The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 3-Oct-54-Guébling.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In the regional newspapers Le Lorrain and L'Est Républicain for October 5, 1954, among the reports on the observations of this sector, we learn that on October 3, 1954, at about 11:45 p.m., several unknown people stationed on the road, as well as a Mr. Domant, a mechanic who lived in Guébling, and Mr. Glicher, of Guébling also, to watch with attention, but without daring to approach, a green disc posed in the fields a short distance from the road.
One of the ufological versions, that of Michel Figuet and Jean-Louis Ruchon in 1979, said for this observation that perhaps the same object seen earlier in the surrounding villages passed again above Guébling and landed in a field near the road. Two inhabitants of this village and passers-by had observed, impressed, the motionless and silent object; which was a disc emitting a feeble green light. The villagers observed it from a long distance, then returned home on tiptoes.
Earlier in 1979 also, "skeptical" ufologists Gérard Barthel and Jacques Brucker reported that all the cases of 1,2 and 3 October 1954, in the vicinity of Dieuze, Kerprich, and that of Guébling, were due to the fall of a high voltage power line cable near the forest of Brides, according to memories of certain inhabitants of one of the villages; which they said they heard through the intermediary of the town hall employee; whereas nobody in the village council remembered any alien visit to these places.
[Ref. lln1:] NEWSPAPER "LE LORRAIN":
In the Moselle, mysterious machines attracted the glances.
Last Friday, at about 11 p.m., several residents of Bassing, among whose MM. Romain and Renfort, saw, above the area of Vergaville and Bidestroff, a luminous object of 2 to 3 meters length, showing the shape of an ellipse and which moved at very variable speeds. The witnesses heard a gentle humming of engine. Sometimes the alleged flying saucer slowed its travel down to the of being motionless, then it went up with a vertiginous pace. The same phenomenon was observed Saturday, between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., by Mr. Remy Rousselle, of Blanche-Eglise, and Mr. Baumann, of Bassing.
In its turn, the sky of the area of Dieuze saw a flying saucer evolving. It was Sunday evening. It was exactly 08:17 p.m. when Mr. Pierre Laplace, aged 19, electrician with the Kuhlmann Establishments, in Dieuze, and residing in Vergaville, saw in the sky a large luminous disc of green color, at the height of the wood of Brides, between the villages of Vergaville and Kerprich. The bulky point, he said, was at approximately 3000 meters. Mr. Laplace, having stopped, followed the evolutions of the machine. When he saw it for the first time, it was motionless. Suddenly, specifies the electrician, the machine launched sparkling lights of the color of ultraviolet rays; it then moved at a speed such as nowadays' jet airplanes, seeming, close to him, to hover.
The flying saucer, because that's what it is, said the observer, as well as the passers-by that Mr. Laplace had stopped and who are positive, stopped at the height of the Paquis of Guéblin; it crossed the distance between Guéblin and Kerprich three times, always at a tremendous pace, but extraordinarily, always stopping in the same place.
Suddenly, the machine launched new gleams, seeming to locate the ground, and went down until approximately 600 meters from ground. Then, making a U turn, very slowly, it went down more and more and finally, seemed to land at the level of the Côte-des-Vignes, located at a little distance of Bedestroff. About thirty people, cyclists, pedestrians, motorists, followed, extremely interested, the evolutions of the saucer. Mr. Laplace and some other spectators having wanted to on motorbike to the spot of landing, the saucer took height again and disappeared behind a curtain of trees. It was 9 p.m. at this time. The inhabitants of the area who saw the saucer are M.M. Lucien Victorien, Primon, building contractor in Vergaville; Mr. Kinowsky, workman in shoes, Claude Renfort of Bassing, as well as the manager of the Ecos of Vergaville and his family.
