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 Sarre-Union, on July 11, 2014:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2014-07-11-SARREUNION-1

Summary:

Someone reported under anonymity to a UFO website a sighting in or near Sarre-Union, the Bas-Rhin, on July 11, 2014:

"I observed been a very elongated shape in the shape of a cigar or an airship, mingling with the clouds and moving slowly to the close Lorraine to the west. The observation was stealthy and I had no time to take pictures because I was driving and that the object was sometimes hidden by the environment (trees, houses). It disappeared on the horizon to the west (Altwiller). It was the middle of the afternoon around 3:00 p.m. I think."

I had suspected it might be the Zeppelin airship of the Airship Paris company, and confirmation came in October 2014 from the Alsatian association of astronomy and ufology SPICA.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	July 11, 2014
Time:	~03:00 p.m.
Duration:	5 minutes.
First known report date:	July 13, 2014
Reporting delay:	Hours, 2 days?

Geographical data:

Department:	Bas-Rhin
City:	Sarre-Union
Place:	In a car, UFO in the sky.
Latitude:	48.936
Longitude:	7.090
Uncertainty radius:	5 km

Witnesses data:

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

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Witness web report to UFO website "OVNI-France.fr".
Type of location:	From the car, driving, 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:	?
Witnesses interpretation:	?

Classifications:

Hynek:	DD
ALSACAT:	Probably the Zeppelin airship of the "Airship Paris" company.

Sources:

[Ref. ofe1:] TESTIMONY ON THE "OVNI-FRANCE" WEBSITE:

11-07-2014 - (Dép.67) - Cigar-shaped Ufo

Date: 07/11/2014

Department: 67 (Bas-Rhin)

Localization: Sarre-Union

Hour: 03:00 p.m.

Numbers [sic] of witnesses: 1 persons [sic]

Type of observation: DD: Daylight Discs

Approximate duration of the observation: 5 minutes

What was seen: Cigar-shaped Ufo

Description of the facts:

Hello

I wanted to tell about what I observed this Friday, July 11, 2014. I observed been a very elongated shape in the shape of a cigar or an airship, mingling with the clouds and moving slowly to the close Lorraine to the west. The observation was stealthy and I had no time to take pictures because I was driving and that the object was sometimes hidden by the environment (trees, houses). It disappeared on the horizon to the west (Altwiller). It was the middle of the afternoon around 3:00 p.m. I think.

Best regards.

There is one comment:

July 17, 2014, by lolo

Hello, I'm happy because this testimony conforts me in the idea that I made about an observation I made the previous day, that is July 10, 2014 at 11:30 p.m. in the Var in Le Muy. A cigar that I first mistook for a cloud but that moved very slowly and in synchronized manner with a flashing light (like that of an airplane, located a t he front of the phenomenon). No noise and a distance estimated at 3 or 4 km. The phenomenon was moving from west to east. I did not film because it was distant and indistinguishable with my mobile.

Discussion:

I found that the report was linked from the Facebook page of the website, at https://fr-fr.facebook.com/jaime.OVNIFrance.fr, with the publishing date July 13, 2014.

From the report, one may wonder if this was a blimp indeed.

On August 2, 2013, in the television news show of the TF1 channel (Below), a report said: "It's the return of the new look airship, the Zeppelin. It measures 75 meters in length and is wide like a four ways highway. With a speed if 90 km/h, we discover the beautiful scenery around Paris."

That said, this airship built by the Zeppelin company, operated by Frédéric Lopez' Airship company (www.airship-paris.fr) apparently only flies in the Paris and Val d'Oise area.

On July 18, 2012, the newspaper L'Alsace reported:

An airship above the Strasbourg cathedral

A team from the Strasbourg producers company Seppia set up a 9m long and 2m wide blimp. Equipped with a camera, it will allow to film the cathedral for the docudrama on the builders of the building, that channel Arte is currently making.

In addition, there is the possibility of the "wingless plane" illusion: sometimes, a low plane seen from the side has "invisible" wings, and is perceived as a "cigar-shaped craft".

News on October 11, 2014:

I had written the above on August 21, 2014. On October 11, 2014, the SPICA association informed my by email of the following facts:

They confirm that an airship was in the area.

They indicate that on July 24, 2014, it was seen in Phalsbourg; which is about 25 km from Sarre-Union, at 1 p.n., by two witnesses, and then in Odratzheim, by a witness. They say the markup "AIRSHIP PARIS" was seen.

It is thus very likely that I has guessed the correct explanation, one among the possibilities I gave.

The SPICA association website is at: www.spica.org and their web forum is at http://spica.lebonforum.com.

News on October 15, 2014:

SPICA having proposed to send me photographs of this IFO, I answered that I would appreciate to get them, and I received them the next day, here it is:

SPICA also tells me the photographs were taken in Phalsbourg, except for the airship shot from Odratzheim, and that it was also seen in Louvigny (57) on July 24, 2014.

SPICA adds it was also mention on the "Ovni-France" website and provides this report:

September 03, 2014, by Znakeem

Hello,

I don't think it is a "DD" of UFO origin. I live in Saverne and I took pictures of that airhip on 07/11/2014 at 01:54 p.m. - i still have the picture - , which was also reported in DNA ["Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace" regional newspaper]. It was a cigar-shaped dirigible "Airship Paris", nothing to do with a UFO. It still might have been mistaken, it was dark grey, sometimes light grey, and flew slowly, in the direction to Phalsbourg.

Regards.

Evaluation:

Probably the Zeppelin airship of the "Airship Paris" company.

Sources references:

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

[ofe1] * Web testimony published on the OVNI-France.fr, website, France, July 13, 2014, at http://www.ovni-france.fr/index.php?ou=temoignages_vu&id_tem=1573&id=16

File history:

Authoring:

Main author:	Patrick Gross
Contributors:	SPICA (www.spica.org), see the Explanations.
Reviewers:	None
Editor:	Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version:	Create/changed by:	Date:	Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	August 21, 2014	Creation, [ofe1].
1.0	Patrick Gross	August 21, 2014	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	October 13, 2014	In the Explanations, addition of "News on October 11, 2014" and the following paragraphs. Evaluation changed from "Unidentified, possible plane or airship" to "Probable Zeppelin airship of the 'Airship Paris' company".
1.3	Patrick Gross	October 15, 2014	In the Explanations, addition of "News on October 15, 2014". In the Summary, addition of "I had suspected it might be the Zeppelin airship of the Airship Paris company, and confirmation came in October 2014 from the Alsatian association of astronomy and ufology SPICA."

This page was last updated on October 15, 2014.