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 Thann, on July 8, 1952:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1952-07-08-THANN-1

Summary:

The regional newspaper L'Alsace in the Colmar issue for July 10, 1952, reported that on Tuesday, July 8, 1952, in the evening, two female residents of Thann going through the Kléber street had seen very distinctly two vertical discs of bluish color come out of the clouds and move fast from west to east where they were lost from sight in the clouds.

The newspaper said that these saucers, "if there were saucers" were accompanied by a small trail of light, they seemed to fly quite low, and they were observed only for about twenty seconds.

The same information was given the next day in the regional newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, but with the time of the observation added: 9:45 p.m.

The story was later falsely dated July 6, 1952 and cataloged as a UFO, without mention of the trail, by French ufologist Jacques Vallee, copied by others.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:	July 8, 1952
Time:	09:45 p.m.
Duration:	~20 seconds.
First known report date:	July 10, 1952
Reporting delay:	1 day.

Geographical data:

Department:	Haut-Rhin
City:	Thann
Place:	From rue Kléber, UFO in the sky.
Latitude:	47.802
Longitude:	7.101
Uncertainty radius:	1 km.

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:	2
Number of known witnesses:	1 or 2
Number of named witnesses:	0
Witness(es) ages:	?
Witness(es) types:	Female residents.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:	Local Press.
Type of location:	From city street, UFO in the sky.
Visibility conditions:	Evening or night. Visible clouds.
UFO observed:	Yes
UFO arrival observed:	Yes
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 or NL
ALSACAT:	Probable meteor.

Sources:

[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":

Two "flying saucers in the sky of Thann

Tuesday evening, two female residents of Thann, going through the Kléber street saw very clearly coming out of clouds two vertical discs of bluish color, moving at a great speed from west to east to disappear back into the clouds. The saucers, if there were saucers, were accompanied by a small luminous trail. They seemed to fly quite low. The apparition lasted only twenty seconds.

[Ref. dna1:] NEWSPAPER "DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE":

Flying saucers

THANN. -- On Tuesday evening, at 9:45 p.m., two women from Thann saw, while passing along Rue Kléber, two luminous bluish-colored discs emerge from the clouds and disappear with very great speed, moving from west to east. The two discs left behind them a luminous trail. The sighting lasted barely twenty seconds. (1041)

[Ref. jve1:] JACQUES VALLEE:

Jacques Vallée indicates that on July 6 [sic], 1952, two bluish "discs" were seen in Thann in Alsace.

[Ref. aldl:] MRS. GUEUDELOT, "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" ARCHIVE:

JULY 8, 1952 .-

THANN .- (68)

Hour: 09:45 p.m.

Two female Thann residents passing by the Kléber street saw very distinctly, coming out of the clouds, two vertical discs of a bluish color, moving at a very high speed, from WEST to EAST, to disappear again in the clouds. The "saucers" were accompanied by a small luminous trail. They seemed to fly quite low. The apparition only lasted about twenty seconds.

"L'ALSACE" for JULY 10, 1952, page 3

(search by Mr. Nourier)

[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH:

2273: 1952/07/06 12:00 3 7:05:00 E 47:49:00 N 3331 WEU FRN HRH 6:6

THANN,Ht RHIN,FR:2 BLUISH DISKS SEEN:OBS+TIME UNK:NFD:/JIMMY GUIEU.

Ref# 2 VALLEE:UFOS IN SPACE:Anatomy/phenon. Page No. 84 : TOWN &CITY

[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH:

2273: 1952/07/06 12:00 3 7:05:00 E 47:49:00 N 3331 WEU FRN HRH 6:6

THANN,Ht RHIN,FR:2 BLUISH DISKS SEEN:OBS+TIME UNK:NFD:/JIMMY GUIEU.

Ref# 2 VALLEE:UFOS IN SPACE:Anatomy/phenon. Page No. 84 : TOWN &CITY

[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

6 July 1952 12:00

Thann, Alsace, France

Unidentified objects were sighted, but with appearance and behavior that most likely would have a conventional explanation. Two objects were observed in a town for a few seconds.

