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 Rixheim, about June 19, 2002:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2002-06-19-RIXHEIM-1

Summary:

Following publication by the Swiss ufology group GREPI of a sighting report on the A35 highway between Mulhouse and Basel, in our area, myself and another local ufologist had a call for witnesses published in the regional newspaper "L'Alsace" for July 10, 2002. This brought us a lot of reports of sightings in this area, but none matched the time of the sighting that motivated the call for witnesses.

Among those, there was the report by a Rixheim resident, who informed us by email on July 11, 2002, that he had read the call for witnesses that had greatly surprised him because he had believed to be the only one to have seen something in this area.

He said he had seen "a sort of luminous flying saucer exactly at the same place" three weeks earlier, that is, we thought, in the vicinity of June 19, 2002, but obviously this is an approximate date.

He was in his car on highway A35, heading towards Strasbourg, just at the level of the Peugeot factory when he saw "this strange phenomenon."

He then slowed down to better observe it. The thing finally lost altitude to "disappear or land in the forest."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	~June 19, 2002
Time:	~09:00 p.m., 09:30 p.m.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	July 11, 2002
Reporting delay:	3 weeks.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Rixheim
Place:
Latitude:	47.767
Longitude:	7.413
Uncertainty radius:	1 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	1
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	1
Witness(es) ages:	Adult.
Witness(es) types:	Male, resident of the area.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Email to the French Federation of Ufology after reading call to witnesses in the regional newspaper.
Type of location:	Driving on highway, UFO in the sky.
Visibility conditions:	?
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:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL or DD
ALSACAT:	Insufficient information, possible plane or helicopter.

Sources:

[Ref. ffu1:] FEDERATION FRANCAISE D'UFOLOGIE:

A35 near Peugeot Mulhouse, June 2002:

Date:	Estimated during June 2002, three weeks before July 10
Hour:	?
Duration of observation:	?
Dpartment:	Haut-Rhin
Place of observation:	A35 highway, at the level of the Peugeot plant of Mulhouse.
Number of witnesses:	1
Number of objects:	A kind of luminous flying saucer
Shape of the object:	?
Other shapes:	?
Noise:	?
Color:	?
Object with beams:	?
Color of beams:	?
Object with trail:	?
Color of the trail:	?
Moon present:	?
Clouds:	?
Rain:	?
Wind:	?

Report:

"Hello,
Following the article I read in the newspaper l'alsace today, I contact to tell you that I also saw a kind of luminous flying saucer exactly at the same place."

"I was in my car on the A 35 goins [sic] towards strasbourg, (I live in Rixheim) and right at the level of the Peugeot factory I saw this strange phenomenon."

"I then slowed down so that i can observe it better, it to finally dimunished [sic] its altitude to disappear or land in the forest. It's been three weeks that I've seen it."

"It is when reading this article in the paper today that I have been greatly surprised because I thought I was the only one to have seen it. [Name and email address withheld]"

Note:

The publication of a testimony does not imply any interpretation by the Director of the FFU Committee, it does not imply that the Committee does not consider a trivial explanation. Investigations are ongoing and should not be hampered by the communication of possible interpretations at the moment.

[Ref. uwb1:] "UFOWEB" WEBSITE:

UPDATED ON 11/08/02

2002/029: Observation in June 2002 in the department 68.

Source Fédération Française d'Ufologie

A35 near Peugeot Mulhouse, June 2002:

Date: Estimated during June 2002, three weeks before July 10

Time: At about 09:00 p.m. 09:30 p.m.

Department: Haut-Rhin

Place of observation: Highway A35, at the level of the Peugeot plant of Mulhouse.

Number of witnesses: 1

Number of objects: A kind of luminous flying saucer

Narrative:

"I was in my car on the A 35 towards Strasbourg, (I live in Rixheim) and right at the level of the Peugeot factory I saw this strange phenomenon."

"I then slowed down to observe better, it finally dropped its altitude to land or disappear into the forest."

Call to witnesses: thanks to the web users to report to us all the unusual observations that occurred in that department during that time. Thanks!