Amazingly, at 11:45 p.m., several unknown people stationing on the road as well as Mr. Domant, a garage workman residing in Guéblin, and Mr. Glicher, of the same village, looked with attention, but without daring to approach it, a disc of green color which was in the fields, at a small distance of the road. Let us finally report that Saturday, between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., Mr. Rothfuss of Dieuze, had also seen, circulating in the airs, between the farm of Boule and Maizières-les-Vic, a luminous disc whose details correspond exactly to those given by Mr. Laplace.
[Ref. ler1:] NEWSPAPER "L'EST REPUBLICAIN":
The "flying saucers" seem to engage in a ceaseless round in the eastern sky and elsewhere. Their passage is reported in a hundred places each day. We lack space here for us to echo all the news reaching us about it. Suffice to mention a few of the last and main stories related to this.
In Remiremont, Sunday at 11 am, a hundred people were able to see, from the enclosure of the Pomological fair of the Campus Martius, what is believed to be a flying saucer or a cigar or a disc, which let loose a trail of smoke in its wake, when rising or descending, turning around the sun. People skeptical of saucers stories told us to have observed the phenomenon very well.
The "saucer" remained ten minutes suspended in the atmosphere and disappeared. Two to three meters in length...
Last Friday, around 23h, several residents of Bassing, including Mr. Romain and Mr. Renfort, saw, above the region between Vergaville and Bidestroff, a luminous object of 2 to 3 meters in length, having the shape of an ellipse and which moved at variable speeds. Witnesses heard a slight engine roar. Sometimes the alleged flying saucer slowed its course up to the point to rest, and then went back at breakneck speed.
The same phenomenon was observed on Saturday between 21h and 22h by Mr. Remy Rousselle, of Blanche-Eglise and Mr. Baumann of Bassing.
In turn, the sky of the region of Dieuze saw evolve a flying saucer.
It was Sunday night. It was exactly 8:17 p.m. when Mr. Pierre Laplace, aged 19, electrician at the Etablissements Kuhlmann in Dieuze and living in Vergaville, saw in the sky a large bright green disk, at the height of the wood of Brides, between the village of Vergaville and Kerprich. The large spot was, he said, at about 3,000 meters. Laplace stood, and followed the moves of the machine. When he saw it for the first time, it was motionless. Suddenly, says the electrician, the machine threw glittering lights of the color of ultraviolet rays, it then moved at a rate such that current jet planes appear motionless in comparison. The flying saucer, because this is what it was, said the witness, as well as passers by Mr. Laplace had stopped and who are formal, stopped at the height of the Paquis of Guéblin, it flew the distance between Guéblin and Kerprich three times, always at breakneck speed, but, extraordinary thing, it always stopped at the same place.
Suddenly the craft launched new gleams, seemingly locating the ground, and went down at about 600 meters of the ground, then making a semicircle, very slowly, it got more and more close to the ground and finally, seemed to land on the hill of the Vines, located not far from Bedestroff. Thirty people, cyclists, pedestrians, motorists followed, extremely interested, the changes in the saucer. Laplace and some other spectators having wanted to go on a motorcycle at the landing place, the saucer again took off and disappeared behind a curtain of trees.
It was 9 p.m. then.
The locals who saw the saucer are Messrs. Lucien Victorien and Primon, entrepreneurs in masonry in Vergaville, Kinowsky, shoemaker in Bataville, Claude Ronfort of Bassing and the manager of the Eco in Vergaville and his family.
Curiously, at 11:45 p.m., several unknown parked on the road, and Mr. Domant, mechanic in Guéblin and Mr. Gilcher, of the same village, watched attentively but without daring to approach it, a green disc which was in the fields, a short distance from the road.
Finally, let's note that on Saturday between 20 and 21 hours, Mr. Rothfuss, of Dieuze, had also seen circulate in the air between the farm of the Boule and Maizières-les-Vic, a luminous disc whose details are exactly those given by Laplace.
[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
October 3 [, 1954]
[... other cases...]
08:17 p.m.: Kerprich/Guébling(6 km NNE Dieuze)/Bidestroff/Bataville/Vergaville (Moselle): luminous disc moving near the ground
[... other cases...]
