ALSACAT-07-29-MAGSTATTLEBAS
Someone reported to the UFO website OVNI-France an observation made the day before, July 29, 2017, in the Haut-Rhin.
The person said that that when returning from a party with friends, on the road between Uffheim and Magstatt-le-Bas, around 11:28 p.m., he or she saw "like a fleme [sic] in the sky."
Arrived home and still seeing "this glow" which had lost in brightness, the witness took his/her "iphone" and filmed the thing because it seemed "bizare" to him/her. Zooming in, the witness saw "a bright red circle" on the phone screen. The glow faded out just after the witness stopped filming. The duration of the observation is given as 5 minutes.
| Date: | July 29, 2017 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 11:28 p.m. |
| Duration: | 5 minutes. |
| First known report date: | July 30, 2017 |
| Reporting delay: | 1 day. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Magstatt-le-Bas |
| Place: | From the road between Uffheim and Magstatt-le-Bas then from home, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 47.640 |
| Longitude: | 7.414 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 1.5 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Not reported. Adult. |
| Witness(es) types: | Not reported. Resident. |
| Reporting channel: | By the Web to the "OVNI France.fr" UFO Website. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | From the road then from home, UFO in the sky. |
| Visibility conditions: | Night |
| UFO observed: | Yes |
| UFO arrival observed: | ? |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes |
| Entities: | No |
| Photographs: | Yes. Video. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | Puzzled. |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Probable Chinese lantern. |
[Ref. ofe1:] "OVNI-FRANCE" UFO WEBSITE:
|
07/29/2017 - (Dep.68) - Gleam - luminous circle
Date: 07/29/2017
Department: 68 (Haut-Rhin)
Localization: Magstatt le bas
Hour: 11:28 p.m.
Numbers [sic] of witnesses: 1 persons [sic]
Type of observation: NL: Nocturnal Lights
Approximate duration of observation: 5 minutes
What was seen: Gleam - luminous circle
Description of the facts:
Yesterday evening, coming home from a party with friends, on the road between Uffheim and Magstatt le bas I see as a like a fleme [sic] in in the sky.
Arriving at home I still see this glow but it lost brightness so I take my iphone and I start filming, already a glow like this seems weird to me and when I filmed I zoomed in and I saw a bright red circle on my screen, the glow dissipated then just after stopping filming
|
The video shows exactly what can appear when filming a Chinese lantern. And the report contains absolutely nothing that would suggest this explanation should be discarded.
|
Above: a Chinese lantern.
The first "false UFOs" caused by Chinese lanterns that I identified were in the United States during the airship wave of 1896-1897, it also happened during the 1954 French "saucers" flap, including in Alsace (Example), it happened during the wave of 1973 in the United States (Example), etc. As there are years-long gaps in their use, some ufologists, too many ufologists, and of course the witnesses, forget them as a possible cause for UFO sightings.
In the years 2005 to 2018 (when I write these lines - in Alsace, most so-called "UFO sightings" that were reported were actually caused by Chinese lanterns.
Probable Chinese lantern.
* = 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 | January 15, 2018 | Creation, [ofe1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 15, 2018 | First published. |
