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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 Biesheim, in the 1800's:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1800-00-00-BIESHEIM-1

Summary:

In his 2012 book on UFOs in Alsace, in the chapter devoted to legends and celestial wonders from before the era of flying saucers in Alsace, Christian Valentin points out that there are stories of Alsatian folklore from the middle of the 19th century collected and published by the folklorist Auguste Stoeber, about "phantom stagecoaches" and "flying coaches", with or without a coachman, with a few variations, in various places, including Biesheim.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: The 1800's
Time: ?
Duration: ?
First known report date: 1852
Reporting delay: Years, decades.

Geographical data:

Department: Haut-Rhin
City: Biesheim
Place: Outside.
Latitude: 48.040
Longitude: 7.544
Uncertainty radius: 4 km.

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: ?
Number of known witnesses: ?
Number of named witnesses: 0
Witness(es) ages: ?
Witness(es) types: ?

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: Oral local tale collected by folklorist Auguste Stoeber.
Type of location: Outside
Visibility conditions: ?
UFO observed: ?
UFO arrival observed: ?
UFO departure observed: ?
Entities: ?
Photographs: No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es): No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): No.
Witness(es) feelings: ?
Witnesses interpretation: ?

Classifications:

Hynek: N/A
ALSACAT: Non UFO-related folklore.

Sources:

[Ref. cvn1:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:

In his first chapter devoted to legends and celestial wonders before the era of flying saucers in Alsace, Christian Valentin points out that there are stories of the Alsatian folklore from the middle of the 19th century collected and published by the folklorist Auguste Stoeber, about "phantom stagecoaches" and "flying coaches", with or without coachman, with some variations, at Kirrwiller, Bouxwiller, Ribeauville, Grussenheim and Biesheim.

These coaches rise in the air and cause great fright to the passengers, and when they fail to jump before the coach gets too high, they find themselves, either in no time at their destination, or waking up hours later in an unknown and distant place.

He notices that these stories on the border between the world of the living and the imagination are often tinged with phantasmagoria and strange visions, that they are repeated from generation to generation. He remarks that it is tempting to draw a parallel between these accounts and the accounts of alien abductions, and "missing time", of modern times.

He wonders whether the "flying saucers" to come would not be a modern adaptation of a broader and more complex phenomenon, present in all eras, an opinion which will be developed at the end of the 1960s by Jacques Vallée in his book "Chronique des apparitions extraterrestres" ["Passport to Magonia"], Denoël 1972, which brought together popular beliefs from oral tradition and the phenomenon of flying saucers.

Discussion:

Map.

A number of ufologists have studied, in the USA then in France, such legends and tales, for various reasons:

Why not?

Howeber it would still be necessary, for me in any case, that there be enough to estimate the credibility, the reliability and the strangeness of each "case."

Here we have hardly any strangeness: a coach, but it does not fly, and about which nothing abnormal is reported.

"Entities" that would be ordinary humans, the coach, the primary source says, is filled with "men and women." The strangeness boils down to them allegedly wearing "antique costumes".

This is of very low strangeness, since at that time already, one knew how to dress up. And given the level of historical culture in the villages then, "ancient costume" does not mean much, and should not be interpreted as, for example, authentic-looking Roman outfits.

Is the source reliable? Auguste Stoeber collected oral stories in the villages. Very generally his goal was not to evaluate their authenticity, they were popular tales, for him, nothing more. And nothing shows that for the people who had told him the story, it would have been anything more than folklore.

There is no date for the event, no names of witnesses, no detailed descriptions, etc. A modern UFO sighting of this caliber wouldn't get much glory.

I therefore think that this story does not support one or the other ufological thesis.

Evaluation:

Non UFO-related folklore.

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 February 25, 2023 Creation, [asr1], [cvn1].
1.0 Patrick Gross February 25, 2023 First published.

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This page was last updated on February 25, 2023.