[Ref. gqy2:] GUY QUINCY:
October 3, 1954: Guébling/(Moselle)/at 6 km ISL in the NNE of Dieuze): Mr. Gilcher and Mr. Domant (landing of luminous UAP)
[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:
| 229 | -006.74730 | 48.86280 | 03 | 10 | 1954 | 23 | 45 | 1 | GUEBLING -MOSELLE | F | 0012 | C** | 172 |
[Ref. jve1:] JACQUES VALLEE:
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181 October 2, 1954 11:45 p.m., Guebling (France):
A disk emitting a weak green glow landed in a field. Witnesses: Mr. Domant and Mr. Gilcher. (M 105)
[Ref. jve2:] JACQUES VALLEE:
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October 2, 1954, 11:45 p.m., Guebling (France):
A disk emitting a weak green glow landed in a field. Witnesses: Mr. Domant and Mr. Gilcher.
[Ref. mft4:] MICHEL FIGUET:
Michel Figuet notes the case in Guébling on October 2, 1954, as a case that needs checking or reinvestigation.
[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
In a list of cases that the magazine called for investigation or re-investigation, there was:
181 2-10-54 Guébling
[Ref. gal1:] CHARLES GARREAU AND RAYMOND LAVIER:
The authors point out that there was an observation on October 3, 1954, at approximately 11:45 p.m. near Guebling in the Moselle: people saw a green disk in a field.
[Ref. jve6:] JACQUES VALLEE - HISTORIA:
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October 2, 1954, 11:45 p.m.. Guébling (Moselle)
A disc emitting a weak green light landed in a field. witnesses: Mssrs. Domant and Gilcher.
[Ref. prn1:] PETER ROGERSON - "INTCAT":
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363 3 October 1954 2345 hrs
GUEBLIN (FRANCE) M. Gilcher & M. Domant saw a disc emitting a weak green light land in a field l0m from the road. When the two reached the spot they found passers-by gazing at the craft, witpout daring to approach. After some time the witnesses walked away and returned home. (Ml81; Michel II, 105)
[Ref. bbr1: ] GERARD BARTHEL AND JACQUES BRUCKER:
The two authors say that all the cases of October 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 1954, in the surroundings of Dieuze, Guébling, Kerprich are due to the fall of a high-power cable in the edge of the forest of Brides, according to memories "of certain inhabitants of the village" [Kerprich?] that they say to have gathered via via the employee of the town hall, while nobody within the town council remembered an extraterrestrial visit there.
[Ref. fru1:] MICHEL FIGUET ET JEAN-LOUIS RUCHON:
The authors indicate that in the Moselle in Guebling on October 3, 1954, at 11:45 p.m., perhaps the same object seen earlier in the surrounding villages passed again above Guébling and went to land in a field close to the road. Two residents of this village and passers-by observed, impressed, the motionless and silent object. It was a disc emitting a faint green light, which was on the ground. The villagers contemplated this display from a long distance, then went home on tiptoes.
[Ref. gep1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "GEPO":
| 10/03/54 | (23:45) | Guebling | 109VX | Y |
[Ref. mft3:] MICHEL FIGUET:
| Nr of the J. C. Fumoux list | Nr of Francat list | Localization | Date | Class | Credibility | Sources | Number of W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 025 | 121 | Guébling | 03/10 | CE0 | E [= Explained] | 4-p.35 | 2 + T |
[Ref. mft2:] MICHEL FIGUET:
This ufologist noted:
| CASE Nr | CLASSIFICATION | DATE | HOUR | PLACE | ZIP CODE | CREDIBILITY SOURCE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 122 | CE0 | 03 10 1954 | 20 h 23.45 | Bidestroff, Guebling and Forêt de Bride | 57 | OVNI: p.113 E [=Explained] electric ph B-B p. 35 |
[Ref. mft1:] MICHEL FIGUET:
In an extract of his Francat catalogue, Michel Figuet recorded that the case of Bidestroff [sic] as well as Guébling and the forest of Brides was a confusion with "an electrical phenomenon short-circuit on high power wires fallen on the ground" and a meteor.