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN - "BASE OVNI FRANCE":

Mulhouse (68) on June 19, 2002

General features

Num Base:	1282
Department:	Haut Rhin (68)
Place of observation:	Mulhouse
Latitude:	7.75
Longitude:	+7.333
Date of observation:	June 19, 2002
Hour:	09:00 p.m.
Duration (HH:MM:SS):	N.C.
Weather:	No weather indication
Type of observation:	Visual: Distant
Nbr of witness(es):	1
Official investigation:	No

Features of the object

Nbr of object:	1
Type of object:	Disc
Size:	Not specified
Color:	not defined
Luminosity:	Brilliant
Visual characteristics:	No indication
Speed:	not defined
Movement/Displacement:	Descent
Object on the ground:	No
Instantaneous disappearance:	No

Observation

The witness drives on the A35 in the direction of Strasbourg, at the level of the Peugeot factory he observed a luminous disc. the witness slows dow to better observe, the object decreases its altitude and seems to land in the forest. (estimated date)

Sources

Fédération française d'ufologie ** http://f.f.u.free.fr

[Ref. spa1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "SPICA":

City	Date and hour of observation	General shape Identification	General color Hypothesis	Conclusion
MULHOUSE	Wednesday 19 June 2002 at 09:00 p.m.	Circular, round or disc (2D) Unidentified	information not communicated None	Unsolved -lack of info

Discussion:

Through the regional newspaper L'Alsace for July 10, 2002, a local member like me of the Fédération Française d'Ufologie (French Federation of Ufology, FFU) had a call to witness published about a sighting report in our area, the Haut-Rhin department:

Following this call to witnesses, the secretariat of the FFU had received a dozen phone calls, all without direct connection with the observation that motivated our call to witnesses.

We also received reports by email, such as this one.

Yellow dot: the Peugeot plant.

Green dot: possible position of the witness, according to his indications, "on the A35" and "at the level of the Peugeot plant."

Blue dot: the Rixheim airfield.

The Basel - Mulhouse international airport is about 17 km to the south, with its strip in line with the A35 highway.

Above: Daytime view for this trip on the A35 towards Strasbourg, at the level of the Peugeot factory, visible on the right.

I should add that the email was not anonymous, and that it was sent on July 11, 2002, with the subject "A UFO in Mulhouse."

When it comes to an interpretation or explanation, it is hardly possible: there is no specific date, nour hour - was it day or night ? - no duration, no angular size, no exact place, no exact direction.

Above all, there is no clear description of what was seen, "a sort of luminous flying saucer" lets just, without any warranty, imagine something flat or round and luminous or with lights on.

The proximity of the Basel Mulhouse airport but also the Rixheim airfield give the possibility that it was a plane or a helicopter. The statement that the thing seemed to land in the forest is suggestive of a night landing of a small plane with lights on at the Rixheim airfield. Of cource it could also have been a meteor or a Chinese lantern.

Evaluation:

Insufficient information, possible plane or helicopter.

Sources references:

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

[ffu1] * "A35 près de Peugeot Mulhouse, Juin 2002", witness email report of July 11, 2002, that I published on the website of the Fédération Française d'Ufologie, France, August 1, 2002, not available there anymore.
[uwb1] * "Les observations en France en 2002", web page compiled by the ufology website UFOweb, at http://ufoweb.free.fr/archive2002.htm
[lcn1] * "Mulhouse (68) on 19 juin 2002", case record by Luc Chastan, on his ufology website Base OVNI France, France, circa 2004, at http://baseovnifrance.free.fr/listgen.php?typlist=1&page=1&numobs=1282
[spa1] * "DEPARTEMENT 68 - HAUT-RHIN", listing of UFO sighting reports by the Alsatian ufology group SPICA, Alsace, France, not dated, found in May 2015, at http://www.spica.org/Page_Listing_68.htm

File history:

Authoring:

Main author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	None
Reviewers:	None
Editeur:	Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	December 16, 2014	Creation, [ffu1], [uwb1], [lcn1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	December 16, 2014	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	June 4, 2015	Addition [spa1].

This page was last updated on June 4, 2015.