ALSACAT -> Home 

Cette page en françaisCliquez!

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.

Previous case Next case >

Case of Urmatt, on July 19, 1977:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1977-07-19-URMATT-1

Summary:

The Gendarmerie Nationale conducted preliminary investigations on statements regarding an observation on July 19, 1977, in the area of Urmatt. GEIPAN published the minutes in the 2000s, in which are reported the following facts. This sighting report was unknown in the UFO literature before.

On July 20, 1977, at 10 a.m., an air transport company phoned the gendarmes to tell them that the civilian airport control tower alerted them about a man who had reported seeing shiny objects in the sky the night before, 19 July 1977; which he said would be of Unidentified Flying Objects.

The gendarmes immediately contacted the man by phone to ask him to come to their office to hear him out. The gendarmes also called the Territorial Brigade of the man's residence to get morality information about him. That brigade answered that the man had good morality and had never been subjected to unfavorable comments.

This person came to the office of the brigade on July 21, 1977. The gendarmes indicate that he was a currently unemployed insurance inspector, married, with four children.

The man told them that on July 19, 1977, around 11 p.m., he was returning from hunting on the lookout, and wanting to locate himself by looking at the mountain, he saw a star in the sky - in a direction that was censored -. It moved and stopped from time to time.

Intrigued, he used his 12x50 binocular and saw a ball of light that sparkled all colors. He said its appearance was changing. It initially had the shape of a ball, and gradually changed to a pear shape.

He thought it was a weather balloon, and entered the forest to reach the edge without caring more about ir.

When he reached the edge of the forest and could again see the sky, he saw 10 pale discs located where he had seen the luminous ball; which was not there anymore. The discs were motionless, they never moved. At eye sight, they had "the size of a dinner plate."

Increasingly intrigued, the man went to a nearby house, a maisonette or chalet in the forest, and asked the owner, a man he did not know, to look at the objects with him. He wanted to have a another witness. This other witness indeed saw the objects in the sky.

He remained with the second witness for half an hour, and when he left, around midnight, he did not see any object in the sky any more.

The gendarme contacted the second witness on July 22, 1977. He is an hydrolician of French nationality, and told to the gendarmes at his home, the "Acacias cottage", that he did see the UFOs, in the South Est of his cottage.

He said that on July 19, 1977, at 11:30 p.m., a hunter whose name he did not know came knocking onthe door of his chalet, saying he was seeing flying saucers. He wanted a second witness.

The second witness came out, and using the binocular of the first witness, he could actually see three discs, not ten, in the sky, "the size of a plate," pale, motionless.

He immediately invited the hunter to have a coffee with him to recover from their emotions, then at midnight, getting out again, they no longer saw any object in the sky.

GEIPAN published the assessments of two of their experts at the time, one indicating the observation is of little interest, the other indicating it is of sufficient interest. One remarked that there was use of binocular, that there is no information about distance and mobility, that there is a contradiction between the witnesses as to the number of disks; the other remarked that it would be an interesting observation despite the lack of precision, "if it was a physical phenomenon."

To protect the privacy of the witnesses and Gendarmes, all the names and exact places are censored. GEIPAN however titled that the case had occurred in the area of Urmatt.

At the time of publication of documents, about 2006, GEIPAN gives no explanation to the observation, they ranked it "C", i.e. according to their glossary, an observation that remains "unexplained despite the elements in possession of the GEIPAN."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: July 19, 1977
Time: ~11:00 p.m.
Duration: ~30 minutes.
First known report date: July 20, 1977
Reporting delay: 1 day.

Geographical data:

Department: Bas-Rhin
City: Urmatt
Place: Edge of the wood, and near "Les Acacis" chalet.
Latitude: 48.536
Longitude: 7.323
Uncertainty radius: 3 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: 2
Number of known witnesses: 2
Number of named witnesses: 2
Witness(es) ages: Adults.
Witness(es) types: Unemployed insurance inspector married with 4 children; hydrolician.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: To civilian airport.
Type of location: Edge of the wood, and near a chalet.
Visibility conditions: Night
UFO observed: Yes
UFO arrival observed: Yes
UFO departure observed: Yes
Entities: No
Photographs: No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es): No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): No.
Witness(es) feelings: Puzzled.
Witnesses interpretation: Flying saucers, UFOs.