Hynek rating: DD

Vallee rating: FB1

The sources are indicated as: "Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Vallee, Jacques, Anatomy of a Phenomenon, Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1965; Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002."

[Ref. cvn2:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:

Former journalist Christian Valentin published in 2012 a very interesting book telling the story of UFO sightings, flying saucers sightings, in Alsace, from the beginning to 1980.

In this book, he reports that the newspaper L'Alsace published in their Colmar issue what followed on Thursday July 10, 1952:

Two "flying saucers in the sky of THANN

Tuesday evening (July 8, 1952), two female residents of Thann, going through the Kléber street saw very clearly coming out of clouds two vertical discs of bluish color, moving at a great speed from west to east to disappear back into the clouds. The saucers, if there were saucers, were accompanied by a small luminous trail. They seemed to fly quite low. The apparition lasted only twenty seconds.

Discussion:

It is quite tempting to think, with this mention of the trails, the brevity of the observation, and the total absence of anything that would that contradict it, that the two residents saw a double meteor.

Below, an aerial view of Thann with the position of the Kléber street.

Update as of July 3, 2025:

The two other sightings I have now found on the same date, in Mommenheim and in Sélestat, are consistent with the possibility that this sighting in Thann was the sighting of a meteor.

Moreover, these three observation locations are aligned and span a distance of 113 kilometers:

The trajectory reported - only in Sélestat - from northeast to southwest also fits, except for the one given in Thann.

Evaluation:

Probable meteor.

Sources references:

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

[lae1] * "Deux 'soucoupes volantes' dans le ciel de Thann", in the regional newspaper L'Alsace, Colmar, France, page 3, July 10, 1952.
[dna1] * Article in the regional newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, Strasbourg, France, page 12, July 11, 1952.
[jve2] ? Computerized catalog by Jacques Vallée.
[jve1] * "Anatomy of a Phenomenon - UFOs in Space", book by Jacques Vallée, Henri Regnery publisher, USA, 1965.
[jve1] * "Anatomy of a Phenomenon", book by Jacques Vallée, Henry Regnery - Ace Books publishers, USA, page 100, 1965.
[jve1] * "Anatomy of a Phenomenon - UFOs in Space", book by Jacques Vallée, Neville Spearman Ltd publishers, U-K., 1966.
[jve1] * "Anatomy of a Phenomenon - UFOs in Space", book by Jacques Vallée, Tandem Books publishers, France, page 60, 1974.
[jve1] * "Anatomy of a Phenomenon - UFOs in Space", book by Jacques Vallée, Ballantine Books publishers, USA, page 84, 1977.
[ald1] * Record in the archive by Mrs. Gueudelot, of the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, not dated, published circa 2020 by the ufology association SCEAU, France, at https://sceau-archives-ovni.org/fonds/fond_gueudelot/base_guy_jpr_fiches_gueudelot.html
[lhh1] * "*U* Computer Database", compiled by Larry Hatch, USA, circa 2002.
[uda1] * "6 Jul 1952 - Thann, Alsace, France", web page by the UFOdna website, circa 2013, at http://thecid.com/ufo/uf01/uf7/017037.htm
[cvn2] * "Mythes et Réalités des Phénomènes Aériens Non Identifiés - Histoire des soucoupes volantes en Alsace jusqu'en 1980", book by Christian Valentin, Grimoires d'Alsace publishers, France, page , 2012.

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	April 9, 2014	Creation, [lae1], [jve1], [cvn2].
1.0	Patrick Gross	April 9, 2014	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	July 9, 2015	Addition [uda1].
1.2	Patrick Gross	May 20, 2021	Addition [lhh1].
1.3	Patrick Gross	August 4, 2023	Addition [ald1]. In the Discussion, addition or the paragraph "However, the other sightings..." Evaluation changed, was "Possible meteor."
1.4	Patrick Gross	July 3, 2025	Addition [dna1]. In the Summary, addition of the information from [dna1]. In the Discussion, addition or the "Update as of July 3, 2025" part.

This page was last updated on August 4, 2023.