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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 Bourgfelden, on November 5, 1990:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1990-11-05-BOURGFELDEN-1

Summary:

The ufology web forum "Les Mystères des OVNIS"; which collects testimonies through a web form, published on August 29, 2014, a message headlined about a "triangle shape - UFO in V formation" in Bourgfelden in the Haut-Rhin on November 5, 1990, at about 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

"pat68" reports, apparently by invitation to do so, that he is fascinated with UFOs and the paranormal, he regularly looks at "videos testimonies or other evidence," he says to be "often fake," he seeks valid answers "in this category but it is not easy !!"

He reports that his ex-girlfriend saw in the years 1990 or 1991 a triangle-shaped object moving slowly from Bourgfelden in Alsace, as she was coming home from work.

He said the next day, the news on the national TV channel TF1 spoke about "this object" that was seen up to Belgium, but finally the journalist "said it was the debris of a Russian rocket that my ex wife did not believe in any case of course !!"

Since then he often scans the sky in hope of seeing something; he often saw shooting stars but nothing more so far.

The testimony form asks to specify the color, size, duration, to make comparisons with proposed images, etc., but "pat68" did not fill these fields.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: November 5, 1990
Time: 06:00 p.m. or 07:00 p.m.
Duration: ?
First known report date: August 29, 2014
Reporting delay: 24 years.

Geographical data:

Department: Haut-Rhin
City: Bourgfelden
Place: ?
Latitude: 47.575
Longitude: 7.552
Uncertainty radius: 2 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: 1
Number of known witnesses: 0
Number of named witnesses: 0
Witness(es) ages: Adult.
Witness(es) types: Female.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: ?
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: Not debris of Russian rocket.

Classifications:

Hynek: NL
ALSACAT: Space junk reentry.

Sources:

[Ref. myo1:] UFOLOGY WEB FORUM "LES MYSTERES DES OVNIS":

Pat68
Male Age: 47
Noumber of messages: 2
Registered on: 08/28/2014
Localisation: 68220
Job: Repairman
Hobbies: Ufology, mechanical sport

Subject: 1990: on 11/5 at about 6 p.m. 7 p.m.- shape of triangleFormation of ufo in V - Bourgfelden - Haut-Rhin (dep.68) Fri Aug 29 2014, 05:57 p.m.

Ufo observation 1990: on 11/5 at about 6 p.m. 7 p.m.- shape of triangleFormation of ufo in V - Bourgfelden - Haut-Rhin (dep.68)

Firstname or pseudo: pat68

City: Bourgfelden

Department: Haut-Rhin (dep.68)

Region: Alsace to call for witness: http://www.lalsace.fr

Pays: France

Date: 11/5/1990

Hout of the beginning of the observation: at about 6 p.m. 7 p.m.

Duration of the observation:

Weather conditions:

Number of witnesses:

Type of phenomenon: shape of triangleFormation of ufo in V

Official report: not specified

Complete narrative of the observation:

Hello, thank you for the invitation.I am passionate of everything ufo paranormal .I regularly watch videos witnesses or other stories, often fake, but I'm looking for answers on course and valid, even in this category it n 'is not easy !!

My ex girlfriend has seen herself a few years back already a triangle-shaped object in the 90's or 91's (I do not recal [sic] very well) moving slowly, it happend [sic] in Bourgfelden in Alsace when comin [sic] home from work at the level of the thumbnail (for connoisseurs !!) the next day the national news of TF1 they were talking about it, this object was seen up to Belgium, but finally the reporter said as what was the debris from a Russian rocket that my ex wife did not believe in any case of course !! Since I often scans the sky in hopes of seeing something, often shooting stars but nothing more for now !!

Precise description:

Color:

Size of the phenomenon:

Behaviour:

Trajectory: not specified

Specific noise: not specified

Specific odor: not specified

Direction of the object relative to the wind: not specified

Presence of installations: not specified

Similar photo: not specified

Table: not specified

REquest for field investigation: to be specified

Investigator in charge of the case:

Keywords: Ufo, triangle shape, Alsace to call for witnesses: http://www.lalsace.fr, France, at about 06: p-m- 07 p.m., , shape of triangle,

I hereby certify the accuracy of information and the authenticity of the documents supplied. I do not know how to identify this phenomenon thank you in advance for your answers. to be specified

Best regard pat68

Discussion:

Map.

On November 5, 1990, one or two minutes after 07:00 p.m., a very commonplace phenomenon occurred, explained, and devoid of any actual strangeness, but it nevertheless started a UFO delirium of some of the French ufologists.

The sightings started with an explosive decay over the Bay of Biscay in France, resulting in combustion fragments seen from afar, and generally, as they approached, seen as a group of three main lights - hence it was called a "triangle" - of large angular size, and followed by trails of smoke and sparks.

Once over land, the thing was seen from different angles and at various distances by people on the ground, which gives a range of quite diverse descriptions.

The thing crossed France following a line approximately from Bordeaux to Strasbourg, in silence, in a straight line without any maneuver, in two to three minutes, reaching Strasbourg at about 07:06 p.m.

There were also sightings reported from the South of England, London, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, but not beyond.

In the evening, several Gendarmerie brigades contacted the National Center for Space Studies to report what people told them. Gendarmes brigades of Angers and Tulle got the chance to see the display themselves. In the evening, the Press service of the armies, SIRPA, confirmed that military pilots had seen something without being able to formally identify it. Near Paris airports of Orly and Roissy, the luminous phenomenon was seen from the control towers. Hundreds or even thousands of civilians reported their sightings to the authorities, the Press and other media.

Radio stations, television channels, newspapers, talk of a UFO, then a meteor, and finally the correct explanation appeared through information given by NASA: it was the entering in the atmosphere of the remains of a Russian Proton rocket launched from the Baikonur space center to put a Gorizont 21 satellite in orbit. Calculations had predicted the fallout of the rocket debris at its 36th orbit, crossing France from the South West to the North East on November 5, 1990 around 07:00 p.m.. SEPRA, then officially in charge of such matters, provided this explanation to news agencies on November 9, 1990.

On November 5, 1990 already, an amateur expert in satellites and space debris impact trajectory calculations, Pierre Neirinck, had seen himself, and had also identified the phenomenon, independently of NASA, as space junk from the Proton rocket.

Any sensible ufologist should have understood what is was from the beginning, given the descriptions, and at least understand thereafter that it was a classical space junk case. But some ufologists refused to hear anything about a rocket and continued to talk and write about it as a "UFO flap", of "400 UFOs" or even "thousands of UFOs", often mixing other, unrelated sightings that were more or less of the same day, sighting who have other explanations. This resulted in the continuing presence of this explained case as massive UFO sightings in some of the UFO literature, and of course this includes observations made in Alsace.

This particular testimony does not present any evidence against the explanation. It is an indirect testimony, with little information and no information on the reason(s) why the witness rejects the explanation - and actually, when witnesses specify their reasons, they are generally wrong reasons.

Evaluation:

Space junk reentry.

Sources references:

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

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 18, 2015 Creation, [myo1].
1.0 Patrick Gross May 18, 2015 First published.

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This page was last updated on May 18, 2015.