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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 Basel - Mulhouse, on October 31, 2005:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2005-10-31-BALEMULHOUSE-1

Summary:

On November 12, 2005, a member of the Alsatian ufology association SPICA posted on a UFO sightings forum a testimony that his association had received.

The witness said that on Sunday, October 31, 2005, at night, he was driving "on a French motorway from Basel to Strasbourg (E-25 maybe?)."

Between Basel and Mulhouse, about ten kilometers north of the Basel-Mulhouse airport, at about 8 p.m., his attention was drawn to an object in the sky, reminiscent of an airliner in landing approach.

After a few tens of seconds, he had approached the object enough to find that not only it was stationary at about a hundred meters from the ground according to his estimate, "almost exactly above the highway", but it also let clearly see three round white lights arranged in a triangle, with a smaller red irregularly flashing light, more or less in the center.

He estimated that the diameter of the object must have been about 15 to 20 meters, noting that it is difficult to estimate this precisely.

He then "instantly remembered the famous 'Belgian wave' of UFOs in the early 1990s," saying that this object had the same look as those he had seen on the TV news.

He said the sky was clear at the observation place, the outside temperature was around 12-15°C.

He ensures that he is someone rational, but that he was puzzled by what he saw, and hoped that "other motorists who saw the same thing that night will also give a testimony because I'm very curious to know what it was."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: October 31, 2005
Time: ~08:00 p.m.
Duration: ?
First known report date: November 12, 2005
Reporting delay: 12 days.

Geographical data:

Department: Haut-Rhin
City: Barthenheim, Sierentz
Place: Driving in a car on the A35 about 10 lm north of the Basel Mulhouse airport, UFO in the sky.
Latitude: 47.657
Longitude: 7.485
Uncertainty radius: 3 km

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: To the SPICA Alsatian ufology association.
Type of location: Driving in a car on a highway in line with airport landing strip, UFO in the sky.
Visibility conditions: Night
UFO observed: Yes
UFO arrival observed: No
UFO departure observed: ?
Entities: No
Photographs: No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es): No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): No.
Witness(es) feelings: Puzzled.
Witnesses interpretation: Landing plane, then UFO like in the Belgian flap.

Classifications:

Hynek: ?
ALSACAT: ?

Sources:

[Ref. gri1:] "GREPI" UFOLOGY GROUP:

Screenshot.

Hello,

Here it is, I'm not very well versed in UFO stories etc. but on Oct. 31, 2005 I was on the highway between Basel (Switzerland) and Colmar (France) and around 8:00 p.m., driving in the direction of Colmar, I would say about 10 km further than the airport Bâle-Mulhouse, I clearly saw a triangle... well, rather 3 white lights in a triangle, with another red light that blinked irregularly between the 3, slightly off-center. It was floating almost high above the highway. I know that Basel-Mulhouse airport is not very far from here, so my first reaction when I saw this thing was: "oh well, a jet in the landing phase with the landing lights on". Then like 20 seconds later, finding that the object had not been on the left or right of my field of vision and that it seemed to be getting closer, in alignment with the road: "errrr ... Will it land on the highway !!! O_O ". Then a few seconds later, to find that it was downright immobile, a hundred meters high (at rough estimate), and that I was going to pass under ... There, seeing clearly the 3 white lights and the other red in the center, I remembered news reports on similar objects sighted in Germany and Belgium (the famous "Belgian wave" - the "thing" I saw is similar in appearance to the one appearing on the famous photo called "Petit-Rechain", but I have not seen it that close). And my blood froze, because at that moment I passed just below and could not see it anymore.

I thought it was better not to stop on the emergency lane to watch. In fact I had taken a risk watching this ... thing ... while I was at 130km / h on the highway, with normal traffic, and surely others had seen it too. So if I stopped and someone, who also had his eyes in the air was deported to the right and came back in ...

On the other hand, since that night, I have not stopped looking for answers, clues, similar testimonies. I have an oppressive need to know what it was. As I said, I am not a fervent defender of "ufological" theses. But when you have it in the face, you'll have to convince yourself that you have not seen anything ...

Further information:

Weather conditions: clear sky, outside temperature, I would say approx. 10-15 ° C

In which general direction were you looking? North, I would say

How was your attention drawn to the phenomenon? A big plane with lit landing lights that remains "frozen" in the sky without moving

Appearance: 3 white lights in isosceles triangle, 1 red light inside (see attached pictures), the red light in the center flashed irregularly

Color(s): white and red for the lights (black for the body of the object?)

