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 Bischwiller, on July 21, 1986:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1986-07-21-BISCHWILLER-1

Summary:

In the ufology bulletin La Ligne Bleue Survolée? #18, of 1987, of the ufology group "Cercle Vosgien Lumières Dans La Nuit" (C.V.L.D.L.N.), an observation of Monday, July 21, 1986, around 10 p.m. (local time), is cataloged.

We are told that three teenagers aged 13 and 14, returning from a crayfish fishing trip, in a river, 18 km north-east of Strasbourg, between Bischwiller - Herrlisheim and Weyersheim, observed two yellow-red "spheres", surrounded by dazzling clarity, which seemed to be linked together by an elongated mass of gray and dull color, in a horizontal position.

The whole had a "swaying" movement while losing altitude, like a dead leaf and approaching the witnesses.

The witnesses momentarily took their attention away from the phenomenon to take care of other things, and they never saw it again.

The duration of the sighting was brief.

The source is given as an investigation by Eric Aantoine, a Haut-Rhin ufologist who was then the delegate of the "Lumières Dans La Nuit" ufology group for the Haut-Rhin department.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	July 21, 1986
Time:	10:00 p.m.
Duration:	Short.
First known report date:	1987
Reporting delay:	Hours, 1 year.

Geographical data:

Department:	Bas-Rhin
City:	Undecided
Place:	Outside.
Latitude:	48.739
Longitude:	7.860
Uncertainty radius:	4 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	3
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	0
Witness(es) ages:	13, 14
Witness(es) types:	Teenagers.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Ufology bulletin "La Ligne Bleue Survolée?".
Type of location:	Outside.
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:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL or CE1.
ALSACAT:	Probable helicopter.

Sources:

[Ref. lbs1:] UFOLOGY BULLETIN "LA LIGNE BLEUE SURVOLEE?":

Ref: F/96/678b0721 (01)

IQ: 1,1,1,1,1,1 (5) IE: not communicated

Monday July 21, 1986, around 10 p.m. (LT), three teenagers aged 13 and 14, returning from a crayfish fishing trip, in a river (18 km north-east of Strasbourg, between BISCHWILLER-HERRLISHEIM (67) and WEYERSHEIM (67), observe two yellow-red "spheres", surrounded by a dazzling clarity [sic] They seem to be linked together [sic] by an elongated mass of gray and dull color, in horizontal position. The set shows a "swaying" movement while losing altitude, like a dead leaf and approaching the witnesses. These momentarily detach their attention from the phenomenon to deal with something else. They won't see it again. The sighting was brief.

Source: E. ANTOINE investigation - LDLN 68 delegation.

Discussion:

The three mentioned vilages:

The distance between the limits of these villages is of 4 to 6 km.

The description makes me thing og a Piasecki H-21 of the German Army:

In the middle of the three villages, we are only at 6 km from the border with Germany (yellow line on the map).

And actually, we are not toldthat the three young people were between these three villages, but only that they were returning from a fishing trip there; they were therefore perhaps very close to the border or even on the border. Of course, we can also admit that a German helicopter had strayed on the wrong side of the Rhine.

I note that this happens at night, so a helicopter would have turned on its headlights, creating the "lights"; I note the "sway", and I note with regret that we are not told at all whether the thing was noisy or silent.

Ony may even think that it matches another sighting in this area at the same hour but a date defined only as "August 1986".

Evaluation:

Probable helicopter.

Sources references:

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

[lbs1] * Ufology bulletin La Ligne Bleue Survolée?, of the Cercle Vosgien Lumières Dans La Nuit, Vosges, France, #18, 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	May 30, 2021	Creation, [lbs1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	May 30, 2021	First published.

This page was last updated on May 30, 2021.