ALSACAT:

As its name suggests, 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.

Case of Wettolsheim, on January 15, 1980:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1980-01-15-WETTOLSHEIM-1

Summary:

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."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	January 15, 1980
Time:	~11:45 p.m.
Duration:	A few seconds.
First known report date:	January 21, 1982
Reporting delay:	1 year.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Wettolsheim
Place:	Stargazing from the bed, UFO in the sky.
Latitude:	48.056
Longitude:	7.298
Uncertainty ratio:	500 m

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	1
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	0
Witness(es) ages:	?
Witness(es) types:	Male.

Ufology data:

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:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL
ALSACAT:	Probable meteor.

Sources:

[Ref. go1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:

1980, January 15

FRANCE, Wettolsheim (Alsace)

Discussion:

"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:

Evaluation:

Probable meteor.

Sources references:

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

[no1] ? Article by Jean-Marie Douchet in the Nostradamus sensation magazine, France, January 21, 1982.
[go1] * "Chronologie OVNI", web pages compiled by Godelieve Van Overmeire, Belgium, circa 1999, was at users.skynet.be/sky84985/

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	May 7, 2015	Creation, [go1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	May 7, 2015	First published.

This page was last updated on May 7, 2015.