ALSACAT-2013-11-25-ROUNTZEMHEIM-1
In early March 2014 I found on a "UFO" website a reported signed "s.Mag" on an observation from Rountzenheim where a person and his friend reportedly saw "a multicolored light in the sky."
The observation is dated November 25, 2013, the time is given as 00:15 a.m.
The two people were quietly sitting on the couch at midnight, when the male friend of the person who wrote the report said: "Look outside, what is that light?" The person initially thought it could be a plane, but they noticed that the light did not move.
They took several pictures, which I do not have, and found that in the pictures, the stars were not visible but the light intrigued them was visible.
I noted the presence of the very bright star Sirius low on the horizon at that location and that night.
| Date: | November 25, 2013 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 00:15 a.m. |
| Duration: | ~30 minutes. |
| First known report date: | March 1, 2014, or earlier. |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, 6 months? |
| Department: | Bas-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Rountzenheim |
| Place: | From the couch, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 48.820 |
| Longitude: | 8.007 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 2 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | ? |
| Witness(es) types: | Someone and friend. |
| Reporting channel: | On the web to UFO website "OVNI-France.fr". |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | From couch, UFO in the sky. |
| Visibility conditions: | Night |
| UFO observed: | Yes |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | ? |
| Entities: | No |
| Photographs: | Yes but apparently not available. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | Puzzled. |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Possible star, Sirius. |
[Ref. ofe1:] "OVNI-FRANCE.FR" WEBSITE:
Date: 11/25/2013
Department: 67 (Bas-Rhin)
Localization: rountzenheim
Time: 0:15 p.m.
Numbers [sic] of witnesses: 2 people
Type of observation: NL: Nocturnal Lights
Approxima [sic] duration of the observation: 30 minutes
What was seen: We saw a Multicolored light in the sky
Description of the facts:
At midnitgh we were quietly on the couch when my [male] friend mon tells me look outside what is this light. I first thought of a plane but we noticd that it did mot move. After severel photos we saw that the stars wer not visible on the camera. And that light was much more visible it shone a lot. (coud show you the photos if you want)
ovni-france:photos requested.
s.Mag
|
Routzenheim is a small village about 35 kilometers north-east of Strasbourg.
The date given may be wrong. often when people make an observation after midnight, the date they give is that of the day before midnight; which would be here November 24, 2013 instead of 25.
An airplane may seem motionless for a while, but usually not for 30 minutes. A helicopter can. Chinese lanterns and luminous advertising blimps can remain visible 30 minutes and may be or appear to be motionless. But the usual and immediate suspect for a multicolored light in the sky, for at least 30 minutes, is the planet Venus. Though, even when low on the horizon, it rarely looks multicolored.
As no direction or elevation is specified, we have many choices, but I can at least check if Venus was visible there at the time.
No luck, Venus, the "Queen of the UFOs" as some call it, was not visible.
The moon was, but I never heard anyone describe it as "multi-colored" or anyone initially think it is a plane.
Regarding bright stars, there are three candidates, low on the horizon and visible:
SIRIUS was at 136°, 13° elevation, with an apparent magnitude of -1.46. It gets the second position in the ranking of apparent magnitudes of objects in the sky, just after the Sun. It is the brightest star in the night.
There was also Regulus, at 78° and 5° of elevation. Its apparent magnitude was 1.35. Then we have VEGA, at 328°, low on the horizon at some 5°. Its visual magnitude was 0.03, it is the 47th in the apparent magnitude ranking. (The zero magnitude is actually usually defined as that of the star Vega.)
At an elevation of 4 - 5 degrees, obstacles (houses, vegetation , hills) probably hid VEGA and Regulus, whereas SIRIUS was at a 13° elevation and very brilliant, so that it would be my favorite.
Possible star, Sirius.
* = 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 |
| Editeur: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | March 8, 2014 | Creation, [ofe1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 8, 2014 | First published. |
