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 Mulhouse, on February 18, 2005:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2005-02-18-MULHOUSE-1

Summary:

The regional newspaper Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace for February 19, 2005, reported that numerous witnesses saw a "strange luminous phenomenon" in the Haut-Rhin and the Vosges, on February 18, 2005, around 10:30 p.m.

The surroundings of Mulhouse are cited as one of the places of observation, reported to the operational center of the gendarmerie. It was, says the newspaper, a light moving "at high speed" from Germany towards the Vosges, not detected by the radars of the air base 901 of Drachenbronn, but also seen by airline pilots.

The newspaper said:

The gendarmes brigades of Ribeauvillé, Blodelsheim and Guebwiller have also been put on alert. A search has been undertaken to locate the site of a possible crash of a meteorite. These were stopped in the night without any finding.

In a listing of UFO sighting reports in the Haut-Rhin on their website, the Alsatian ufology association SPICA noted that on Friday February 18, 2005. at 10:23 p.m., in Mulhouse, one saw a "ball, ball or melon (3D)" of orange color, the case being solved as a "natural reentry."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	February 18, 2005
Time:	10:30 p.m.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	February 19, 2021
Reporting delay:	Minutes, 1 day.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Mulhouse
Place:	Suburbs or surroundings of Mulhouse.
Latitude:	47.750
Longitude:	7.333
Uncertainty radius:	10 km.

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	To the Gendarmerie, to the newspaper DNA.
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:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL
ALSACAT:	The meteor of February 18, 2005.

Sources:

[Ref. dna1:] NEWSPAPER "DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE":

Haut-Rhin

Strange luminous phenomenon

On the evening from Friday to Saturday, at about 10:30 p.m., a luminous phenomenon was observed in the Haut-Rhin and the Vosges sky by many witnesses.

Several people in the vicinity of Mulhouse, Guebwiller and Colmar described similar events to the operational center of the gendarmerie. Witnesses assured that a light was moving at high speed in the direction from the Vosges to Germany. While the radar set of the air force base 901 in Drachenbronn detected nothing, airline pilots also observed the phenomenon.

The gendarmes brigades of Ribeauvillé, Blodelsheim and Guebwiller have also been put on alert. A search has been undertaken to locate the site of a possible crash of a meteorite. These were stopped in the night without any finding.

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

City	Date and hour of observation	General shape Identification	General color Hypothesis	Conclusion
MULHOUSE	Friday 18 February 2005 at 10:23 p.m.	ball, balloon or melon (3D) Natural reentry	orange Natural reentry	Solved

Discussion:

This was the meteor of February 18, 2005.

Evaluation:

The meteor of February 18, 2005.

Sources references:

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

[dna1] * "Strange luminous phenomenon", article in the regional newspaper Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, France, February 19, 2005.
[spa4] * "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	June 17, 2021	Creation, [spa4].
1.0	Patrick Gross	June 17, 2021	First published.

This page was last updated on June 17, 2021.