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 Obernai, on April 25, 2014:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2014-04-25-OBERNAI-1

Summary:

A female person anonymously reported her sighting of April 25, 2014, in the Bas-Rhin in Obernai, about two "fire-colored balls that followed each other, from the west to the east horizon":

"When parking my car near my home in Obernai, my eye was caught by something in the sky. It is 10:25 p.m., at this hour a lot of planes are passing by at low altitude, the closest airport being a few kilometers (Entzheim), but while maneuvering I do realize that this is no a plane. Or a very high plane in the sky, on fire. Followed by another a little further. Following a straight path toward the Northeast. I stayed to watch for about 5 minutes, the time to make assumptions and refute them. Two meteorites? No, much much too slow. Plane on fire? Well two followin each other, it's strange. A helicopter or a droid? Maybe. No sound, no noise, no hum. And it seemed very high in the sky, as they eventually became smaller and smaller, and disappeared into the sky on the Northeast horizon. Unable to shoot with my smartphone, it only shows light spots whereas the 'objects' were bigger."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	April 25, 2014
Time:	10:25 p.m.
Duration:	~10 minutes.
First known report date:	August 2014
Reporting delay:	Hours, 4 months?

Geographical data:

Department:	Bas-Rhin
City:	Obernai
Place:	Parking the car at home in Obernai
Latitude:	48.461
Longitude:	7.488
Uncertainty ratio:	2 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	1
Number of known witnesses:	1
Number of named witnesses:	0
Witness(es) ages:	Young adult, adult or aged.
Witness(es) types:	Female.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Witness web report to UFO website "OVNI-France.fr".
Type of location:	Parking car at home.
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:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	NL
ALSACAT:	Possible Chinese lanterns.

Sources:

[Ref. of1:] TESTIMONY ON THE "OVNI-FRANCE" WEBSITE:

25-04-2014 - (Dép.67) - 2 boules couleur feu qui se sont suivies, de l'horizon Ouest vers l'Est

Date: 25-04-2014

Department: 67 (Bas-Rhin)

Localization: Obernai

Hour: 22h25

Numbers [sic] of witnesses: 1 persons

Type of observation: NL: Lumières Nocturnes

Approximate duration of the observation: 10 minutes

What was seen: 2 boules couleur feu qui se sont suivies, de l'horizon Ouest vers l'Est

Description of the facts:

When parking my car near my home in Obernai, my eye was caught by something in the sky. It is 10:25 p.m., at this hour a lot of planes are passing by at low altitude, the closest airport being a few kilometers (Entzheim), but while maneuvering I do realize that this is no a plane. Or a very high plane in the sky, on fire. Followed by another a little further. Following a straight path toward the Northeast. I stayed to watch for about 5 minutes, the time to make assumptions and refute them. Two meteorites? No, much much too slow. Plane on fire? Well two followin each other, it's strange. A helicopter or a droid? Maybe. No sound, no noise, no hum. And it seemed very high in the sky, as they eventually became smaller and smaller, and disappeared into the sky on the Northeast horizon. Unable to shoot with my smartphone, it only shows light spots whereas the "objects" were bigger.

Piwi

Discussion:

Two fre-colored balls following each other in the night sky; this makes me strongly think they were Chinese lanterns, especially as the witness said planes and meteors can be ruled out, while not thinking about Chinese lanterns.

Evaluation:

Possible Chinese lanterns.

Sources references:

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

[of1] * Web testimony published on the OVNI-France.fr, website, France, not dated, found in August 2014, at http://www.ovni-france.fr/index.php?ou=temoignages_vu&id_tem=1464&id=16

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	August 21, 2014	Creation, [of1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	August 21, 2014	First published.

This page was last updated on August 21, 2014