ALSACAT-2005-08-13-STRASBOURG-1
On the website of the Alsatian ufology association SPICA, there was apparently a witness report by one Mrs. S.L., 21-year-old, on her observation on August 13, 2005, at approximately 10 p.m. in Strasbourg.
The young woman was having dinner at a friend's, on a terrace with a view over the rooftops of Strasbourg and the Cathedral, when one of the friends said:
"There's something strange in the sky!"
Immediately, the guests looked up and saw five silent yellow dots, moving above Strasbourg. There was a first pair of these lights side by side, a second pair, and a fifth was following behind or below, while flickering.
The formation passed over the roof, and the young woman crossed alone the apartment, which also had a view to the other side, where she was also to see again the lights until they disappear completely.
It is then specified that the sky was clear, cloudless, that it was 5 small round forms, of orange color, that in each pair the two lights were about 200 meters away from each other. The whole was at a distance difficult to assess, but approximately 700 meters. Their flights was very slow, the observation lasted about 5 minutes.
The brightness of the objects was weak, the young woman thought they were maybe reflecting the city lights.
| Date: | August 13, 2005 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ~10:00 p.m. |
| Duration: | ~5 minutes. |
| First known report date: | September 4, 2005 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, weeks. |
| Department: | Bas-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Strasbourg |
| Place: | From a friend's terrace in the center of Strasbourg with a view to the cathedral, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 48.581 |
| Longitude: | 7.751 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 2 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 3 or more. |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | 21, adults. |
| Witness(es) types: | A woman and her friends. |
| Reporting channel: | Website of the regional ufology group SPICA. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | From a friend's terrace in the center of a big city with a view to the cathedral, UFO in the sky. |
| Visibility conditions: | Night |
| UFO observed: | Yes |
| UFO arrival observed: | No |
| 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: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Probable Chinese lanterns. |
[Ref. jys1:] JEAN-JACQUES YVARS:
Hello all,
Here are some observations received by the Journal de l'Ufologie, that may of course interest investigators.
Good reading !
CU
JJ.Y.
[Other case outside from Alsace.]
Me [sic, Mrs.] S.L., aged 21, testifies of an observation made on Saturday, August 13, 2005 at (abouts [sic]) 10:00 p.m. above the town center of Strasbourg.
Quote:
I was dinning [sic, "dining"] with a friend on the terrace, that overlooks the rooftops of Strasbourg and the Cathedral. While we were eating, one of my friends said: "There's something strange in the sky!" Immediately, we looked up. Indeed, 5 yellow dots were proceding [sic] silently over Strasbourg, 2 next to 2 others and one who followed behind while vobling [sic, "wobbling"]. They went over the roof and alone I crossed the apartment which also gave to the other side, where I was able to again observe until they disappeared completely.
End of quote.
OTHER DETAILS:
Weather: very clear sky, no cloud.
Visual appearance: 5 orange color dots: 2 pairs on a horizontal line each spaced of about 200 meters and the fifth above the four which moved in an anarchy manner.
Luminosity: weak orange color, which lets me think that the objetcs must have reflected the luminosity of the city lights.
Form: small round shape
Distance: Hard to explain, about 700 meters, I gues [sic].
Speed: moving slowly.
Venus: present but very weak, because much city light
Duration of the observation: abouts [sic] 5 minutes
No sound.
[Other case outside from Alsace.]
[Ref. rnc1:] "RESEAU NATIONAL CIVIL DE SURVEILLANCE DU CIEL":
08/13/2005 - 10:00 p.m. - Bas-Rhin (67) - 5 orange dots
Witness report gatherd [sic] on the website of the SPICA association:
http://www.spica.org/faq.php?lng=fr&pg=&id=12
Quote:
Source: RIO
Me [sic, Mrs.] S.L., aged 21, testifies of an observation made on Saturday, August 13, 2005 at (abouts [sic]) 10:00 p.m. above the town center of Strasbourg.
Quote:
I was dinning [sic, "dining"] with a friend on the terrace, that overlooks the rooftops of Strasbourg and the Cathedral. While we were eating, one of my friends said: "There's something strange in the sky!" Immediately, we looked up. Indeed, 5 yellow dots were proceding [sic] silently over Strasbourg, 2 next to 2 others and one who followed behind while vobling [sic, "wobbling"]. They went over the roof and alone I crossed the apartment which also gave to the other side, where I was able to again observe until they disappeared completely.
End of quote.
OTHER DETAILS:
Weather: very clear sky, no cloud.
Visual appearance: 5 orange color dots: 2 pairs on a horizontal line each spaced of about 200 meters and the fifth above the four which moved in an anarchy manner.
Luminosity: weak orange color, which lets me think that the objetcs must have reflected the luminosity of the city lights.
Form: small round shape
Distance: Hard to explain, about 700 meters, I gues [sic].
