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 Strasbourg, on March 19, 2009:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2009-03-19-STRASBOURG-1

Summary:

In a listing of UFO sighting reports in the Bas-Rhin on their website, the Alsatian ufology association SPICA noted that on Thursday, March 19, 2009, at 5:50 a.m., a "ball, balloon or melon (3D)" of white color was seen in Strasbourg, remained unidentified but for which SPICA issues the "strong hypothesis" that it was an "artificial reentry."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	March 19, 2009
Time:	05:00 a.m.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	2015
Reporting delay:	Day, 6 years.

Geographical data:

Department:	Bas-Rhin
City:	Strasbourg
Place:	?
Latitude:	48.575
Longitude:	7.752
Uncertainty radius:	5 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:	Listing of sightings by the regional ufology group SPICA.
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:	Probable rentry of satellites debris.

Sources:

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

City	Date and hour of observation	General shape Identification	General color Hypothesis	Conclusion
STRASBOURG	Thursday 19 March 2009 at 05:50	ball, balloon or melon (3D) Unidentified	white Artificial reentry	Strong hypothesis

Discussion:

On March 19, 2009, space shuttle Discovery was docked to the International Space Station (ISS) for mission STS-119. Together, the two spacecraft were even brighter as the ISS usually is.

Also, on February 10, 2009, two satellites, Cosmos et Iridium 33, collided, and it was expected that from March 7, 2009 and on, 355 pieces of Cosmos, and 159 pieces of Iridium 33, would start to enter the atmosphere.

One or the other event may have been the cause of this sighting, but he information at hand is too poor to determine the cause with any certainty.

Evaluation:

Probable rentry of satellites debris.

Sources references:

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

[spa1] * "DEPARTEMENT 67 - BAS-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_67.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	August 30, 2015	Creation, [spa1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	August 30, 2015	First published.

This page was last updated on August 30, 2015.