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 in Alsace, on December 31, 2017:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2017-12-31-ALSACE-1

Summary:

A young man and a female friend watch the fireworks of December 31, 2017, from a balcony to an unspecified village in Alsace, and take a 51-second video of what they think is a UFO. The video shows a luminous orange ball floating in the sky, that is to say, a Chinese lantern, perfectly expected in such an evening.

The young man gives no textual information, except that he comments: "Theyre gonna say what its weather balloon or drones lol".

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	December 31, 2017
Time:	Night.
Duration:	51 seconds or more.
First known report date:	January 10, 2018
Reporting delay:	10 days.

Geographical data:

Department:	?
City:	?
Place:	From balcony, UFO in the sky.
Latitude:	48.269
Longitude:	7.403
Uncertainty radius:	100 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	2
Number of known witnesses:	2
Number of named witnesses:	1
Witness(es) ages:	Young, young adults or adults.
Witness(es) types:	?

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Video published on Youtube.
Type of location:	From balcony, UFO in the sky.
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:	UFO

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL
ALSACAT:	Chinese lantern.

Sources:

[Ref. you1:] ON "YOUTUBE":

Ufo in Alsace on 12/31/2017

144 views

raphael Obrecht

Added January 10, 2018

Theyre gonna say what its weather balloon or drones lol

Category
People and blogs

Discussion:

Since 2005, Chinese lanterns constitute the bulk of the "testimonies" of UFOs found on websites devoted to the subject of UFOs and essentially publishing such "web report"; generally the only treatment is the publication, without any information on a possible cause, without any investigation or comment.

In Alsace, such releases are especially popular now since fireworks and firecrackers, long tolerated, are now prohibited for use unless special exemptions; Alsatians therefore largely adopted the lanterns.

As these lanterns are usually released at private or public parties, they are most often seen on Saturday nights, often at wedding dates or official festivities such as the National Day or New Year's Eve, usually between 10 p.m. and midnight. They are then usually released in clusters. But sometimes the purchaser performs a "test flight" a few days before, sometimes with a single lantern.

Above: a Chinese lantern.

Evaluation:

Chinese lantern.

Sources references:

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

[you1] * Video published on Youtube, January 10, 2018, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygr8opVUj48

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	March 15, 2018	Creation, [you1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	March 15, 2018	First published.

This page was last updated on March 15, 2018.