Speed: moving slowly.
Venus: present but very weak, because much city light
Duration of the observation: abouts [sic] 5 minutes
No sound.
[Ref. spa1:] "SPICA" UFOLOGY ASSOCIATION:
|
08/13/2005 - 10:00 p.m. - Bas-Rhin (67) - 5 orange dots
Witness report gatherd [sic] on the website of the SPICA association:
http://www.spica.org/faq.php?lng=fr&pg=&id=12
Quote:
Source: RIO
Me [sic, Mrs.] S.L., aged 21, testifies of an observation made on Saturday, August 13, 2005 at (abouts [sic]) 10:00 p.m. above the town center of Strasbourg.
Quote:
I was dinning [sic, "dining"] with a friend on the terrace, that overlooks the rooftops of Strasbourg and the Cathedral. While we were eating, one of my friends said: "There's something strange in the sky!" Immediately, we looked up. Indeed, 5 yellow dots were proceding [sic] silently over Strasbourg, 2 next to 2 others and one who followed behind while vobling [sic, "wobbling"]. They went over the roof and alone I crossed the apartment which also gave to the other side, where I was able to again observe until they disappeared completely.
End of quote.
OTHER DETAILS:
Weather: very clear sky, no cloud.
Visual appearance: 5 orange color dots: 2 pairs on a horizontal line each spaced of about 200 meters and the fifth above the four which moved in an anarchy manner.
Luminosity: weak orange color, which lets me think that the objetcs must have reflected the luminosity of the city lights.
Form: small round shape
Distance: Hard to explain, about 700 meters, I gues [sic].
Speed: moving slowly.
Venus: present but very weak, because much city light
Duration of the observation: abouts [sic] 5 minutes
No sound.
[Ref. ufa1:] MAGAZINE D'UFOLOGIE "UFOMANIA":
Me S.L., 21 years old, testifies to an observation made on Saturday August 13, 2005 at around 10:00 p.m. above the city center of Strasbourg.
Testimony:
I was having dinner with a friend on his terrace, which overlooks the rooftops of Strasbourg and the Cathedral. While we were eating, one of my friends said to us: "There's something weird in the sky!" Right away, we looked up. Indeed, 5 silent yellow dots progressed above Strasbourg, 2 next to 2 others and 1 which followed them behind, wavering. They went over the roof and I alone crossed the apartment which also overlooked the other side, where I was able to observe them again, until their total disappearance
Other details:
Weather: very clear sky, no clouds.
Visual aspect: 5 orange dots: 2 pairs in a horizontal line each about 200 meters apart and the fifth below the four that moved anarchically.
Brightness: weak orange color, which makes me think that the objects should reflect the brightness of the city lights.
Shape: small round shape
Distance: Hard to explain, about 700 meters.
Speed: slow progress.
Venus: present but very weak, because of a lot of light pollution
Duration of the observation: around 5 minutes
No sound.
[Ref. spa2:] "SPICA" UFOLOGY ASSOCIATION:
|
STRASBOURG (67) Samedi 13 août 2005
Source: RIO
Vers 22h00 au-dessus du centre ville de Strasbourg, 5 points jaunes silencieux progressaient au-dessus de Strasbourg, 2 à côté des 2 autres et 1 qui les suivaient derrière en vacillant. Ils sont passés au-dessus du toit et seule j'ai traversé l'appartement qui donnait aussi de l'autre coté, où jai pu de nouveau les observer, jusqu'à leur disparition totale.
STRASBOURG (67) Saturday, August 13, 2005
Source: RIO
Around 10:00 p.m. above the city center of Strasbourg, 5 silent yellow dots progressed over Strasbourg, 2 next to 2 others and one who followed behind while wobbling. They went over the roof and alone I crossed the apartment which also gave to the other side, where I was able to observe them again, until their complete disappearance.
[Ref. spa4:] UFOLOGY GROUP "SPICA":
| City | Date and hour of observation | General shape Identification |
General color Hypothesis |
Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STRASBOURG | Saturday 13 August 2005 at 10:00 p.m. | luminous dot Unidentified |
orange None |
Unsolved -lack of info |
|
The link to report on the SPICA website no longer functions.
The observation as described is probably once again that of Chinese lanterns. Of course I cannot "scientific proof" of this explanation, but I do not see why it would be anything else.
In 2005, Chinese lanterns were still almost a novelty in Alsace - although there have been a few much earlier cases of such miniature hot air balloons. Most ufologists did not know about them either.
|
Above: a Chinese lantern.
Probable Chinese lanterns.
* = 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 3, 2014 | Creation, [jys1], [rnc1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | December 3, 2014 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | May 5, 2015 | Addition [spa2]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | June 12, 2015 | Addition [spa4]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | February 4, 2023 | Addition [ufa1]. |