Classifications:

Hynek: NL
ALSACAT: Unidentified, insufficient information.

Sources:

[Ref. gei1:] GROUPE D'ETUDES ET D'INFORMATIONS SUR LES PHENOMENES AEROSPATIAUX NON IDENTIFIES (G.E.I.P.A.N.):

URMATT (67) 19.07.1977

Observed on: 07/19/1977
Region: Alsace
Department: Rhin (Bas)
Classe: C
Summary: Observation of a ball and luminous discs.
Description: On July 19, 1977, at 11 p.m. a hunter in the forest observed in the sky a luminous ball of many colors that moves. Continuing his way to the edging he sees, in the same location as the luminous ball which disappeared, light-colored disk the size of a plate. The bewildered hunter goes to a cottage to find another person who can confirm what he sees. Another witness will confirm to the gendarmes to have seen with the binocular three luminous disks motionless in the sky. By midnight no more objects were visible in the sky. No other witness that may provide additional information was collected on the phenomenon.
Report: None.

Details of the testimony
Witness
Date of the observation 07/19/1977
Document number
Age Adulte (more than 18)
Job High executive and middle executive
Sex Male
Reaction Active curiosity
Credibility Normal credibility
Conditions
Environment Country
Weather conditions Not-specified
Hour of the observation Numbered : 10 p.m. - 00 a.m.
Reference landmark Sky or clouds
Distance between phenomenon and witness Not-specified
Start of the observation Start of the observation by witness
End of the observation End of the observation by phenomenon
Localization
Angle of the site Not-specified
Direction of observation Not-specified
Heading South-East
Trajectory Motionless
Nature of the observation Object
Characteristic of the observation Multiple
Global shape Other shape (comparison)
Color Not-specified
Apparent size Other (comparison landmarks, etc.)
Apparent speed Not-specified
Noise Not-specified
Effect on the environment Not-specified
Number 2

Details of the testimony
Witness
Date of the observation 07/19/1977
Document number
Age Adult (more than 18)
Job Employees, Workers
Sex Male
Reaction Active curiosity
Credibility Normal credibility
Conditions
Environment Country
Weather conditions Not-specified
Hour of the observation Numbered : 22 - 24
Reference landmark Sky or clouds
Distance between phenomenon and witness Not-specified
Start of the observation Start of the observation by witness
End of the observation End of the observation by phenomenon
Localization
Angle of the site Not-specified
Direction of observation Not-specified
Heading South-East
Trajectory Motionless
Nature of the observation Object
Characteristic of the observation Multiple
Global shape Other shape (comparison)
Color Not-specified
Apparent size Other (comparison landmarks, etc.)
Apparent speed Not-specified
Bruit Not-specified
Effect on the environment Not-specified
Number 2

Scan.

CLASSIFICATION SHEET OF THE "D" TYPE OBSERVATIONS

CLASSIFICATION

The unidentified phenomenon that was the subject of the report #77305169 is to be classified in the following section:

Expert #1 Expert #2
Nocturnal lightX
Daylight disc
Radar-visual
Close encounter type 1
Close encounter type 2
Close encounter type 3

RELATIVE VALUE ESTIMATE

This observation is to be classified, in my opinion, in the following section (1), as of its interest and the credibility of the witnesses:

High credibility
Medium credibility O
Low credibility
(1) (2) (3)
  1. Of low interest for a study of the phenomenon.
  2. Medium interest.
  3. Very high interest for a study of the phenomenon.

1) The expert #1 will mark an X cross, the expert #2 will mark a circle O in the cell corresponding to the choice.

Scan.

EXPERTISE SHEET OF OBSERVATION REPORT

OBSERVATION BY THE TWO FOLLOWING PEOPLE:

(1) ......
(2) ......

