The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 23-Oct-54-Battenheim.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper Le Nouveau Rhin Français, in their German-speaking issue for October 26, 1954, reported that on October 23, 1954, at 08:30 p.m., Mr. S. D., farmer in Battenheim, was in front of his house, preparing to cross the road, when a very strong light at the top of the street caught his attention.
He first thought it was a car's headlight, and that this light was dazzling, but the beam was actually much stronger than that of a car's headlight.
He realized that this light was located at approximately fifty meters above the ground, and came from a spherical object.
To make sure that it was not an illusion, he went closer to the phenomenon. As he was only at a few meters of the dazzling sphere, it suddenly changed its color to take the colors of a rainbow, and suddenly rose vertically.
As it was going away, it seemed to change its flight position and take the shape of a plate.
[Ref. nrf1:] "LE NOUVEAU RHIN FRANCAIS" NEWSPAPER:
During last week the "unknown flying objects" as they are called circulated several times around Mulhouse, or even in the city. Thus we have been reported from Dornach that one of them stopped in a gully. Friday, residents of Wittenheim witnessed the show of a "flying disc", and Saturday evening in Battenheim Mister S. D. was the witness of an unexplainable incident. In Battenheim eight days ago already a similar event was observed, but not with the same precision.
Mister S. D., farmer in Battenheim, was at 08:30 p.m. in front of his house and was preparing to cross the road when at the top of the street, a very sharp light caught his attention. He first thought it was a car's headlight and even thought that its light was blinding.
The beam was however much stronger than that of a car. Mister D. realized that it was located at about fifty meters above the ground surface. It came from a big object of spherical shape.
To make sure that it was not an illusion, he went closer to the phenomenon. As he was only at a few meters of this dazzling sphere, it suddenly changed its color to take the colors of the rainbow and rose suddenly vertically.
As it was going away it seemed to change its flight position and take the shape of a plate.
[Ref. cvn1:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:
The journalist Christian Valentin notes in his file an observation on October 23, 1954 at 08:30 p.m.:
An inhabitant of Battenheim returning at his place prepares to make a U-turn in front of his home. He is then dazzled by what he initially thinks is a headlight of vehicle.
He realizes that the light comes from a point at 50 meters above ground-level and that it comes from a machine of spherical shape.
To check that he is not dreaming, the witness approaches that. The machine becomes suddenly multicolored and then flies away fast and vertically. When it moves away, the machine seems to take the shape of a disc.
[Ref. cvn2:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:
Former journalist Christian Valentin published in 2012 a very interesting book telling the story of UFO sightings, flying saucers sightings, in Alsace, from the beginning to 1980.
In this book, he reports that the case of Saturday, October 23, 1954, in Battenheim in the Haut-Rhin was told as follows in the newspaper Le Nouveau Rhin Français in their bilingual issue of Tuesday, October 26, 1954:
During last week the "unknown flying objects" as they are called circulated several times around Mulhouse, or even in the city. Thus we have been reported from Dornach that one of them stopped in a gully. Friday, residents of Wittenheim witnessed the show of a "flying disc", and Saturday evening in Battenheim Mister S. D. was the witness of an unexplainable incident. In Battenheim eight days ago already a similar event was observed, but not with the same precision.
Mister S. D., farmer in Battenheim, was at 08:30 p.m. in front of his house and was preparing to cross the road when at the top of the street, a very sharp light caught his attention. He first thought it was a car's headlight and even thought that its light was blinding.
The beam was however much stronger than that of a car. Mister D. realized that it was located at about fifty meters above the ground surface. It came from a big object of spherical shape.
To make sure that it was not an illusion, he went closer to the phenomenon. As he was only at a few meters of this dazzling sphere, it suddenly changed its color to take the colors of the rainbow and rose suddenly vertically.
As it was going away it seemed to change its flight position and take the shape of a plate.
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Possible extraterrestrial visitors.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Battenheim, Haut-Rhin, disc, luminous, sphere, multicolor, colors, manoeuvre, motionless, fast, vertical, object, craft, light, dazzled, night
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | September 24, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 25, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. |
| 3.0 | Patrick Gross | February 8, 2015 | Additions [nrf1], [cvn2], Summary. |
