ALSACAT-2014-01-01-MOMMENHEIMSCHWINDRATZHEIM-1
In early March 2014, I found on a "UFO" website an anonymous report of an observation on January 1st, 2014, at "3:30", lasting approximately one minute, in the Bas-Rhin, on the road between Mommenheim and Schwindratzheim.
The witness, apparently female, who was with another person, said she was "totally amazed" by what she saw, "5 light dots" that were initially motionless and then mobile, and placed like this:
*
* * *
*
The person said that the two point at the top right and bottom right "then disappeared."
Then the middle one got closer to the left, then the right one did the same and disappeared. Finally, "the second and the first dissapear one after the other."
It is obviously impossible to me not to think that it was probably Chinese lanterns launched like many others in Alsace to celebrate the New Year.
| Date: | January 1, 2014 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 03:30 a.m. |
| Duration: | ~1 minute. |
| First known report date: | March 1, 2014 or earlier. |
| Reporting delay: | Hours, weeks? |
| Department: | Bas-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Mommenheim or Schwindratzheim |
| Place: | On the road between Mommenheim and Schwindratzheim. |
| Latitude: | 48.757 |
| Longitude: | 7.619 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 1 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | ? |
| Witness(es) types: | ? |
| Reporting channel: | Web report to UFO website "Ovni-France.fr". |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | From road between two villages.? |
| 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: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Probable Chinese lanterns. |
[Ref. ofe1:] "OVNI-FRANCE.FR" WEBSITE:
Date: 01-01-2014
Department: 67 (Bas-Rhin)
Localization: mommenheim
Time: 3h30
Numbers [sic] of witnesses: 2 people
Type of observation: NL: Nocturnal Lights
Approxima [sic] duration of the observation: 1 minutes
What was seen: 5 light/sots in the sky white/pinkish
Description of the facts:
On the road between mommenheim and schwindratzheim i was totally blown by what i seen.
5 luminous dots. First motionless then in motion. Places this way:
*
* * *
*
The two then disappeared (top right and low right)
Then the one in the midle came closer to the one at the left, then that on the right also then it disapear.
Then the second and the first dissapear one after the other
chacha67
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Above: Mommenheim relative to Strasbourg and Haguenau.
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Above: Schwindratzheim, right, Mommenheim. The road stretch is 2 kilometers long.
We are on January 1st, this is New Year's Eve.
What do we do a lot in Alsace then?
Party, like elsewhere in France, but also quite often there is a launch of Chinese lanterns, the more so as firecrackers are now strongly regulated.
What does the witness describe? Chinese lanterns...
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Above: Chinese lanterns launched on July 14, 2009, Schwindratzheim.
They are red white and blue because this is the National Day.
There was also a launch at the 2013 flea market there.
Of course, diehard believers might protest that I haven't provided a "scientifically proof", so we might have to conclude that it was maybe a flotilla of alien spaceships or some "paranormal phenomenon" whose appearance and behavior was that of Chinese lanterns...
Probable Chinese lanterns.
* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.
| Main author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editeur: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | March 6, 2014 | Creation, [ofe1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 6, 2014 | First published. |
