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Case of Andlau, on October 14, 1954:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1954-10-14-ANDLAU-1

Summary:

The regional newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, in their Colmar issue, reported for 17-18 October 1954, on page 2, an observation of October 14, 1954, suggesting it could be the landing of a "flying cigar."

Two brothers from Andlau, Henri and René Kreyder, told that in this evening around 7 p.m. towards Itterswiller, near the place called "Heidi", not far from the road, about a hundred meters in front of them, "a big shiny machine, cigar-shaped" appeared in the light of their headlights.

The two brothers advanced slowly, illuminating the craft with their headlights. As they tried to approach it, the object rose suddenly without noise, but at an extreme speed and "disappeared in the space of a few seconds in the dark of night."

Data:

Temporal data:

Geographical data:

Witnesses data:

Ufology data:

Classifications:

Sources:

[Ref. dna1:] JOURNAL "DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE":

[Ref. jsr1:] JEAN SIDER:

French ufologist and author Jean Sider learned in an article from the newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, Strasbourg, for October 17-18 1954, page 2, that on October 14, 1954, at 07:00 p.m. in Andlau in the department of Bash-Rhin, the brothers Henri and Rene Kreyder, who were driving by car, saw a mysterious machine which stationed not far from the road at the place called Heidi.

The witnesses were returning home when they saw the machine in the headlights of their vehicle, at approximately 100 meters. It was in the shape of a vertical cigar. Finally it took off and disappeared.

[Ref. lhh1] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":

[Ref. cvn1:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:

Christian Valentin indicates among the many observations in Alsace in 1954, that on October 14, 1954, at about 07:00 P.M.- 07:10 P.M. in Andlau, the K. brothers were driving by car at the location named Heidi when they saw in the light of their headlights a shining craft in the shape of a cigar, which was posed vertically at the edge of the road.

They tried to approach it, but the object suddenly rose without noise and disappeared at high speed.

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:

Luc Chastan indicates in his database that in the Bas-Rhin in Andlau on October 14, 1954 at 19:00 hours "Two brothers drove by car and saw with the location Heidi in the light of their headlights a shining craft in the shape of a cigar which was posed vertically at the edge of the road. They tried to approach some, but the object suddenly rose without noise and disappeared at high speed."

The source is said to be my website, indicated by the old URL of its home page.

[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on 14 October 1954 at 19:00 in Andlau, France, "A mysterious phenomena was reported by two witnesses on a road."

The website indicates as sources "Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073)" and "Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002".

[Ref. cvn2:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:

L'ancien journaliste Christian Valentin a publié en 2012 un très intéressant livre retraçant l'histoire des observations d'OVNIS et autres soucoupes volantes en Alsace, des origines jusqu'en 1980.

Dans ce livre, il relate que le 14 octobre 1954, il y a eu le cas suivant à Andlau selon le journal DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE du dimanche 17 octobre 1954, dans l'édition bilingue de Sélestat, page 2:

[Ref. sme1:] "SCIENCE ET MAGIE" WEBSITE:

[Ref. spi1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "SPICA":

Discussion:

As shown in my catalog, on October the 14th, 1954, at about 06:10 p.m.., a meteor passed by and was the topic of a dozen independent reports. Nobody seems to have recognized that it was a meteor, at least if one believes the regional press headlines evoking a "flying cigar" or a "flying saucer". Ufologists subsequently did not understand it either, it seems, as these cases remain classified as "true UFOs" in numerous publications and on the web.

This case of Andlau is probably the least evocative of the meteor as it sounds like a "taking off" of something lit by the headlights of the vehicle, and claimed to be quite close, it is said it was at "about 7 p.m." and it is located in the Bas-Rhin while the other reports are in the Haut-Rhin and indicates the passage of the meteor even further south.

However, it is quite possible that this is was indeed the meteor. "About 7 p.m." is not an exact time, the two brothers did not necessarily have a watch on them. The appearance of takeoff, low altitude, fits very well with the fact that this is further north than the other sighting places, the meteor would obviously seem very close to the ground at that greater distance.

And the report is hardly comprehensive: no size, no color, no quantified speed. The distance is obviously questionable, it is impossible to give a true distance of an object that is unknown, especially at night and with an observation period of perhaps only "a few seconds." All that we have is that it was bright and cigar-shaped, which is perfectly compatible with the meteor.

Finally, Itterswiller is south-south-east of Andlau, at 157°. If the two brothers were actually in or near Andlau, this is exactly the direction in which the meteor was visible.

Evaluation:

Probably the 06:10 p.m. meteor that day.

Sources references:

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

• [dna1] * "Andlau - Atterrissage d'un "Cigare Volant"?", article in the regional newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, bilingual issue of Sélestat, page 2, October 17-18, 1954.
• [jsr1] * "Le Dossier 1954 et l'Imposture Rationaliste", book by Jean Sider, Ramuel publisher, France, pp 105-106, 1997.
• [lhh1] * "*U* Computer Database", database by Larry Hatch, USA, circa 2002.
• [cvn1] * "1954, l'Année des OVNIS - Des Observations par Dizaines, des Témoins par Centaines", article by Christian Valentin in "Saisons d'Alsace", quarterly magazine, Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace publisher, Strasbourg, pp 90-91, summer 2004.
• [lcn1] * Base OVNI France, website by Luc Chastan, France, circa 2006, at baseovnifrance.free.fr/detobs.php?numobs=1019
• [uda1] * "14 Oct 1954 - Andlau, France", web page at the UFOdna website, circa 2007, at www.ufodna.com/uf16/uf2/162495.htm
• [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 40, 2012.
• [sme1] * "Science et Magie N° 64: OVNI - L'hypothèse extraterrestre des Objets volants non identifiés", on the Science et Magie website, found in 2014, at http://www.science-et-magie.com/archives02num/sm64/SM64OVNI.htm
• [spi1] * "DEPARTEMENT 67 - BAS-RHIN", listing of UFO sighting reports by the Alsatian ufology group SPICA, Alsace, France, not dated, found in May 2015, at http://www.spica.org/Page_Listing_67.htm

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This page was last updated on September 9, 2019.