AFTER EXPERTISE THIS OBSERVATION WAS CLASSIFIED

BY (1) BY (2)
(A) TOTALLY IDENTIFIED PHENOMENON
(B) PHENOMENON PROBABLY TO CONSIDER TO BE A KNOWN PHENOMENON
(C) UNIDENTIFIED PHENOMENON BUT THE REPORT IS OF LOW INTEREST X
UNIDENTIFIED PHENOMENON AND REPORT OF A SUFFICIENT INTEREST FOR A LATER ANALYSIS X

JUSTIFICATION OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE OBSERVATION

BY THE EXPERT (1) Interesting observation but not long enough. Lack of mobility characteristics of the luminous balls trajectory distant observation (with binocular) controversy between witnesses (number)

BY THE EXPERT (2) although not too detailed, could be interesting if it is a physical phenomenon

Scan.

GENDARMERIE NATIONALE
GROUP []
COMPANY OR SQUAD []
UNIT B.T. []
WRITTEN REPORT # 662 / 1977

WRITTEN REPORT
PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

77305169
July 19, 1977


UNIDENTIFIED FYING OBJECTS : (U.F.O.)


WE UNDERSIGNING [], AND [], Gendarmes []

considering the ARTICLES

REPORT THE FOLLOWING OPERATIONS WE PERFORMED, ACTING IN UNIFORM AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH ORDERS OF OUR CHIEFS

ON July 20, 77, at 10 O'CLOCK, we are notified by telephone by the airlines [] that the civilian airport control tower reported that an individual named [], residing at [], said to have seen the day before while he was at [], luminous objects in the sky; which according to him were Unidentified Flying objects.

INVESTIGATION

We immediately made contact by telephone with Mr. [] and kindly requested him to come to our brigade to be auditioned about these facts.

Meanwhile, we also made contact by telephone with the Territorial Brigade [], with the goal to get morality information on Mr. [], and thus judge whether his statements can be considered.

This brigade we announced that Mr. [] has a good morality and has never been commented unfavorably.

This person comes in the office of our brigade on July 21, 1977. He says he saw in the sky on July 19, 1977, at 11 p.m., a luminous ball then 10 pale discs the size of a plate that stood motionless above the forest [], where Mr. [] was hunting.

The person wanting to find a witness to confirm his words, showed up at Mr. [], living in a house on the edge of the forest, and kindly asked him to at these objects with him.

The hearing record of Mr.[] is the subject of Part #2.

Mr. [], contacted by us on July 22, 1977, said he has actually seen UFOs that stood southeast from his chalet located in the [] of []. He saw three discs, not ten as Mr. [] had said.

The hearing record of Mr. [] is the subject of Part #3.


[Recipients]

Scan.

Sheet #2

Given these facts, we contacted discreetly and carefully, the people of []. None of them has seen or heard an abnormal fact.

In addition, the civilian airport control radar tower [], did not notice any particular fact in this area.

The statements of these two witnesses could neither be confirmed nor refuted by others.

No new information having appeared so far, we close this Minutes.

Done and closed in []

July 29, 1977.

The gendarme []
The gendarme []

Scan.

TO DATE Twenty-one July nineteen hundred seventy seven, WE UNDERSIGNED [], [], Gendarme Judicial Police Officer,

CONSIDERING THE ARTICLES 20 and 75 OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE, REPORT THE FOLLOWING OPERATIONS WE PERFORMED, ACTING IN UNIFORM AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ORDERS OF OUR CHIFES,

hear at the office of our brigade, [], [] years old, insurance inspector currently unemployed, born on [] at [], son of [] and [] living [] at [], married four children, French national, who tells us at 3 o'clock p.m.:

On July 19, 1977, at 11 p.m., as I was returning from hunting on the lookout, wanting to locate myself with the mountain, I saw a star in the sky that moved in the direction of [], and stopped now and then.

Intrigued by this, I took my 12x50 binoculars and saw a luminous ball which sparkled all colors.

Thinking it was a weather balloon, I entered the forest to reach the edge without caring any more about this fact.

By the time I reached the edge, and I could again see the sky, I saw 10 pake discs in the same location as the luminous ball; the ball was gone.

These discs were motionless, and, visibly, they had the size of a plate. At no time did these 10 discs move.

Increasingly intrigued by these facts, I headed to a nearby house, and I asked the owner to please look with me at these objects to confirm my statements. This gentleman told me he actually see objects in the sky. I do not know the name of this person. All I can say is that he lives in a house located in the forest of [].

