM-1

Summary:

Headlining "Five UFOs in Modenheim?", the regional newspaper L'Alsace for October 10, 1981, reported that according to "fairly detailed statements received yesterday" from a resident of Modenheim, Mrs. S., the latter as well as her husband, her son and a neighbor, saw five "UFO" "Wednesday", therefore October 7, 1981, "between 7 and 11 p.m. in the sky of Modenheim".

The newspaper told of five large ovoid objects appearing in metal, dark blue, moving irregularly and silently, as if gliding in the sky, flying quite low, 200 or 300 meters above the ground according to the witnesses.

At "this and that moment", they had, one or the other, stopped. They were surmounted by a light and, once motionless in the sky, became completely luminous, white then alternately red, blue, green.

The newspaper had hoped to receive further testimonies, but apparently this has not been the case.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	October 7, 1981
Time:	07:00 p.m.
Duration:	4 hours?
First known report date:	October 10, 1981
Reporting delay:	2 days.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Modenheim
Place:	?
Latitude:	47.780
Longitude:	7.347
Uncertainty radius:	1 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	4
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	0
Witness(es) ages:	Adults.
Witness(es) types:	A family and a nighbor.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	The regional Press.
Type of location:	?
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:	DD and LN
ALSACAT:	Unidentified, possible helicopters, insufficient information.

Sources:

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

various facts

Five UFOs in Modenheim?

According to the fairly detailed statement received yesterday from a resident of Modenheim, Mrs. S., the latter as well as her husband, her son and a neighbor saw five "UFOs" Wednesday between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. in the sky of Modenheim. "Five large objects advancing irregularly and silently, as if sliding in the sky, flying quite low (2 or 300 m?", ee were essentially told, "five ovoid shapes appearing in metal, dark blue, one or the other at this and that time stopped. They were surmounted by a light and, once still in the sky, became entirely luminous, white then alternately red, blue, green. This is a statement that may elicit further testimony, the future will tell.

Discussion:

There seems to have been only the journalistic information [lae1], very insufficient, which leaves me with many questions, for example:

Anulgar size? Angular displacement? Directions? etc.
Was it a group of 5 objects that circulated there continuously from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., or a single object that passed several times?

It is possible that it was one, or five, helicopters, seen as "ovoid objects appearing in metal, dark blue" at the closest, then "completely luminous, white then alternately red, blue, green" once far away...

Who knows? Not me.

Evaluation:

Unidentified, possible helicopters, insufficient information.

Sources references:

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

[lae1] * "Cinq OVNI à Modenheim?", article in the regional newspaper L'Alsace, France, October 10, 1981.

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	31 juillet 2022	Creation, [lae1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	July 31, 2022	First published.

This page was last updated on July 31, 2022.