The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 21-Oct-54-Fortschwihr.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The newspaper L'Alsace, on page 7 of their French issue for October 24, 1954, published a letter from one of their readers, a police brigadier from Colmar who reported his observation of Thursday, October 21, 1954.
He stated that he was riding his bicycle at 07:30 p.m. from Fortschwihr to Bischwihr when he suddenly saw on his left, to the south, a red ball with a dovetail-shaped trail of a slightly less luminous color, more orange colored.
This ball was moving very fast from the West to the East, at a considerable height. He estimated it travelled from the Belfort Gap to the Rhine.
He could see it twice after it came out of two large clouds, and then it disappeared. The observation had lasted only a short time.
[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":
One of our readers, police brigadier in Colmar, writes to us:
"I was riding my bicycle on Thursday night, October 21, 1954, at 07:30 p.m., from the village of Fortschwihr to Bischwihr. Suddenly, I saw to my left, to the south, a red ball with a trail shaped like a dovetail, of a little less bright color, more in the orange color. This ball was moving at a breathtaking speed from West to East, at a considerable height. in my opinion, it was going from the Belfort Gap to the Rhine. I saw this bright ball twice, at the exit of two large clouds, and then it disappeared. The appearance lasted only a moment."
[Ref. aldl:] MRS. GUEUDELOT, "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" ARCHIVE:
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OCTOBER 21, 1954.-
FORTSCHWIHR. - (68)
Hour: 07:30 p.m.
A police brigadier from Colmar writes:
"I was riding my bicycle from the village of FORTSCHWIHR in the direction of BISCHWIHR. Suddenly, I saw to my left, towards the south; a red ball with a dovetail-shaped trail of a slightly less luminous color, tending more towards the orange. This ball was moving at dizzying speed from WEST to EAST at a fairly great height. In my opinion; it was going from the Belfort gap towards the Rhine.
I saw this ball twice in a row, coming out of heavy clouds; then disappear. The apparition lasted only a moment.
"L"ALSACE" for OCTOBER 24 - 25 1954. p. 7.
(sent by Me. Mourier)
[Ref. cvn1:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:
The journalist indicates in his dossier that on October 21, 1954, a sergeant of the police force of Colmar circulated between Fortschwihr and Bischwiller when he suddenly saw, towards the South, a red ball with a less luminous tail which drew rather towards an orange color.
The ball moved at an altitude which he evaluated as rather important, and seemed to go from the direction of Belfort towards the direction of the Rhine river.
He saw it by twice in openings in the clouds, the whole sighting being brief, lasting "only one moment."
[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 the newspaper L'Alsace on page 7 of the French speaking issue for October 24, 1954, had reported the observation of Thursday, October 21, 1954, in Fortschwihr in the Haut-Rhin:
One of our readers, police brigadier in Colmar, writes to us:
"I was riding my bicycle on Thursday night, October 21, 1954, at 07:30 p.m., from the village of Fortschwihr to Bischwihr. Suddenly, I saw to my left, to the south, a red ball with a trail shaped like a dovetail, of a little less bright color, more in the orange color. This ball was moving at a breathtaking speed from West to East, at a considerable height. in my opinion, it was going from the Belfort Gap to the Rhine. I saw this bright ball twice, at the exit of two large clouds, and then it disappeared. The appearance lasted only a moment."
He comments that the sighting is quite ordinary but might confirm the young Dornach farmer's story as the hour and move of the object match.
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There is one kilometer between the center of Fortschwihr and the center of Bischwihr. The road, D71 departmental road known as "route de Colmar" is to the northwest, the Southwest is on the left side.
The Belfort Gap is at 216° (Southwest), the Rhine is in the East.
The description and the brevity - though not specified - suggest that it was a meteor.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Fortschwihr, Bischwiller, Haut-Rhin, police, ball, trail, tail, red, orange, fast, high
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | September 25, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 12, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. |
| 3.0 | Patrick Gross | December 22, 2014 | Additions [lae1], [cvn2], Summary, Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet. Probable meteor". |