[Ref. lgs1:] LOREN GROSS:
Gueblin, France. (11:45 p.m.)
The last report of the day came from Gueblin where a M. Gilcher and a M. Domant watched as a disc, casting off a feeble green glow, set down in a field. Others on the road nearby also witnessed the landing. No one was brave enough to investigate. 36.
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3924: 1954/10/02 23:50 30 6:45:00 E 48:51:40 N 3333 WEU FRN MSL 7:8
GUEBLING,FR:2+? OBS:GRN-GLOW SCR LANDS/FIELD:AWAY+RETURNS LATER:/r8#181
Ref# 49 MICHEL,Aime: FS & STRAIGHT LINE TH: Page No. 104 : FARMLANDS
[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
The Belgian ufologist Godelieve van Overmeire notes in her catalogue that in France, in 1954, on October the 2nd or 3rd, in Guebling, Misters Domant and Gilcher saw a disc emitting a weak green gleam land in a field.
The source is indicated as Jacques Vallée: "Chronique des apparitions ET" - DENOEL 1972 - J'AI LU COLL. - p. 265.
[Ref. jsr2:] JEAN SIDER:
10 - Case of Kerprich, between Vergaville and Guebling, Moselle.
On October 3, many observations were made in Dieuzé, Bassing, Kerprich, Bidestroff... This prompted a lot of articles in the local press that B & B [= [bbr1]] did not consult, because if they had done so, this work would have saved them from further displaying the wickedness of the method used for their demolition work.
Page 34, they report having referred to Jacques Vallée (Phénomènes insolites de l'espace, La Table Ronde, 1966, Paris) and Guy Quincy's file. They do not give any witness names; which is already suspect and explains why they write on page 35: "It is therefore at the first house in the town, at the town hall, that we decide to knock". Which town hall? Why not give the name of the locality? Anyway, the town hall could not satisfy them and they then claim to have made inquiries with the villagers. And it is these anonymous informants from an unknown village who offer them the "key to the mystery": it was a glow produced by the fall of a high voltage cable. Conclusion: it was a misinterpretation!
However, when one reads the local press, one can realize that Le Lorrain for October 5, 1954, page 5, did indeed indicate that the "flying saucer" observed, was first spotted at 3000m, and descended to 600m (good performance for a high power cable !!). Then after several very fast courses between Guebling and Kerprich, it seemed to land "at the height of the Côte des Vignes, not far from Bidestroff." Thirty people followed the maneuvers of the "saucer" of which twelve are mentioned by name. Among them: Mr. Laplace, electrician in Vergaville, who would have been able to tell the difference between a broken high voltage line and a UFO. Better: MM. Gilcher and Domant, from Guebling, saw a disc land in a field. They ran to get closer and saw a troop of people who were contemplating the machine without daring to go closer to the phenomenon. Moreover, the next day, October 4, around the same hour, Mr. Rothfuss, of Dieuzé, could observe a luminous disc whose details correspond exactly to those given by Mr. Laplace.
What is the connection in these testimonies with a cut high voltage line? Who are their informants and where did they reside? It turns out, moreover, that I checked in the local newspapers if one could trace the accident alleged by our debunkers. However, the only mention of a broken electric cable appears in Le Lorrain of October 21, page 6, which occurred on October 20 between Habeaurupt and Barançon, a sector different from the one we are interested in here!
Here is yet another investigation knowingly sabotaged to serve the interests of their debunking. As for "going to knock on the door of the town hall" and "to inquire with the villagers", it is a way like any other to cover up one more forfeiture. The anonymity of the first and second indicates imaginary contacts, not even made by telephone, the only working tool they used...
[Ref. jca1:] JACQUES COSTAGLIOLA:
The author indicates that on October 3, 1954, in Lorraine, an orange disc moves under the eyes of several villages and is posed at midnight on a road in front of four witnesses.
