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 Heidolsheim, on October 16, 1954:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1954-10-16-HEIDOLSHEIM-1

Summary:

The local newspaper Le Nouveau Rhin Français wrote on October 20, 1954, that flying saucers were also seen in Heidolsheim on October 16, 1954:

Five young people had seen "around 9:30 a flying object traveling at high altitude from the North-East to the South-West, smokeless and at a high speed, producing a profusion of white light rays."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	October 16, 1954
Time:	09:30 a.m. or p.m.
Duration:	?
First known report date:	October 20, 1954
Reporting delay:	4 days.

Geographical data:

Department:	Bas-Rhin
City:	Heidolsheim
Place:	?
Latitude:	48.202
Longitude:	7.516
Uncertainty ratio:	1 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	5
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	0
Witness(es) ages:	Young.
Witness(es) types:	Young people.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Regional Press.
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:	Probably the meteor of October 16, 1954 at 09:35 p.m.

Sources:

[Ref. nrf1:] NEWSPAPER "LE NOUVEAU RHIN FRANCAIS":

HEIDOLSHEIM

Here too, flying saucers were seen.

Five young people saw last Saturday around 9:30 a flying object traveling at high altitude from North-East to South-West, smokeless and at high speed, producing a profusion of white light rays.

[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:

Aimé Michel wrote about the October 16, 1954, 09:30 p.m. meteor:

THE TEST OF THE METEOR. October 16, as if it was purposely, a splendid meteor crossed the north of France towards 09:30 p.m.. It was observed on a score of departments by thousands of people, from the Allier to Lorraine and from the Swiss border to Paris. Naturally many witnesses believed to have seen a Flying Saucer and said so. The newspapers printed "Flying Saucer in Orly", or "in Montididier", or "in Metz." But once again the description made by all these weak brains appeared of a remarkable honesty.

[...]

The innumerable gathered testimonies show indeed that even when the witnesses called "Flying saucer" the observed object, their description is identical on 200.000 square kilometers where the phenomenon was visible: an "orange ball followed by a trail", a "large luminous ball with a tail", a "flying egg followed by a trail", a "bottle's bottom with a trail of thirty times its diameter", etc. The same phenomenon is uniformly described.

[...]

[Ref. cvn1:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:

Press reporter Christian Valentin points out that at the time of the big flap of flying saucers of 1954 in France, there was, on October 16, 1954 a significant number of observations which were that of a meteor.

In this series, he indicates that on October 16, 1954 at 09:30 p.m. in Heidolsheim, five young people observed a luminous ball moving from the north-western direction towards the direction of the south-west.

[Ref. cvn2:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:

Former journalist Christian Valentin published in 2012 a very interesting book telling the story of UFO sightings, flying saucers sightings, in Alsace, from the beginning to 1980.

In this book, he reports that in the newspaper Le Nouveau Rhin Français for Wednesday, October 20, 1954, Colmar issue, this article was published:

HEIDOLSHEIM

Here too, flying saucers were seen.

Five young people saw last Saturday around 9:30 a flying object traveling at high altitude from North-East to South-West, smokeless and at high speed, producing a profusion of white light rays.

Discussion:

The hour is given as "9:30" but without specifying whether it is in the evening or the morning. Obviously the direction and description match more the 09:35 p.m. meteor than "flying saucers".

Evaluation:

Probably the meteor of October 16, 1954 at 09:35 p.m.

Sources references:

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

[nrf1] * Article in the local newspaper Le Nouveau Rhin Français, Sélestat issue, France, October 20, 1954.
[aml1] * "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", book by Aimé Michel, Arthaud publisher, France, 1958.
[aml1] * "Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery", book by Aimé Michel, English version of "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", S.G. Phillips publisher, USA, 1958.
[aml1] * "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", book by Aimé Michel, Seghers publisher, France, page 244, 1977.
[cvn1] * "1954, l'Année des OVNIS - en Alsace et dans le Monde", dossier by Christian Valentin, in the quarterly magazine Saisons d'Alsace, France, #23, page 93, summer 2004.
[cvn2] * "Mythes et Réalités des Phénomènes Aériens Non Identifiés - Histoire des soucoupes volantes en Alsace jusqu'en 1980", book by Christian Valentin, Grimoires d'Alsace publishers, France, page 43, 2012.

File history:

Authoring:

Main author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	None
Reviewers:	None
Editeur:	Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	October 22, 2005	First published in the France 1954 catalogue.
1.0	Patrick Gross	December 27, 2009	Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version.
3.0	Patrick Gross	May 1, 2014	Additions [nrf1], [cvn2].
3.0	Patrick Gross	May 1, 2014	First published in the ALSACAT catalogue.

This page was last updated on May 1, 2014.