The description of the luminous ball was variant. The first time I saw it, it had the shape of a ball, to turn gradually to a pear shape.

I was with the person I took as a witness for half an hour, and when leaving, I did not see any object in the sky. It was about midnight.

The same day at 15 Hours 30 Minutes,

Reading the above statement, I persist and I have nothing to change, add or delete in it.

The person heard. [Signature]

The A.P.J. [Signature]

Scan.

TO DATE July Twenty Two Nine Hundred Seventy Seven THE UNDERSIGNED [] Gendarme Judicial Police Officer,

CONSIDERING THE ARTICLES 20 and 75 OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE, REPORT THE FOLLOWING OPERATIONS WE PERFORMED, ACTING IN UNIFORM AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ORDERS OF OUR CHIFES,

HEARD at his home:

[], Born [] to [], hydrolician, resident of chalet Acacias to [], of French nationality,

who declares to 9 hours:

The July 19, 1977 at 23 hours 30 minutes, a hunter whose name I know, knocked on the door of my chalet. This person told me see flying saucers, and wanted to take me to witness to confirm his statements.

I went outside, and with the binoculars of this hunter, I could actually see in the sky 3 discs the size of a light-colored plate, which stood motionless.

These O.V.N.I stood at [] compared to my chalet located in the [] of [].

Immediately after these facts, I invited the hunter to have a coffee to recover from our emotions.

Around midnight, when we emerged back outside, we no longer see any object in the sky.

That's all I can tell you about these facts.

The same day at 9 Hours 15 Minutes,

Reading the above statement, I persist and I have nothing to change, add or delete in it.

(Has signed on the statements log).

[Ref. jbu1:] JEROME BEAU:

July 1977

Tuesday 19 at about 11:00 p.m. In Urmatt (Bas Rhin), in the forest, 1 huntserve [sic, "1 hunter observes"] in the sky 1 luminous ball of several colors that moves. Continuing his walk to the edge of the forest he sees, at the same place than the lluminous [sic] that had disappeared, discs of pale colors of the size of a plate. The disconcerted hunter goes to a chalet to find another person that can confirm what he sees. Another witness sill confirm to the gendarmes having seen with binoculars 3 luminous discs motionless in the sky. At about midnight no phenomenon was visible in the sky anymore. No other witness able to bring a supplement of information was gathered on this phenomenon 5.

5 GEPAN : UAP class C

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

City Date and hour of observation General shape
Identification
General color
Hypothesis
Conclusion
URMATT Tuesday 19 July 1977 at 11:00 p.m. ball, balloon or melon (3D)
Unidentified
Several colors
None
Unsolved -lack of info

Discussion:

Map.

In this report, there are some clues that could initially make think of an observation of Venus:

Ten, or three disks: then obviously it cannot be Venus as such. But it seems that the disc have been visible only through binoculars. If one sees 3 and the other 10 discs, it is possible that the binocular focus had been improperly set. For example, they may have tried to focus on something close, think of objects more or less close, while Venus would have appeared round with a focus on infinity.

I therefore had to check whether Venus was in the sky from Urmatt at that date, from 23 hours until 23:30 in the direction of the Southeast indicated by the witness of the cottage.

Well, this could not have been Venus, the planet went below the horizon at 06:16 p.m....

There were to the southeast neither Moon nor Mars, nor any other planet, but there were some stars, the brightest being Antares and Spica. But the "pillar of Venus" effect has ever been reported with stars, and they were not on the horizon.

In the southeast, lays the mountain, as said by the first witness. The Vosges. Were there some lights on the ground in the mountains, rather than in the sky? Perhaps.

I remain with an "unidentified", which would have warranted an investigation that could have perhaps found an ordinary explanation. Or maybe not.

Evaluation:

Unidentified, insufficient information.

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 March 16, 2016 Creation, [gei1], [jbu1], [spa1].
1.0 Patrick Gross March 16, 2016 First published.

Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict



 Feedback  |  Top  |  Back  |  Forward  |  Map  |  List |  Home
This page was last updated on March 16, 2016.