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.

Case of Oberhausbergen, on August 8, 1973:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1973-08-08-OBERHAUSBERGEN-1

Summary:

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	August 8, 1973
Time:	?
Duration:	?
First known report date:	1974
Reporting delay:	Day, 1 year.

Geographical data:

Department:	Bas-Rhin
City:	Oberhausbergen
Place:	From Oberhausbergen, UFO in the sky.
Latitude:	48.606
Longitude:	7.685
Uncertainty radius:	1 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	2 or more.
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	0
Witness(es) ages:	Young girls.
Witness(es) types:	Young girls.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Ufologist Charles Garreau.
Type of location:	From village, 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:	?
ALSACAT:	Possible planes or helicopters, insufficient information, no strangeness.

Sources:

[Ref. cgu1:] CHARLES GARREAU:

- On August 8 [1973], in Oberhausbergen (Bas-Rhin) young girls follow the moves of six luminous dots flying in formation, moving from the Graffenstaden forest towards the E.D.F. plant [power plant], on the banks of the Rhine. Arrived above the later, the craft make a U-turn and go back towards the south.

[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:

1973, 8 août

France, Oberhausbergen (Bas Rhin)

Young girls follow the moves of six luminous dots flying in formation, which move from the forest of Graffenstaden towards the E.D.F. on the banks of the Rhine. Arrived above these, the apparatuses turn around and go back to the south. (Charles GARREAU: "Alerte dans le ciel: le dossier des enlèvements" Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1981, p.249)

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN - "BASE OVNI FRANCE":

Oberhausbergen (67) on 08 August 1973

General features

Num Base:	856
Department:	Bas Rhin (67)
Place of observation:	Oberhausbergen
Latitude:	48.616
Longitude:	+7.683
Date of observation:	08 August 1973
Hour:	Hour not known
Duration (HH:MM:SS):	N.C.
Weather:	No weather indication
Type of observation:	Visual: Distant
Nbr of witness(es):	undetermined number
Official investigation:	No

Features of the object

Nbr of object:	6
Type of object:	Not-defined
Size:	Not specified
Color:	not defined
Luminosity:	Brillant
Visual characteristics:	No indication
Speed:	not defined
Movement/Displacement:	One or more turns
Object on the ground:	No
Instantaneous disappearance:	No

Observation

Young girls follow the moves of six luminous spots flying in formation. They move from the forest of Graffenstaden towards the EDF plant at the edge of the Rhine. Arrived above it, the craft make a U-turn and go back to the South.

Sources

Soucoupes volantes, 25 ans d'enquêtes by Garreau Charles ** Mame

[Ref. tae1:] "LA TAVERNE DE L'ETRANGE" WEBSITE:

On August 8 [1973], in Oberhausbergen (Bas-Rhin)

[Ref. spa1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "SPICA":

City	Date and hour of observation	General shape Identification	General color Hypothesis	Conclusion
OBERHAUSBERGEN	Wednesday 8 August 1973	luminous dot Unidentified	information not communicated None	Unsolved -lack of info

Discussion:

The UFOs move "from the Graffenstaden forest" thus from the Southeast (That forest is 10 km away from the witnesses) "to the EDF plant on the Rhine" thus still in the Southeast but more to the East then "turn around and go South."

Visually, from the witnesses position, they appeared in the Southeast, moved a little to the east, then went back to the South-East but mot to the West than the place where they were first seen.

As there is absolutely no useful detail, the things being described only as "six luminous spots," it could have been airplanes, helicopters, ot whatever. The strangeness of this case leaves much to be desired with the little information provided, and Charles Garreau gives no source that may have yielded more information.

And all this being reported by "young girls", maybe very young.

Evaluation:

Possible planes or helicopters, insufficient information, no strangeness.

Sources references:

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

[cgu1] * "Soucoupes Volantes - 25 Ans d'Enquêtes", book by Charles Garreau, Mame publishers, France, page 88, 1974.
[goe1] * "Chronologie OVNI", catalogue by Godelieve Van Overmeire, Belgium, was on the Web circa 1999.
[lcn1] * "Oberhausbergen (67) on 08 August 1973", case record by Luc Chastan, on his ufology website Base OVNI France, France, circa 2004, at http://baseovnifrance.free.fr/listgen.php?typlist=1&page=0&numobs=856
[tae1] * "Le temps des satellites et des ovnis, article on the La Taverne de l'Etrange website, France, December 15, 2007, at http://www.taverne-etrange.com/ovnis-satellites/ovnis-satellites,r81549.html
[spa1] * "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

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	February 28, 2016	Creation, [cgu1], [lcn1], [tae1], [spa1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	February 28, 2016	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	January 18, 2023	Addition [goe1].

This page was last updated on January 18, 2023.