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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 in Blotzheim, on May 10, 1955:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1955-05-10-BLOTZHEIM-1

Summary:

Christian Valentin, in his 2012 book on the history of UFO sightings in Alsace, indicated that the regional newspaper L'Alsace for Friday, May 13, 1955, reported these facts:

On Tuesday, May 10, 1955, at 9 p.m., many witnesses in the southern Upper Rhine saw three bright circles appearing and disappearing intermittently in the clouds for about twenty minutes. Some had thought at first that they were flying saucers, but it was quickly interpreted as the reflection of three powerful light beams on clouds.

This first of two similar events, except the place since the other was in Kiffis, took place in the border area with Basel, and was caused by three projectors of the Blotzheim airfield - now Mulhouse-Basel Airport, turned on for the landing of an airliner.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: May 10, 1955
Time: 09:00 p.m.
Duration: ~20 minutes.
First known report date: May 13, 1955
Reporting delay: 2 days.

Geographical data:

Department: Haut-Rhin
City: Blotzheim
Place: In the border area near Blotzeim and Basel, UFO in the sky.
Latitude: 47.597
Longitude: 7.525
Uncertainty radius: 5 km

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: The regional Press.
Type of location: Near airfiled, 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: ?
Witnesses interpretation: For some, flying saucers.

Classifications:

Hynek: NL
ALSACAT: Projectors of the Blotzheim airfield.

Sources:

[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 that on Tuesday, May 10, 1955, in the southern of Alsace, occurred the events reported in the newspaper l'Alsace for Friday, May 13, 1955:

On Tuesday, May 10, at 9 p.m., many witnesses in the southern Upper Rhine, saw three bright circles appearing and disappearing in the clouds intermittently for about twenty minutes. If some thought at first they were seeing a demonstration of flying saucers, the phenomenon was quickly interpreted as the reflection of three powerful light beams on the cloud layer.

And what turns out to be a banal mistake would not deserve to be mentioned except that there might have been two distinct phenomena. Indeed, the press of the time separates two concurrent events, but identical in description and duration.

The first event was located in the border area with Basel and these are the three projectors of the Blotzheim airfield (currently Basel-Mulhouse) turned on for the landing of an airliner; which are at the origin.

The second would be located some twenty miles to the west, above the sector of Ferrette. In the latter case, witnesses residing in Kiffis are convinced that they were projectors of the Swiss army who was conducting at that time maneuvers along the border.

Discussion:

Map.

Since an ordinary explanation was found at the time, and since no other information is available that would contradict the explanation, I make it mine.

Evaluation:

Projectors of the Blotzheim airfield.

Sources references:

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

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 September 23, 2015 Creation, [cvn2].
1.0 Patrick Gross September 23, 2015 First published.

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This page was last updated on September 23, 2015.