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 Wittenheim, on April 26, 2004:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2004-04-26-WITTENHEIM-1

Summary:

A testimony is on the web on a "Map of the testimonies given on the network of the Centrale Ufologique to date" and a UFO forum where the source is said to be - without further details - CNEGU, the "Northeast Committee of Ufological groups".

It is said that on April 24, 2004, between 10:30 p.m. and 10:35 p.m. "in Wittenheim near Mulhouse", two witnesses made an observation of 3 seconds, of a "spindle not luminous but lighted by the moon, very slim on one side with like a sort of bump (exhaust pipes) on the other side."

The thing was reportedly at about 20° elevation, seen to the south, and then almost instantly going away westward in the direction of the Vosges mountains.

There was no perceived noise, no smoke, no spark, no lights, no portholes.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	April 26, 2004
Time:	Between 10:30 p.m. and 10:35 p.m.
Duration:	3 seconds.
First known report date:	May 19. 2004
Reporting delay:	Day, weeks.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Wittenheim
Place:	?
Latitude:	47.811
Longitude:	7.339
Uncertainty radius:	2 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	2
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	0
Witness(es) ages:	?
Witness(es) types:	?

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Ufology group CNEGU.
Type of location:	?
Visibility conditions:	Night
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
ALSACAT:	Probable shooting star or small meteor.

Sources:

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

172Fw: Recent observation

Spica.57

May 19, 2004

Source : CNEGU

Observation in Alsace:

Date: 04/26/26 - 10 : 30-35 p.m. - 3sec - ~20° elevation - seen on the south then departed almost instantly to the west (the Vosges).

2 witnesses in Wittenheim (near Mulhouse).

Silvery spindle not luminous but lighted by the moon, very slim on one side with like a sort of bump (exhaust pipes) on the other side.

No noise heard, no smoke, no spark, no lights, no portholes, ...

Do you have something that could be related to this observation ?

[Ref. cue1:] "LA CENTRALE UFOLOGIQUE":

UFO witness reports

Map of the testimonies made to the network of La Centrale Ufologique to this day

Wittenheim 04/26/04

Date: 04/26/26 - 10 : 30-35 p.m. - 3sec - ~20° elevation - seen on the south then departed almost instantly to the west (the Vosges).

2 witnesses in Wittenheim (near Mulhouse).

Silvery spindle not luminous but lighted by the moon, very slim on one side with like a sort of bump (exhaust pipes) on the other side.

No noise heard, no smoke, no spark, no lights, no portholes, ...

Do you have something that could be related to this observation ?

[Ref. spa2:] UFOLOGY GROUP "SPICA":

City	Date and hour of observation	General shape Identification	General color Hypothesis	Conclusion
WITTENHEIM	Monday 26 April 2004 at 10:30 p.m.	various others Unidentified	grise or métallique None	Unsolved -lack of info

Discussion:

There is not much to say: this is a poorly documented 3 seconds sighting of something that looks totally not strange.

Evaluation:

Probable shooting star or small meteor.

Sources references:

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

[cnu1] ? "Comité Nord-Est des Groupes Ufologiques" (CNEGU), France.
[spa1] * Was on the news page of the Alsatian ufology association SPICA, France, May 2004, disappeared page saved in my archive.
[spa1] * Message by the Alsatian ufology association SPICA on the UFO forum "R.I.O.", France, May 19, 2004, at https://fr.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/R_I_O/conversations/messages/172
[cue1] * Map on "Google Maps" of witness reports received by the UFO website "La Centrale Ufologique", not dated, found in 2014, at https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zGDMfND1idr0.kyVE38dFfIBc&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0
[spa2] * "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
Editor:	Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	December 9, 2014	Creation, [spa1], [cue1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	December 9, 2014	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	June 1, 2015	Addition [spa2].

This page was last updated on June 1, 2015.