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 Bourtzwiller, on February 25, 1978:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1978-02-25-BOURTZWILLER-1

Summary:

The regional newspaper L'Alsace for February 25, 1978, had reported that there was a strong emotion the day before, February 25, 1978, at 7:15 p.m., for four people in a building in the street of Kaysersberg, in Mulhouse-Bourtzwiller.

They claimed to have seen a UFO in the sky.

These four people were taking the springtime air on their 3rd -floor balcony when, by their own description, a kind of big ball appeared, a bright orange ball. It was rotating, sometimes very bright, sometimes matt.

The object stopped above the cemetery, and then suddenly "disappeared" very quickly towards Illzach. The phenomenon lasted about five minutes.

The newspaper wondered if it was a UFO again, or a weather balloon illuminated by the setting sun and carried away by the wind.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	February 25, 1978
Time:	~07:15 p.m.
Duration:	~5 minutes.
First known report date:	February 25, 1978
Reporting delay:	Hour, 1 day.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Mulhouse
Place:	From a balcony on the 3rd floor of a building on rue de Kaysersberg in Bourtzwiller, UFO in the sky.
Latitude:	47.774
Longitude:	7.326
Uncertainty radius:	300 m

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	4
Number of known witnesses:	?
Number of named witnesses:	0
Witness(es) ages:	?
Witness(es) types:	Residents.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	The regional Press.
Type of location:	From a balcony on the 3rd floor of a suburb building, UFO in the sky.
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:	Shocked or amazed.
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL or DD
ALSACAT:	Unidentified.

Sources:

[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":

A UFO last evening in Bourtzwiller?

Strong emotion yesterday evening towards 7:15 p.m., for four residents of a building of the street of Kaysersberg, in Mulhouse-Bourtzwiller, who state they saw an unidentified flying object (UFO) in the sky.

These four people were taking the (springtime-like) air on their balcony of the thirs floor when, according to their own description, a kind of large ball appeared. An orange luminous balloon, which rotated, sometimes very shining, sometimes chechmate. The object stopped above the cemetery, then suddenly, disappeared, very fast, in direction of Illzach. The phenomenon reportedly lasted approximately five minutes. A UFO (one more) or a weather balloon illuminated by the setting sun and pulled by the wind?

[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":

ON FEBRUARY 25, 1978. BOURTZWILLER. MULHOUSE (Haut Rhin)

At about 7:15 p.m., 4 residents of a building on Kaysersberg street, observed a large orange ball rotating on itself. The object stopped above the cemetery and disappeared in the direction of Illzach. The observation lasted about 5 mn.

("L'Alsace" for 2/26/78)

[Ref. aldl:] MRS. GUEUDELOT, "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" ARCHIVE:

FEBRUARY 25, 1978.-

BOURTZWILLER - MULHOUSE. - (68)

Hour: about 7:15 p.m.

Four residents of a building on rue Kayserserg observed a large orange ball rotating on itself. The object stopped above the cemetery and disappeared in the direction of ILLZACH. The observation lasted about 5 minutes.

L'ALSACE FOR FEBRUARY 26, 1978.

LDLN Nr 174 (APRIL 1978) P. 32.

[Ref. mye1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LES MYSTERES DE L'EST":

Réf. F/85/68780225 (01)

Around 7:45 p.m., in Bourtzwiller, Mulhouse, 4 inhabitants of a building on rue Kayserberg, observe a large orange ball spinning on itself. The object stops above the cemetery and disappears in the direction of Illzach. The sighting lasted about 5 minutes.

Source L.D.L.N. nr 147, p. 32 - L'Alsace for 02/26/1978.

The breakdown of the case number goes like in this example: F/98/88781202 (01):

F = France
/98/ = group code (85 = Presse)
88 = department code
78 = year
12 = month (00 if unknown)
02 = day (00 if unknown)
(01) = numer of observation for that date, department and group considered.

