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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 Lapoutroie, on November 26, 1982:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1982-11-26-LAPOUTROIE-1

Summary:

The witness of this case, "Beps", said he filed his testimony with the official GEIPAN, and with the Alsatian ufology association SPICA, but it is on a website for UFO sightings testimonies that his information was published.

His observation was on November 26, 1982, at 05:15 p.m., in Lapoutroie in the Haut-Rhin. He was the only witness for 15 to 20 minutes of the coming, landing, and split of a luminous sphere.

He just came home walking from work; which left him time to watch the dark and starry sky of this late afternoon.

Arriving home, he saw appear above the trees, a silent object, luminous, not dazzling, of spherical shape. He thinks that its diameter was 5 meters or more, and that it was at an altitude of 200 meters. Its pace was slow.

He indicated that the color was white like that of the moon, the same brightness than the moon, and that its outline was sharp.

Scan.

It moved towards the underside of the opposite hill overhanging the circumvention of Lapoutroie by National Route 415, where he lived at the time.

Scan.

It then landed in the meadow lined with forests, where a large antenna towers is on the left above some houses and the meadow. The landing took place within 200 meters of the houses that overhang the meadow.

Scan.

He then sat on his doorstep with binoculars, the object in plain sight. He believes that after a good 5 minutes, a kind of "small luminous bubbling" occurred, along with 3 or 4 black dots. This was followed by a split of the sphere in three parts. Each party had a more elongated shape, and was about the size of a car according to him.

Scan.

Still luminous, the three parts each took a different direction: one went almost on the houses, another toward Orbey going into the forest, and the third took the direction of Hachimette.

He could see the trees behind the quickly moving luminous parts.

Scan.

He waited long to see them return to gather, but saw nothing anymore.

The next day, he went to the location, 2 km in straight line, and saw no trace either in the meadow not in the forest.

As he had no camera with him, he made sketches of what he saw.

He tried to talk about his observation, but as he was being taken for a visionary over and over again, he finally kept it for himself.

He concluded that although 29 years have gone, he no longer looks at the sky without thinking about what he had seen.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: November 26, 1982
Time: 05:15 p.m.
Duration: 15 à 20 minutes.
First known report date: 2014
Reporting delay: 3 decades.

Geographical data:

Haut-Rhin
Department:
City: Lapoutroie
Place: From home doorstep, UFO in the sky then landing on opposite hill.
Latitude: 48.144
Longitude: 7.130
Uncertainty radius: 200 m

Witnesses data:

1
Number of alleged witnesses:
Number of known witnesses: 1
Number of named witnesses: 0
Witness(es) ages: Young adult or adult.
Witness(es) types: Male resident with a job.

Ufology data:

Report to GEIPAN, SPICA, and "OVNI-France.fr" website.
Reporting channel:
Type of location: From home doorstep, UFO in the sky then landing on opposite hill.
Visibility conditions: Evening.
UFO observed: Yes
UFO arrival observed: Yes
UFO departure observed: Yes
Entities: No
Photographs: No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es): Yes.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): Yes.
Witness(es) feelings: ?
Witnesses interpretation: ?

Classifications:

NL
Hynek:
ALSACAT: Unidentified, possible extraterrestrial visitors.

Sources:

[Ref. ofe1:] "OVNI-FRANCE.FR" WEBSITE:

11/26/-1982 - (Dep.68) - Appearance, landing, split of a luminous sphere.

Case file deposited at GEIPAN This testimony was the subject of a depository at the GEIPAN.

Date: 11/26/1982

Department: 68 (Haut-Rhin)

Localization: Lapoutroie

Hour: 5 p.m.

Numbers [sic] of witnesses: 1 people

Type of observation: NL: Nocturnal lights

Approximate duration of the observation: 15 minutes

What was seen: appearance, landing, split of a luminous sphere.

Description of the facts:

That day, I just came walking home from my job, which left me time to watch the dark and starry sky of this late afternoon.

Arriving home a bright object, not dazzling, of the same luminosity as the Moon and of spherical shape appeared above the trees. For the size, I would say a diameter of 5m and its pace was slow.

Scan.

It was heading to the opposite hill, overhanging the circumvention (the N415) of Lapoutroie where i livd [sic] at the time.

Scan.

It landed on the prairie. The latter is surrounded by forests, overlooked by a large antenna on the left and some houses appear above the field. The landing took place within 200m of them.

Scan.

Then I sat down on my doorstep with my binoculars, the object in view. I would say a good 5 minutes later, a kind of "small bright bubbling" occurred, followed by a split of the sphere in 3 parts. Still luminous, they each took a different direction: one directed itself practically on the housing, another toward Orbey passing in the forest as well as the third which took the direction to Hachimette.

Scan.

(OVNI-France.fr: Below the sketch that Beps gave to GEIPAN)

Scan.

Their luminosity allowed to see the trees behind which they moved quickly. In all, an appearance lasted from 15 to 20min.

I waited a long time to see them come to gather. But I did not see them again.

The next day I went on the location (2km in straight line) I saw no trace in the field or in the forest. I tried to talk about it. But being taken for a crakcpot again and again I ended up keeping it to myself. Since I had no camera with me, I made sketches of what I saw. 29 years separate me from that day. But I do not look at the sky anymore without thinking about it.

beps

Discussion:

Map.

If someone finds an ordinary explanation for what is for me one of the observations of the highest strangeness ever in Alsace, please share it with me. I see no absolutely no possible ordinary explanation.

Still, we have only one witness. But also, what is described here is not "typical" of duly solved hoaxed cases.

And the object has nothing of any "earthly" craft or a natural phenomenon, and nothing either of these "saucers" that some say science-fiction inspires people to invent.

Scan.

Above: Aerial view of the places. North up.

Scan.

Above: The place seen from the opposite hill, from near the witness' position.

Evaluation:

Unidentified, possible extraterrestrial visitors.

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
Editeur: Patrick Gross

Changes history:

Version: Create/changed by: Date: Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross July 28, 2015 Creation, [ofe1].
1.0 Patrick Gross July 28, 2015 First published.

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This page was last updated on July 28, 2015.