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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 of Lutterbach, on April 20, 1970:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1970-04-20-LUTTERBACH-1

Summary:

Among a number of observations in the region of Mulhouse, April 20, 1970, and thereafter, the regional newspaper L'Alsace for April 23, 1970, reported that there had been another witness for the April 20, 1970, sighting:

Mr. Humbert, a resident of Lutterbach, telephoned the newspaper office in Wittelsheim on the morning of April 22, 1970, to confirm the luminous phenomenon noticed by the resident of Wittelsheim on the evening of April 20, 1970.

He was looking from his house near the railway line towards Richwiller and Wittelsheim, which is the direction of the Berrwiller area, when he suddenly saw, in his words, "an object of the size of a grapefruit and the color of an orange; which rose vertically in the sky, entered a small cloud and did not come out od it.+

Mr. Humbert listened carefully, but did not hear any engine noise; which in his opinion excluded the explanation by a jet aircraft.

The newspaper issued a call to witnesses, and will collect more or less corroborating additional reports.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: April 20, 1970
Time: ?
Duration: ?
First known report date: April 23, 1970
Reporting delay: 2 days.

Geographical data:

Department: Haut-Rhin
City: Lutterbach
Place: From home near the railway, UFO in the sky.
Latitude: 47.761
Longitude: 7.270
Uncertainty radius: 300 m

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: 1
Number of known witnesses: 1
Number of named witnesses: 1
Witness(es) ages: Adult or aged.
Witness(es) types: Male resident.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: By phone to the local Press
Type of location: From home in suburb, UFO in the sky.
Visibility conditions: ?
UFO observed: Yes
UFO arrival observed: ?
UFO departure observed: Yes
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: Unidentified, low strangeness.

Sources:

[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":

He saw it too

Who? A resident of Lutterbach, Mr. Humbert. What? The "flying saucer". Mr Humbert telephoned yesterday morning our office in Wittelsheim to confirm the luminous phenomenon noticed by a resident of our city on the evening of Monday. Mr. Humbert was looking, from his house near the railway line, towards Richwiller and Wittelsheim (drawing a line on a map, we find that it ends in the Berrwiller area) and suddenly saw according to him, "an object the size of a grapefruit and the color of an orange, which rose vertically in the sky, entered a small cloud and did not come out". Mr. Humbert listened attentively, but did not hear an engine noise; which in his opinion excludes the explanation that would be provided by a jet plane.

The phenomenon being thus confirmed, our correspondent from Wittelsheim is now assured that she has not dreamed. And if these lines fall under the eyes of a resident of the Berrwiller area, perhaps he will consent to tell us if he saw in his corner aliens or young people having fun with firecrackers or celebrating a boy's farewell.

[Ref. cvn2:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:

Christian Valentin indicates that among the articles related to a sighting on April 20, 1970, in the area of Mulhouse, there was that of Thursday, April 23, 1970, in the Mulhouse issue of the newspaper L'Alsace:

He saw it too

Who? A resident of Lutterbach, Mr. H. What? The "flying saucer". Mr H. telephoned yesterday morning our office in Wittelsheim to confirm the luminous phenomenon noticed by a resident of our city on the evening of Monday. Mr. H. was looking, from his house near the railway line, towards Richwiller and Wittelsheim (drawing a line on a map, we find that it ends in the Berrwiller area) and suddenly saw according to him, "an object the size of a grapefruit and the color of an orange, which rose vertically in the sky, entered a small cloud and did not come out". Mr. H. listened attentively, but did not hear an engine noise; which in his opinion excludes the explanation that would be provided by a jet plane.

The phenomenon being thus confirmed, our correspondent from Wittelsheim is now assured that she has not dreamed. And if these lines fall under the eyes of a resident of the Berrwiller area, perhaps he will consent to tell us if he saw in his corner aliens or young people having fun with firecrackers or celebrating a boy's farewell.

Discussion:

Map.

This testimony corroborates that of Wittelsheim; except of course if one wants to consider that Mr. Humbert would have read it in the newspaper and invented his own accordingly.

Scan.

Above: location for Lutterbach, Wittelsheim, Berrlwiller. The red line in Lutterbach indicates the railway.

Scan.

Above: the Wittelsheim and Richwiller directions are not quite precise, since it gives a maximum angle of 45°.

Evaluation:

Unidentified, low strangeness.

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
Editor: Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version: Create/changed by: Date: Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross July 4, 2018 Creation, [lae1], [cvn2].
1.0 Patrick Gross July 4, 2018 First published.

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This page was last updated on July 4, 2018.