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Moselle in Kerprich on October 3, 1954 at 20:17 hours, a green disc is seen by several witnesses, among them a motorcycle rider. The object is at the vertical of the forest of Brides, in the north of Kerprich. Initially motionless, it suddenly throws a gleam of dark purple, starts and gets in a few seconds at the vertical of Guebling, new stop, with change of color; three times the object crosses the Kerprich-Guebling way, in an identical manner and reproducing the same phenomena.
Luc Chastan indicates that the source is "Ovni, Premier dossier complet... by Figuet M./ Ruchon J.L. ** Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979".
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Moselle in Guebling on October 3, 1954 at 23:45 hours, perhaps the same object seen a little earlier in the nearby villages passes by again above Guebling and goes to land in a field near the road, two residents of this village and passers-by observed, impressed, the motionless and silent object. It was a disc emitting a weak green light, it was on the ground. The villagers contemplated this spectacle lengthily, from far away, then returned on their premises on tip toes.
The source is indicated as "Ovni, Premier dossier complet... by Figuet M./ Ruchon J.L. ** Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979."
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 2 October 1954 at 23:45, in Guebling, France, a disk emitting a weak green glow landed in a field. The witnesses were Messrs. Domant and Gilcher. "An unusual object was sighted, that had unconventional appearance and performance. One green saucer was observed by two male witnesses on a farm for over 60 minutes."
The sources are indicated as Michel, Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery, S. G. Phillips, New York, 1958; Bowen, Charles, The Humanoids: FSR Special Edition No. 1, FSR, London, 1966; Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Vallee, Jacques, Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma, Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1966; Vallee, Jacques, Preliminary Catalog (N = 500), (in JVallee01); Vallee, Jacques, A Century of Landings (N = 923), (in JVallee04), Chicago, 1969; Schoenherr, Luis, Computerized Catalog (N = 3173); Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002.
[Ref. lrl2:] "LE REPUBLICAIN LORRAIN" NEWSPAPER:
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in our archive
We are at the Metz Fair on Sunday, October 10, 1954. On the exhibit of the French army, visitors can admire a powerful projector and a radar station, ultramodern gear of the FTA (Anti-aircraft Land Forces) of the time. They were installed and regulated by some military technicians, under the authority of Commander Cottel.
When around 8 p.m. the projector was lit up and turned to the sky, its beam was caught on a motionless globe, in midair, at the vertical of the fair. It was an object "glittering like a Christmas tree ball!", Commander Cottel later said.
Incredulous technicians decided to turn off the machine and clean its components, but nothing changes: once the projector is turned on again, the mysterious globe is still there, at an altitude that the military estimates at 12,000 m. It is here, the spectators see it, and yet, the radar does not detect its presence!
The machine, estimated at about fifty meters in diameter, is parked in the sky during the three hours of the demonstration of the projector.
The phenomenon is relayed by the press: Le Républicain Lorrain, the AFP, L'Alsace, Le Provençal... The news worries the military authorities and the General Governor of Metz requires a report from Commander Cottel.
Investigation is underway, especially on the possibility of a meteorological phenomenon. Yet, no communication from the army will ever come to clear the mystery...
[Photo caption:] A UFO photographed in the USA in 1966. Photo rue des Archives
Between October 1st and October 21st, 1954, about twenty testimonies of UFO observers in Moselle were recorded: in the communes of Vergaville, Bidestroff, Kerprich, Guébling, Morsbach, Moncourt, Saint-Avold, Saint-Quirin or Jouy-aux-Arches. Most have been reported in our columns.
Spheres, cones or luminous cigars, batteries that discharge, dancing colors, the phenomena follow each other.
In Pournoy-la-Chétive, two children even saw a furry-faced extraterrestrial descending of his flying saucer and speak to them in an incomprehensible language.
Collective madness or encounter of the third kind? No definitive answer will ever be made.