Did the object seem solid? Yes

What was the position of the object? horizontal

Apparent size: approx. 7-10mm at arm's length

At what approximate distance did you find the phenomenon? At close range, I was about 100-150m below, about

If the phenomenon was bright, please describe the brilliance: shining like Sirius, but wider, I would say

At what apparent altitude do you locate the phenomenon? Between 150 and 200m, at rough estimate

What was the total duration of the observation? In all about 3-5min

How did the observation end? I went under it and the roof of my car hid it, nothing seen in the mirrors later

Have you noticed one or more planes before, during or after your observation? Probably, I do not remember very well, but having taken the same route several times, I saw airliners in the vicinity, within 20km I think, but I made the difference between a plane of line and this ... thing

Have you had any health problems during or after your observation? Uh ... psychological, maybe ... I was a little obsessed with the thing, because the only thing that it corresponds to is the Belgian wave of early 90

Number of witnesses: 1 (other motorists certainly had the possibility to see it too, traffic was normal)

I am a 3d graphic designer by profession. It is not difficult for me to make a reproduction of my observation. On the other hand, understand that I did this for a purpose we can not be more serious, it is not a "publicity stunt" or a joke. I actually made this observation and my testimony is sincere.

I enclose 3 images:

Figure 1 represents the moment I paid attention to the phenomenon, believing it was a plane

Figure 2 represents the best view I have of the phenomenon, with all the details that I could describe. I repeat that the red light was flashing, but irregularly

the map shows the location of the observation, pretty much, I think (note the alignment with the airstrip at the bottom of the image ...)

Alain (La Chaux-de-Fonds - Switzerland)

PS: what I saw is perfectly identical to this video: http://ovi.org.free.fr/Videos/Videos_Belgique.htm
I'm not trying to advertise for this site, this said.

excerpt from this video - GREPI

*****

[Ref. spa4:] ASSOCIATION D'UFOLOGIE "SPICA":

Screenshot.

October 31, 2005 Between Basel and Colmar

Source: Base OVNI

I was driving Sunday evening, October 31, 2005, on a French motorway linking Basel to Strasbourg. Between Basel and Colmar, I would say about ten km north of the Basel-Mulhouse airport, around 08:00 p.m., my attention was drawn to an object in the sky, reminiscent of an airliner in landing approach.

After a few dozens of seconds, I had come close enough to the object to find that not only was it stationary, about a hundred meters from the ground I would say, almost exactly over the highway, but also that it clearly showed three white and round lights, arranged in a triangle, with a smaller red light, blinking irregularly, more or less in the center. At first sight, I would say that the diameter of the object was about 20m, difficult to say accurately.

I then instantly remembered the famous "Belgian wave" of UFOs, in the early 1990s. This object had the same look as those I had seen on TV news...

Some details on the conditions of the observation:

date: Sunday, October 31, 2005

hour: around 8 p.m., pretty much

weather: clear sky at the place of observation

outside temperature: I would say around 12 - 15 ° C (my car does not have an on board computer)

I am rational, but I must say that I am disturbed by what I saw. I hope other motorists who saw the same thing that night will also be able to testify, because I am very curious to know what it was

[Ref. spa1:] "SPICA" UFOLOGY GROUP:

Scan.

Spica.57
Visitor
2 messages Localization : Moselle

Posted November 12, 2005, at 06:34 p.m.

This is the witness report received on our SPICA website

Hello,

I was driving by car on Sunday, October 31, 2005 in the evening, on a French motorway from Basel to Strasbourg (the E-25 maybe?). Between Basel and Mulhouse, I would say about ten miles north of the Basel-Mulhouse airport, around 08:00 p.m., my attention was drawn to an object in the sky, reminiscent of an airliner in landing approach.

After a few tens of seconds, I had approached enough of the object to find that not only it was stationary at about a hundred meters from the ground I would say, almost exactly above the highway, but that it clearly let see 3 round white lights arranged in a triangle, with a smaller red light flashing irregularly, more or less in the center. At first glance, I would say that the diameter of the object must have been about 15 to 20m, hard to say exactly.

Then I instantly remembered the famous "Belgian wave" of UFOs in the early 1990s. This object had the same appearance as those I had seen on the news...

