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 Colmar, on July 1, 2015:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2015-07-01-COLMAR-1

Summary:

Someone reported to the UFO website "OVNI-France" that on July 1, 2015, at 9 p.m., with another person, he or she saw two bright lights "that descend at the same time" in Colmar in the Haut-Rhin.

The two lights had looked at first glance like stars, but they were moving slowly enough "so we can see the evolution of the movement", too slow for planes. The lights "were parallel and shifted", the bigger one lower and the other one higher but of lower intensity.

The witness said that the only possible explanation is two balloons or lanterns, but it seemed odd that they "came down at the same time."

The approximate duration of observation is given as 3 minutes.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	July 1, 2015
Time:	~09:00 p.m.
Duration:	3 minutes.
First known report date:	2015
Reporting delay:	Day, weeks, months.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Colmar
Place:	Not reported, UFO in the sky.
Latitude:	48.079
Longitude:	7.357
Uncertainty radius:	5 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	2
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	0
Witness(es) ages:	?
Witness(es) types:	?

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	By the web to the UFO website "OVNI-France".
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:	Puzzled.
Witnesses interpretation:	Maybe balloons or lanterns.

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL
ALSACAT:	Probable Chinese lanterns.

Sources:

[Ref. ofe1:] "OVNI-FRANCE" WEBSITE:

07/01/2015 - (Dep.68) - 2 bright lights that go down at the same time

Date: 07/01/2015

Departement: 68 (Haut-Rhin)

Localization: colmar

Hour: 9 p.m.

Numbers [sic] of witnesses: 2 people

Type of observation: NL: Nocturnal Lights

Approximate duration of the observation: 3 minutes

What was seen: 2 bright lights that go down at the same time

Description of the facts:

Late evening in the sky we saw 2 lights that at first sight that looked like stars but they were moving slowly enough for us to see the evolution of the movement. Too slow for planes. The lights were shifted in parallel. A lower one bigger and a higher one but lower in intensity. The only possible explanation is two balloons or lanterns... Weird that they come down at the same time.

Discussion:

At the bottom line, the only oddity that troubled the witness who did think of the Chinese lanterns is the simultaneous descent. But it is actually has nothing strange, nothing would oblige two Chinese lanterns not to descend at the same time.

Evaluation:

Probable Chinese lanterns.

Sources references:

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

[ofe1] * "01-07-2015 - (Dép.68) - 2 lumières brillantes qui descendent en même temps", witness report to the UFO website OVNI-France, France, not dated, found in 2015, at http://www.ovni-france.fr/index.php?ou=temoignages_vu&id_tem=2137&id=16

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	February 26, 2016	Creation, [ofe1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	February 26, 2016	First published.

This page was last updated on February 26, 2016.