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":
This database recorded the case 7 times:
| Case Nr. | New case Nr. | Investigator | Date of observation | Zip | Place of observation | Country of observation | Hour of observation | Classification | Comments | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19541002 | 02.10.1954 | Guebling | France | 23.45 | CE II | |||||
| 19541002 | 02.10.1954 | Guebling | France | 23.45 | CE II | |||||
| 19541002 | 02.10.1954 | Guebling | France | 23.45 | ||||||
| 19541003 | 03.10.1954 | Guebling | France | 23.45 | ||||||
| 19541003 | 03.10.1954 | Guebling | France | 20.17 | NL | |||||
| 19541003 | 03.10.1954 | Guebling | France | 23.45 | CE I | |||||
| 19541003 | 03.10.1954 | Guebling | France | 23.45 |
[Ref. ble1:] "BLL ARCHIVES" WEBSITE:
Comments »0
Spheres, luminous cones or cigars, discharging of batteries, dancing colors, etc., between the 1st and the 21st of October 1954, some twenty testimonies and observations of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) were collected in the Moselle, the more particularly in the communes of Vergaville, Bidestroff, Kerprich, Guébling, Morsbach, Moncourt, Saint-Avold, Saint-Quirin and Jouy-aux-Arches. In Pournoy-la-Chétive, near Metz, two children declared that they had seen an alien with a hairy face come down from his flying saucer to come and speak to them in an incomprehensible language.
[Ref. prn2:] PETER ROGERSON - "INTCAT":
October 3 1954. 2345hrs.
GUEBLIN [sic] (MOSELLE : FRANCE)
Two villagers, Mr Gilcher and Mr Domant saw a disc emitting a weak green light land in a field 10m from the road. When the two reached the site they found passers by gazing at an object without daring to approach it. After some time the witnesses walked away and returned home.
Michel 1958b p105
Evaluation - Moon again?
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Let's deal first with the Moon explanation suggested by the "skeptical" ufologist Peter Rogerson in 2016 ([prn2]): it was not the Moon because at that time and at this place, it was below the horizon since 09:10 p.m.
Below: map of the mentioned villages locations. The distance in straight line between Benestroff and Blanche-Eglise is about 13 kilometers. Though these villages are cited in the reports, the exact locations of the observers is generally not known.
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The "skeptical" ufologists Barthel and Brucker told they had heard that it was, as in all cases from 1, 2 and 3 October 1954 in this sector, the fall of a high-voltage cable.
This explanation, however, seems doubtful to me:
The observation period would extend over 3 days, and no power outage was reported as far as I know whereas we are told it would have been a high-voltage line, thus feeding a little more than one or two hamlets. And most importantly, the viewing area would extend for 13 kilometers, with witnesses completely out of the visual range of sparks caused by a fallen cable. Also, the descriptions of movements made by other observers (See here for example) seem to totally exclude something fixed like an electrical phenomenon due to the fall of a cable.
There is according to RTE a high voltage line (or rather medium voltage) currently ending at Dieuze. But it passes 2 km from Vergaville, 5 km from Bidestroff, 5 km from Guébling, 8 km from Benestroff.
Guébling is in a hilly landscape, I cannot find a high voltage pylon really close. Along one Guébling exit road, there is a power line supplying this village, but no high voltage and it is at the very edge of the road.
So this case, for me, remains an "unidentified."
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Guébling, Moselle, multiple, green, field, night, disc, glowing, landing, Domant, Gilcher, Glicher
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | February 5, 2007 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 9, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [goe1], [lcn1], [uda1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | June 22, 2010 | Addition [jve5]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | November 23, 2016 | Additions [ler1], [ubk1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | February 11, 2017 | Additions [jve6], [fru1], [ble1]. Addition of the Summary. Addition of the map. |
| 1.9 | Patrick Gross | June 7, 2019 | Additions [prn1], [mft3], [mft2], [lhh1], [prn2]. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
| 2.0 | Patrick Gross | October 27, 2021 | Additions [lrl2], [jsr2]. |
| 2.1 | Patrick Gross | April 25, 2022 | Additions [gqy1], [gqy2], [ldl1], [gep1]. |