Some details on the conditions of observation:

date : Sunday, October 31, 2005

hour : at about 08:00 p.m., approximately

weather : clear sky at the place of the observation

external temperature: i would say about 12 - 15°C (my car does not have an onboard computer)

I am a rational, but I must say that I am disturbed by what I saw. I hope that other motorists who saw the same thing that night will also give a testimony because I'm very curious to know what it was.

Best regards,

[Ref. dna1:] NEWSPAPER "DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE":

Scan.

Focus

FROM MULHOUSE TO
STRASBOURG

Latest reported cases

Here are the latest cases of unexplained phenomena reported to Alsatian ufologists such as Patrick Gross, Christian Comtesse or Christian Morgenthaler.

[... other cases...]

In April, June and October 2005, the same phenomenon (always a large luminous triangle) was spotted respectively above Schirmeck, south of Strasbourg and in the surroundings of Mulhouse.

Note: "same phenomenon" refers not to a "luminous triangle" but to a triangular dark mass with lights at the corners and the center.

[Ref. cue1:] "LA CENTRALE UFOLOGIQUE":

UFO testimonies

Map of the testimonies deposited othe the network of La Centrale Ufologique until now

Between Basel and Mulhouse 10/31/2005

Hello,

I was driving by car on Sunday, October 31, 2005 in the evening, on a French motorway from Basel to Strasbourg (the E-25 maybe?). Between Basel and Mulhouse, I would say about ten miles north of the Basel-Mulhouse airport, around 08:00 p.m., my attention was drawn to an object in the sky, reminiscent of an airliner in landing approach.

After a few tens of seconds, I had approached enough of the object to find that not only it was stationary at about a hundred meters from the ground I would say, almost exactly above the highway, but that it clearly let see 3 round white lights arranged in a triangle, with a smaller red light flashing irregularly, more or less in the center. At first glance, I would say that the diameter of the object must have been about 15 to 20m, hard to say exactly.

continued (http://www.i-services.net/membres/forum/messages.php?uid=45691&sid=19573&idsujet=831991&pgi=0) [This is a broken link.]

[Ref. spa3:] UFOLOGY GROUP "SPICA":

Scan.

MULHOUSE (68) Monday, October 31, 2005

Testimony received by SPICA

At around 08:00 p.m., my attention was drawn to an object in the sky, reminiscent of an airliner during landing approach. After a few tens of seconds, I had approached enough of the object to find out that not only it was stationary at about a hundred meters from the ground I would say, almost right above the highway, but also that it clearly let see 3 round white lights, arranged in a triangle, with a smaller red light flashing irregularly, more or less in the center.

Discussion:

Map.

Map.

The motorist was, he said, on the highway at about ten kilometers to the north of the Basel Mulhouse airport.

The map allows to understand the situation: he was about the blue dot is on the A35 motorway, and this is perfectly in line with the runway of the airport, visible on the lower right part of the map.

There, very often, airliners in landing approach seem to be "stationary" to motorists and are interpreted as UFOs because of this illusion.

I know this perfectly well: I must have made the same trip there more than a hundred times, often at night, for example when going home after skiing in the Swiss Alps, and I saw the apparent immobility of approaching airplanes.

So, with a witness aware of the Belgian UFO wave, indicating that he initially thought it was an approaching aircraft, for me, the case is clear: this is almost with certainty another case of an airliner in landing approached mistaken for a UFO.

It is a fact that as presented on TV, the UFOs of the Belgium flap were reduced to something like this, three bright white lights and a flashing red light in the middle. But the reports were very often not that simple at all. The "white lights" were often projectors directed downwards to the ground, the triangular shape was often really visible, the immobility was often real, noted by witnesses standing near the UFO, not driving on the approach path of landing airliners. Other features such as a lack of sound when it should have been heard if it was a plane, other details such a the red light flying off the main structure, make it impossible to decide they were all just planes in landing approach.

My documentation of the "Belgium flap" is here.

Evaluation:

Landing plane.

Sources references:

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

File history:

Authoring:

Main author: Patrick Gross
Contributors: None
Reviewers: None
Editor: Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version: Create/changed by: Date: Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross December 4, 2014 Creation, [spa1].
1.0 Patrick Gross December 4, 2014 First published.
1.1 Patrick Gross December 6, 2014 Addition ¨[cue1].
1.1 Patrick Gross May 5, 2015 Addition, [spa3].
1.2 Patrick Gross March 17, 2018 Addition [gri1].
1.3 Patrick Gross April 25, 2018 Addition [spa4].
1.4 Patrick Gross February 17, 2023 Addition [dna1].

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This page was last updated on February 17, 2023.