ALSACAT-2004-02-02-MULHOUSE-1
"Olivier", from Mulhouse, reported by email to the Swiss ufology group GREPI, that the day before, February 2, 2004, at 01:25 p.m., they took pictures of their little girl, just like many parents do, with a digital camera.
When they looked at the pictures on their computer, they saw that on one of them "a small black disc horizon just above our little girl's head."
They enlarged the area where the disc was and felt that there was symmetry in the shape and colors of the disc. To get to the bottom, "Olivier" photographed a few minutes later in the same spot, passing birds and planes, for comparison, and he could see no similarity with the "disc": so he thinks he did accidentally take a UFO picture.
He also reports an earlier visual observation, commenting that he had long dreamed of observing such a phenomenon, he is most happy about it, as "one immediately realizes that this is unusual and spectacular."
He added: "I am among those who think that we probably have brothers somewhere in the universe waiting to meet us quietly."
| Date: | February 2, 2004 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 01:25 p.m. |
| Duration: | N/A, photo only. |
| First known report date: | February 3, 2004 |
| Reporting delay: | 1 day. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Mulhouse |
| Place: | Outside, UFO in the sky on photo. |
| Latitude: | 47.751 |
| Longitude: | 7.335 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 10 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adults. |
| Witness(es) types: | Couple. |
| Reporting channel: | To the website of the Swiss ufology group GREPI. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | Outide, UFO in the sky on photograph. |
| Visibility conditions: | Daylight. |
| UFO observed: | No, photo only. |
| UFO arrival observed: | No |
| UFO departure observed: | No |
| Entities: | No |
| Photographs: | Yes. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | Amazed. |
| Witnesses interpretation: | Disc, not a plane, not a bird. |
| Hynek: | BLURFO |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Probable bird. |
[Ref. gri1:] WITNESS REPORT TO THE G.R.E.P.I.:
Hello,
Yesterday afternoon (Monday, February 2, 2004 at 01:25 p.m.) we photographed our little girl, just like many parents do (with a digital camera, Santa's gift) and when we looked at the pictures on our computer, we observed on one of them a small black disc on the horizon just above the head of our little girl.
We then looked more closely at this photo with the Photoshop software, we expanded the area where the disc is located and noticed that there was symmetry in the shape and colors of the disc.
To be sure about it, I photographed a few minutes later in the same place, birds and planes passing through there, to compare and enlarge objects on the shots with the one we had of the disc.
I could not see no similarity with it. I think we have once again and certainly observed a UFO on a random photo.
I say again, because this summer 2003, July 10 at 13h exactly was had seen saw a white sphere surrounded by a halo in the sky, emerge clearly in the blue sky of this beautiful sunny day. This sphere had followed a curve up (like a smile, but vertical) and disappeared relatively quickly in the sky.
The phenomenon lasted about 1 minute.
We were, my mate and, I eating on our terrace.
I have been dreaming for a long time to observe such a phenomenon, and I'm most happy I did. I wish all those who wish to observe at least once in their life a UFO, the feeling is the biggest and one does immediately realize that this is unusual and spectacular. I am among those who think that we probably have brothers somewhere in the universe waiting to meet us in peace.
Now, do you know a person or persons able to study the photo and give their professional opinion? If this is the case, contact me. We live near Mulhouse in Alsace.
Best regards.
Olivier (Alsace - France)
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This is a typical "BLURFO" report, ie the "witnesses" here did not see anything with their own eyes, they only "discovered" the "UFO" when looking some digital camera image.
The indicated UFO, as shown by the photographer, comes down to this:
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If one performs an enlargement without pixel smoothing, ie without adding extra pixels calculated by the software, just by showing the true pixels of the original image in a bigger size, we get:
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I would like to know how anyone could prove that it could not be a bird!
Since digital cameras are widely used, "UFOs" of this kind are dozens just in Alsace. These are not alien spaceships, not "paranormal phenomena", not "secret planes", these are small things more or less distant, mostly birds but sometimes airplanes, helicopters, balloons, insects, etc. From one photo to another, they sometimes appear quite differently, depending on distance, movement etc.
Often, as in this case, the original image files are not published, only greatly reduced or cropped versions, sometimes edited, are made available, which removes the "EXIF" information present in the original file. This information can be valuable, it usually includes data such as the exposure duration, the use of the flash, the exact time etc. Many uninformed ufologists' websites show you enlargements made with pixel smoothing, which create false impressions like this:
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The sender of the image reported at the same time an earlier, visual sighting; which is dealt with in its own file here.
Probable bird.
* = 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 | December 8, 2014 | Creation, [gri1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | December 8, 2014 | First published. |
