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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 Gundershoffen, on January 19, 2019:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2019-01-19-GUNDERSHOFFEN-1

Summary:

A person who remained anonymous reported in 2019 to the UFO Website OVNI-France.fr having observed in the company of another person three luminous orange balls on January 19, 2019, at 6:45 p.m., in Gundershoffen in the Bas-Rhin.

They would have seen a first ball in the southwest, which had been the size of a very large star; then a second moving from southwest to northeast, and larger than the first.

Then a third ball passed over their house, being the size of the full moon, going from North to West.

The three balls converged to the same place west of the observers; they moved slowly and then, at their point of convergence, seemed to shrink and then die out very slowly.

The sighting is said to have lasted about 10 minutes.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: January 19, 2019
Time: 6:45 p.m.
Duration: 10 minutes.
First known report date: 2019
Reporting delay: Day, weeks, months.

Geographical data:

Department: Bas-Rhin
City: Gundershoffen
Place: In or near home.
Latitude: 48.905
Longitude: 7.661
Uncertainty radius: 2 km.

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: 2
Number of known witnesses: 1
Number of named witnesses: 0
Witness(es) ages: Probable adult or aged.
Witness(es) types: Probable local couple.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: By the Web to the UFO Website "OVNI-Fracnce.fr".
Type of location: In or near home, a house.
Visibility conditions: Day.
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: Puzzled.
Witnesses interpretation: ?

Classifications:

Hynek: DD
ALSACAT: Probable Chinese lanterns.

Sources:

[Ref. ofe1:] SITE WEB "OVNI FRANCE":

Copie d'écran.

01/19/2019 - (Dep.67) - 3 bright orange balls

Date: 01-19-2019

Department: 67 (Bas-Rhin)

Location: GUNDERSHOFFEN

Time: 6:45 p.m.

Numbers [sic] of witnesses: 2 people

Observation type: DD: Daylight Disks

Approximate duration of the observation: 10 minutes

What has been seen: 3 bright orange balls

Description of the facts:

1st ball observed in the southwest. Size of a very big star

2nd moving South West to North East. Size greater than the first ball observed.

3rd: just above our house, Ball the size of the full moon. North to West movement

The 3 balls converged towards the same spot (west of our observation point).

Luminous orange balls moving slowly and then, at their point of convergence, seem to narrow and then extinguish very slowly.

anonymous

Discussion:

Map.

Everything in the report makes me think that it was three Chinese lanterns.

Since 2005, the Chinese lanterns constituted the bulk of the "testimonies" which one finds on Websites about UFOs and publishing primarily such "testimonies" brought via the web and whose only treatment is in general the publication, without any information on a possible cause, without investigation or research.

As these miniature hot air balloons are generally launched at private or public parties, they are most often seen on Saturday evenings and during calendar holidays such as New Year's Day or July 14, between 10 p.m. and midnight. They are then generally released in clusters. But sometimes the purchaser makes a test a few days before, sometimes with only one lantern.

Chinese lantern.

Above: a Chinese lantern.

Evaluation:

Probable Chinese lanterns.

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 June 30, 2021 Creation, [ofe1].
1.0 Patrick Gross June 30, 2021 First published.

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This page was last updated on June 30, 2021.