ALSACAT-1980-01-15-WETTOLSHEIM-1
The Belgian ufologist Godelieve van Overmeire - who turned a "skeptic" later - published in her ufology catalog a story she picked from the sensationalist magazine Nostra for January 1982.
The observation is dated January 15, 1980, and the place given as Wettolsheim in Alsace:
"I was lying on my bed. It was about 11:45 p.m.. I looked at the stars in the sky when I saw an object having the shape of a pear. The thing of dazzling whiteness, was surrounded by a clearly defined blue border. The craft was going so fast that it could not be a plane. After a few seconds it disappeared over Turckheim."
I later found the primary source, the newspaper L'Alsace for January 17, 1980, which headlined "A UFO in the sky of Wettolsheim?" and reported:
It may well be that a resident of Wettolsheim, Mr. Sch., observed in the night of Tuesday to Wednesday the passage of a UFO. M. Sch. tells:
"I was lying on my bed. It was around 11:45 p.m. and I was looking at the stars in the sky when I saw a pear-shaped object. The "thing" was white. glowing and surrounded by a well-defined bluish border. The craft was going so fast that it could not be a plane. After a few seconds, the object disappeared above Turckheim."
There is no evidence that this object (flying at a relatively low altitude) was a UFO but its sighting greatly disturbed Mr. Sch. who was very skeptical about the matter before Tuesday's event. He now says: "I'm a bit like Saint Thomas: I only believe what I see. Since I saw the thing, UFOs no longer make me laugh anymore!"
| Date: | January 15, 1980 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ~11:45 p.m. |
| Duration: | A few seconds. |
| First known report date: | January 21, 1982 |
| Reporting delay: | 1 year. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Wettolsheim |
| Place: | Stargazing from the bed, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 48.056 |
| Longitude: | 7.298 |
| Uncertainty ratio: | 500 m |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | ? |
| Witness(es) types: | Male. |
| Reporting channel: | Sensation magazine Nostra. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | Stargazing from the bed, 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: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Probable meteor. |
[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":
|
It may well be that a resident of Wettolsheim, Mr. Sch., observed in the night of Tuesday to Wednesday the passage of a UFO. M. Sch. tells:
"I was lying on my bed. It was around 11:45 p.m. and I was looking at the stars in the sky when I saw a pear-shaped object. The "thing" was white. glowing and surrounded by a well-defined bluish border. The craft was going so fast that it could not be a plane. After a few seconds, the object disappeared above Turckheim."
There is no evidence that this object (flying at a relatively low altitude) was a UFO but its sighting greatly disturbed Mr. Sch. who was very skeptical about the matter before Tuesday's event. He now says: "I'm a bit like Saint Thomas: I only believe what I see. Since I saw the thing, UFOs no longer make me laugh anymore!"
[Ref. rln1:] NEWSPAPER "LE REPUBLICAIN LORRAIN":
|
A resident of Wetolsheim [sic] saw, in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, a ufo in the sky. According to him, "the thing was dazzling white and surrounded by a well-defined bluish border."
The resident of Wetolsheim is convinced that it is indeed a ufo and declared "since I saw the thing, ufos do not make me laugh anymore".
[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
1980, January 15
FRANCE, Wettolsheim (Alsace)
"I was lying on my bed. It was about 11:45 p.m.. I looked at the stars in the sky when I saw an object having the shape of a pear. The thing of dazzling whiteness, was surrounded by a clearly defined blue border. The craft was going so fast that it could not be a plane. After a few seconds it disappeared over Turckheim (Jean-Marie DOUCHET - Nostra - 1/21/1982)
|
"NOSTRA", or "Nostradamus", was a totally unbridled sensationalist magazine publishing "news" of the most insane kind on weird topics. Example in issue #12 for June 1972:
|
(The article claims that G.T. Edwards, head professor at M.I.T. has the prrof that beings exactly like us live on planet Saturn, except that they have no sex as they reproduce by parthenogenesis). |
Or:
|
(The article claims that the ancient Egyptians came from outer space.) |
Suffice to say that fishing "cases" in this magazine does not seem to be much evidence of seriousness...
That said, what this person describes has nothing wacky, only his interpretation is probably wrong: it is a description perfectly compatible with the passage of a meteor:
Probable meteor.
* = 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 | May 7, 2015 | Creation, [goe1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | May 7, 2015 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | June 5, 2021 | Additions [lae1], [rln1]. In the Summary, addition of the information frpm [lae1]. |
