ALSACAT-2005-08-14-ALTKIRCH-1
On August 14, 2005, I received an email from someone, not anonymous, telling what would be a UFO sighting.
The sender indicated that he and three friends were watching the sky from the vicinity of Altkirch, on the night of August 13 to 14, 2005, because it was "the night of the shooting stars."
Around 3 a.m. this August 14, 2005, they discovered that a white light was "coming out" of the sky.
They initially thought it was a plane, but the light that appeared increasingly intense to them was not like an airplane; they could also easily observe planes because of the proximity to the Basel Mulhouse airport.
The light approached them, growing very slowly, now resembling the glow of a star but much too intense to be a star.
They watched it for a short time since it left pretty quickly "into the stars, to disappear completely."
They could not explain this phenomenon, hence the testimony.
| Date: | August 14, 2005 |
|---|---|
| Time: | ~03:00 a.m. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | August 14, 2005 |
| Reporting delay: | Hours. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Altkirch |
| Place: | Outside near Altkirch, UFO in the sky. |
| Latitude: | 47.622 |
| Longitude: | 7.236 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 5 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 4 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adults. |
| Witness(es) types: | Four friends. |
| Reporting channel: | Reported to me by email. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | Outside near city, UFO in the sky. |
| Visibility conditions: | Night |
| UFO observed: | Yes |
| UFO arrival observed: | Yes |
| UFO departure observed: | Yes |
| Entities: | Yes |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | Puzzled. |
| Witnesses interpretation: | Not a plane, not a star. |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Possible plane or Chinese lantern. |
[Ref. op1:] REPORT SENT TO ME:
| Number: | FR0068 |
|---|---|
| Date written: | August 14, 2005 |
| Date received: | August 14, 2005 |
| Date published: | September 4, 2005 |
| Date of sighting: | August 14, 2005 |
| Place of sighting: | France, Haut-Rhin, near Altkirch |
| Original language of report: | French |
| Reported using: | |
| Unreleased information: | Name, firstname, email address |
| Investigation, additional information: | None |
| Explanation: | [Was previously:] Not looked for. Several possibilities. |
Subject: "UFO sighting"
Date: August 14, 2005
From: [firstname_name]@yahoo.fr
we were 4 friend at see the sky last night, for the night of the shooting stars in the night from saturday 13 to sunday 14 august 2005 near altkirch.
it was around 3 in the morning, when we realized that a light came out of the sky. we first thought of a plane, but this ligh of white colour which semmed more and more intense to us did not really resemble an airplane. airplanes that we can easily observe because of the proximity of the airport near our place. this light did came more and more closer to us very slowly. at this point this light resembled the gleam of a star but of a too important intensity to be one. we have looked at it during a short while for it then to go further fast in the stars to dissapear totally. we could not explain this phenomenon, hence my testimony.
[Ref. spa1:] "SPICA" UFOLOGY ASSOCIATION:
|
3/August 14. 2005 - Altkirch (68)
Title : strange light in the haut rhin
Message : we were 4 to watch the sky last night, for the night of the shooting stars in the naight from saturday 13 to sunday 14 august 2005 near altkirch. it was about 3 in the morning, when we noticed that a light is ome out of the sky. we first thought of a plane, but this light of white color that appeared more and more intense to us did not resemble indeed to a plane. planes that we can easily observe because of the proximity of the airport near out home.
this light came more and more close to us very slowly. at this moment the light looks like the gleam of a star but of an intensity too important to be one. we watched it in the time of a short while for it then to go away again quite fast in the stars to then disappear totally. we did not explain this phenomenon to ourselves, hence my testimony on this website.
greetings
[Ref. rnc1:] "RESEAU NATIONAL CIVIL DE SURVEILLANCE DU CIEL":
08/14/2005 - 03:00 a.m. - Haut-Rhin (68) - Intense light
Witness report picked up on the SPICA association website:
http://www.spica.org/faq.php?lng=fr&pg=&id=13
Quote:
Title: strange light in the haut rhin
Message: we were 4 friend at see the sky last night, for the night of the shooting stars in the night from saturday 13 to sunday 14 august 2005 near altkirch.
it was around 3 in the morning, when we realized that a light came out of the sky. we first thought of a plane, but this light of white colour which semmed more and more intense to us did not really resemble an airplane. airplanes that we can easily observe because of the proximity of the airport near our place. this light did came more and more closer to us very slowly. at this point this light resembled the gleam of a star but of a too important intensity to be one. we have looked at it during a short while for it then to go further fast in the stars to dissapear totally. we could not explain this phenomenon, hence my testimony.
regards
[Ref. spa2:] "SPICA" UFOLOGY ASSOCIATION:
|
ALTKIRCH (68) Sunday, August 14, 2005
Unknown source
It was around 3 a.m. when we noticed that a light came outof the sky. We first thought it was a plane, but this white light that seemed to us more and more intense actually did not look like a plane.
[Ref. spa4:] UFOLOGY GROUP "SPICA":
| City | Date and hour of observation | General shape Identification |
General color Hypothesis |
Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALTKIRCH | Sunday 14 August 2005 at 03:00 a.m. | luminous dot Unidentified |
White None |
Unsolved -lack of info |
|
The "Réseau National Civil de Surveillance du Ciel" ("National Civilian Sky Monitoring Network") [rnc1] indicates that the source of this report is the Alsatian ufology association SPICA, but the first source is actually my website. In the SPICA newsletter, the source is claimed "unknown" and the report is very shortened.
The international "Euroairport" of Basel - Mulhouse is located about 20 kilometers to the East from downtown Altkirch.
True, my witness stated that it was not a plane, compared with the planes he saw, often visible in the area.
However, the appearance of airliners cruising there often varies; what probably happened is that an airliner, circling there waiting for landing clearance, had its landing lights directed gradually ("more and more intense") towards the observers at a time. These powerful headlights match what is described. Continuing its turn, the airliner then seems to disappear. Clouds of fog might also have helped to create such effects.
In that area, where hills give a very good view in the direction of the Basel - Mulhouse airport, there were a number of similar cases of slow "lights" so described, mostly planes under a less usual appearance than others because of their landing lights seen during turns.
And we also have the possibility that it was a Chinese lantern.
Possible plane or Chinese lantern.
* = 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 |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | December 5, 2014 | Creation, [pgs1], [rnc1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | December 5, 2014 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | May 5, 2015 | Addition, [spa2], addition in the Discussion "In the SPICA newsletter, the source is claimed "unknown" and the report is very shortened." |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | May 10, 2015 | Addition [spa4] |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | April 25, 2018 | Addition [spa1] |