This for this case: France, source de presse, Haut-Rhin, 25 février 1978.

[Ref. cnu1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "CNEGU":

Ref. F/85/68780225 (01)

Around 7:45 p.m., in Bourtzwiller, Mulhouse, 4 residents of a building on rue Kayserberg observed a large orange ball rotating on itself. The object stops above the cemetery and disappears in the direction of Illzach. The observation lasted about 5 minutes.

Source: L.D.L.N. nr 147, p. 32 - L'Alsace for 02/26/1978.

[Ref. isu1:] "ISUNDGAU" BLOG:

That blog presents several cases in Alsace they fished on the web, including this one::

February 1978 in Mulhouse-Bourtzwiller (article published in the newspaper L'Alsace, on February 25, 1978)

"A UFO yesterday evening in Bourtzwiller?"

There is no source reference for this case, cited among other cases. There is simply, at the end of the article, a series of links to several ufology websites and web pages, including a link to the old URL of the home page of my own website.

[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 tells that the sighting of Saturday, February 25, 1978, in Bourtzwiller, was published like this in the newspaper L'ALSACE for Sunday, February 26, 1978:

A UFO yesterday evening in BOURTZWILLER?

[Ref. spa4:] "SPICA" UFOLOGY ASSOCIATION:

City	Date and hour of observation	General shape Identification	General color Hypothesis	Conclusion
BOURTZWILLER	Friday 24 February 1978 at 19:15	ball, balle or melon (3D) Unidentified	orange None	Unsolved -lack of info

Discussion:

Bourtzwiller is an old commune of Haut-Rhin integrated since 1947 in the commune of Mulhouse, of which it is the most populated of the sixteen districts.

"Rue de Kaysersberg" has many multi-storey buildings; it is hardly possible to find a more precise direction of observation than the disappearance towards the East-South-East. There is, unfortunately, no angle of elevation, no angular size. So, a balloon - as suggested by the newspaper and silenced by LDLN - or an extraterrestrial craft?

Evaluation:

Unidentified.

Sources references:

* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.

[lae1] * Article in the regional newspaper L'Alsace, France, February 26, 1978.
[ldl1] * Press digest in the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #174, page 32, April 1978.
[ald1] * Record of the archive by Mrs. Gueudelot, of the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, not dated, published circa 2020 by the ufology association SCEAU, France, at https://sceau-archives-ovni.org/fonds/fond_gueudelot/base_guy_jpr_fiches_gueudelot.html
[mye1] * "Catalogue des observations du Nord-Est de la Fance pour l'année 1978", in the ufology magazine Les Mystères de l'Est, CNEGU, France, annual, #9, page 4/28, 2004.
[cnu1] * "Catalogue année 1978, catalogue by the Comité Nord-Est des Groupements Ufologiques (CNEGU), France, page 4, new edition 2007.
[isu1] * "OVNI en Alsace", article on the iSundgau blog, France, January 31, 2011, at http://isundgau.over-blog.com/article-ovni-en-alsace-2-65957531.html
[cvn2] * "Mythes et Réalités des Phénomènes Aériens Non Identifiés - Histoire des soucoupes volantes en Alsace jusqu'en 1980", book by Christian Valentin, Grimoires d'Alsace publishers, France, pp 131-132, 2012.
[spa4] * "DEPARTEMENT 68 - HAUT-RHIN", listing of UFO sighting reports by the Alsatian ufology group SPICA, Alsace, France, not dated, found in May 2015, at http://www.spica.org/Page_Listing_68.htm

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	August 24, 2017	Creation, [lae1], [ldl1], [isu1], [cvn2].
1.0	Patrick Gross	August 24, 2017	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	May 22, 2021	Addition [mye1].
1.2	Patrick Gross	January 20, 2023	Addition [cnu1].
1.3	Patrick Gross	September 7, 2023	Addition [ald1].

This page was last updated on September 7, 2023.