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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 Obernai, in July 2006:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2006-07-00-OBERNAI-1

Summary:

In the 2000s, the Swiss ufology group G.R.E.P.I. collected testimonies sent to them by email and published them, once anonymized, on their website.

One of the accounts came from "Frederick" who had already reported two sightings of a zigzagging "bright spot" observed in Obernai.

This time, he reported that on the night of July 20 to 21, 2006, around midnight, he was with his girlfriend on the windowsill of their apartment, watching the jets of water spraying the grass, when they suddenly heard a sound similar to that of an airplane. But when they turned their gaze "to the object, it was nothing like an airplane, approaching, diamond-shaped, with several lights on its sides and a luminous arc on the right side it seems to me."

He indicates that the object flew very low and crossed the condominium before moving away in a straight line in front of them, always with the noise of an airplane, decreasing. The straight line soon became a wide curve on the left, then on the right before it disappeared.

He attached a "very poor quality video of the event, and a photo which I managed to take, but the object was already very far away"; in fact what we should see on the images is not obvious.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: July 2006
Time: 00:00
Duration: ?
First known report date: 2014
Reporting delay: Months,

Geographical data:

Department: Bas-Rhin
City: Obernai
Place: De la fenêtre de l'appartement.
Latitude: 48.491
Longitude: 7.481
Uncertainty radius: 2 km.

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: 2
Number of known witnesses: 1
Number of named witnesses: 0
Witness(es) ages: Young adults or adults.
Witness(es) types: Resident couple.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: Email to the Swiss ufology group GREPI.
Type of location: Appartment window.
Visibility conditions: Night.
UFO observed: Yes.
UFO arrival observed: Yes.
UFO departure observed: Yes
Entities: Yes.
Photographs: Yes.
Sketch(s) by witness(es): No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): No.
Witness(es) feelings: Puzzled.
Witnesses interpretation: Not a plane.

Classifications:

Hynek: NL
ALSACAT: Insufficient information, possible helicopter or plane.

Sources:

[Ref. gri1:] REPORT ON THE G.R.E.P.I. WEBSITE:

*****

Madam, Sir,

My name is Frederick, and I had already contacted you about a recent appearance in the sky of Obernai (bright white dot making zigzag, I let you do the connection).

Well... in July (2006 - GREPI) at the beginning of the month, I was with a friend and my girlfriend in the municipal campground in town. After a few minutes of discussion and others, we saw again this time all three of us, a dot of light, thinner this time in the sky, making zigzag fast before disappearing into the sky. I immediately made the connection with the one I already told you about... But this appearance is not the reason for my email.

On the night of July 20 to 21 (2006), around midnight, I was at the edge of the window of our apartment with my girlfriend, trying to observe the water jets that watered the lawn. Suddenly, we heard a loud noise like an airplane. ... But when our eyes directed to the object, it was not an airplane, approaching, the shape of a diamond, with several lights on its sides and a luminous arc on the right to me it seems. It was flying very low and crossed the condo before moving away in a straight line in front of us (see sketch). Always with the sound of an airplane tapering. But the straight line soon became a wide curve to the left, then the right before disappearing ...

The common thing is the zigzag before the disappearance and the place of observation.

Thank you to contact me if more precision is needed.

Attached is a video of very poor quality of the event and a photo I managed to take, but the object was already far away. I'm really mad at me that have not grabbed the camera faster, but I was so fascinated.



Scan.

(We modified the settings - GREPI)

Scan.

Best regards,

Frédéric (Obernai - France)

[Comment by GREPI:] As of us, we do not understand what there is to see on the video and the photo... - GREPI

Discussion:

Map.

On the photo, I can make this out:

Carte.

I performed an enlargement without smoothing and a slight increase in contrast. The "thing" is quite heavily affected by JPEG compression; I think I see three "weak" lights, probably duplicated by a motion effect, and a "stronger" light which could be a star because it is similar to the stars that can be seen elsewhere in the image.

On the video, there is nothing to see, but that could easily be explained by the video compression which would have erased the barely visible thing.

I don't know what was seen, but I cannot rule out that it was an airplane or a helicopter, as the noise would suggest.

Evaluation:

Insufficient information, possible helicopter or plane.

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 14, 2023 Creation, [gri1].
1.0 Patrick Gross March 14, 2023 First published.

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This page was last updated on March 14, 2023.