ALSACAT -> Home 

Cette page en françaisCliquez!

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.

Previous case Next case >

Case of Saverne, on September 26, 2006:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2006-09-26-SAVERNE-1

Summary:

On September 29, 2006, I received a non-anonymous email from someone reporting what he called a "simple observation."

He reported to live in Saverne in the Bas-Rhin, and to have seen on September 26, 2006, around 8:55 p.m., about 10 minutes after the start of the soccer game Lyon - Bucharest, as he let his dog out, a phenomenon that had caught his attention.

He wanted to let me know about it just because he had read on my website a recent report from the North of France a bit later on the same date.

He had seen due east in a clear sky, a white steady light about 3-4 times stronger and bigger than the brightest visible stars. After 5 seconds of observation, the light faded and disappeared while appearing to follow an arc trajectory downwards. He specified: it "appeared" to follow an an arc because of the sharp decline in the intensity of light at this time could have been misleading.

He stayed 10 minutes still to observe the sky, but the light had definitely disappeared. He had heard no airplane noise.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: September 26, 2006
Time: 08:55 p.m.
Duration: 5 seconds.
First known report date: September 29, 2006
Reporting delay: 3 days.

Geographical data:

Department: Bas-Rhin
City: Saverne
Place: In or in front of home, UFO in the sky.
Latitude: 47.741
Longitude: 7.359
Uncertainty radius: 2 km

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: ?
Type of location: In or in front of home, UFO in the sky.
Visibility conditions: Night.
UFO observed: Yes
UFO arrival observed: No
UFO departure observed: Yes
Entities: No
Photographs: No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es): No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): No.
Witness(es) feelings: Reported just in case.
Witnesses interpretation: Simple observation.

Classifications:

Hynek: NL
ALSACAT: Possible ISS, low strangeness.

Sources:

[Ref. pgs1:] THE WITNESS TO MYSELF:

Basic indications:

Number: FR0150
Date written: September 29, 2006
Date received: September 29, 2006
Date published: November 12, 2006
Date of sighting: September 26, 2006
Place of sighting: France, Saverne
Original language of report: French
Reported using: e-mail
Unreleased information: Name, firstname, email address
Investigation, additional information: None
Explanation: Not looked for

The report:

Subject: simple observation
Date: September 29, 2006
From: [Name]@[Server].ch

Hello,

I live in Saverne 67 [Bas-Rhin department]. On September 26 towards 05:55 p.m. (approx. 10 minutes after the beginning of the Lyon Bucharest game, whereas I let my dog out), I observed a phenomenon which drew my attention. I report it simply because I have just read your recent report on the north of France which occurred the same day a little later.

Full East, a white fixed light approximately 3 to 4 times more intense and larger than the most brilliant of the visible stars. The sky was clear. After 5 seconds of observation, the light blurred and disappeared while seeming to describe an downwards arc of circle; I say «seeming» because of the strong fall of intensity of the light. I remained 10 more minutes to observe but the light had definitively disappeared. I heard no plane noise.

That's it.

Good continuation
[Nom]

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN - "BASE OVNI FRANCE":

Saverne (67) on 26 septembre 2006

General features

Num Base: 2931
Département: Bas Rhin (67)
Place of observation: Saverne
Latitude: 48.733
Longitude: +7.366
Date of observation: 26 septembre 2006
Hour: 20:55 hours
Duration (HH:MM:SS): 00:00:05
Weather: No weather indication
Type of observation: Visual: Distant
Nbr of witness(es): 1
Official investigation: No

Features of the object

Nbr of object: 1
Type of object: Non-défini
Size: ponctuel
Color: Blanc
Luminosity: Brillant
Visual characteristics: No indication
Speed: Immobile
Movement/Displacement: Not specified
Object on the ground: No
Instantaneous disappearance: No

Observation

The witness walks out his dog when he observes due east is a white steady light about 3-4 times stronger and bigger than the brightest visible stars. The sky was clear. After 5 seconds of observation, the light faded and disappeared while appearing to describe an arc downwards.

Sources

UFOs at close sight by Gross Patrick ** http://ufologie.net

[Ref. rnc1:] "RESEAU NATIONAL CIVIL DE SURVEILLANCE DU CIEL":

09/26/2006 - 08:55 p.m. - Bas-Rhin (67) - Motionless white light

Testimony colected [sic] on Baseovnifrance:

http://baseovnifrance.free.fr/listereq.php?req=where%20annee%20LIKE%202006%20AND%20f

Quote:

The witness walks out his dog when he observes due east is a white steady light about 3-4 times stronger and bigger than the brightest visible stars. The sky was clear. After 5 seconds of observation, the light faded and disappeared while appearing to describe an arc downwards.

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

City Date and hour of observation General shape
Identification
General color
Hypothesis
Conclusion
SAVERNE Tuesday 26 September 2006 at 08:55 p.m. luminous dot
Unidentified
white
None
Unsolved -lack of info

Discussion:

Map.

The most immediate explanation is that the witness saw the end of the ISS visible trajectory in the night sky.

This person obviously had reported to me this observation "just in case" it could help in any way. In no way did the author express the idea that this is could not be something ordinary, even if he did not seem to know what it could have been.

I do not think he was expecting then to find it "cataloged" on other websites as a UFO sighting with an importance he did not give it at all.

On [lcn1], his statement is paraphrased. All references by the witness that were downplaying the report disappeared. Moreover, he did not "walk his dog", he "let his dog out". It is certainly a detail, but it's not the same thing, perhaps he was inside the house, and it becomes a story of someone walking outside with his dog. The specification by the witness to the fact that the downward movement may have been an illusion is missing, while in the table , the movement is described now as "not specified". The reference source is not that the testimony's web page, but the old URL of the home page of my website, the reader then having little chance to get to the correct web page.

Same problems with [rnc1], citing [lcn1] as the source - through a bugged link - though it is a secondary source citing though only briefly that there is indeed another, primary source, the witness email on my website. Instead, [rnc1] claims that the testimony was collected by [lcn1]! Also [rnc1] titles on a "motionless" light while it seemed to descend. So we can have distortions one way or the opposite in the more or less faithful copies.

And finally the report ends up in a list ([spa1]) without any mention of source and without any detail, with the mention of a "lack of information", quite odd since there was much more information initially; at least enough to note the low strangeness and possible ordinary explanations.

Evaluation:

Possible ISS, low strangeness.

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
Editeur: Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version: Create/changed by: Date: Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross September 1, 2015 Creation, [pgs1], [lcn1], [rnc1], [spa1].
1.0 Patrick Gross September 1, 2015 First published in ALSACAT.

Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict



 Feedback  |  Top  |  Back  |  Forward  |  Map  |  List |  Home
This page was last updated on September 1, 2015.