ALSACAT-1988-11-04-ENTZHEIM-1
The ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit #295 of January - February 1989 reported that on November 4, 1998 from 5:05 p.m. until around 5:30 p.m., five people traveling on the highway between Strasbourg and the Entzheim airport, observed a luminous phenomenon in the sky, in an approximate direction to the West.
It was a taxi driver and his four passengers, a woman and three men, whom he was driving to the airport. It was the woman who first noticed two thin luminous lines, parallel, quite high above the horizon, at 45° according to her, which the magazine considered probably overestimated.
We are told that the appearance of these two lines is incompatible, or very inconsistent, according to the woman, Mrs. M., with two contrails left by airplanes.
The two lines gradually shortened and thickened in their central part, to take on the appearance of two very flat ellipses, always of the same color. They moved closer to each other, moved apart, closer again, and further apart again, these successive movements taking place in several minutes.
At the start of the observation the length of each line could be a little greater than the apparent diameter of the moon.
|
The two lines move away and come closer several times: the road to the airport having bends, the angle of view changes. The two lines thicken: the fuel gradually dissipates. They get smaller and paler at the end for the same reason.
The setting sun probably gave them an orange color; unfortunately the story tells us nothing of this color.
When the taxi arrived near the airport, the witnesses lost sight of the phenomenon, then saw it again, becoming smaller and paler. When they arrived in Entzheim, they could not see anything anymore.
| Date: | November 4, 1988 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 05:05 p.m. |
| Duration: | 25 minutes. |
| First known report date: | January 1989. |
| Reporting delay: | Days, weeks. |
| Department: | Bas-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Between Strasbourg and Entzheim |
| Place: | In a car on the A352 motorway. |
| Latitude: | 48.524 |
| Longitude: | 7.659 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 2 km |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 5 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | ? |
| Number of named witnesses: | 0 |
| Witness(es) ages: | Adults and/or aged. |
| Witness(es) types: | Cab driver, passengers. |
| Reporting channel: | Ufology magazine LDLN. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | In car on motorway near airport. |
| Visibility conditions: | Night |
| UFO observed: | Yes |
| UFO arrival observed: | No |
| UFO departure observed: | No |
| Entities: | No |
| Photographs: | No. |
| Sketch(s) by witness(es): | No. |
| Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): | No. |
| Witness(es) feelings: | ? |
| Witnesses interpretation: | ? |
| Hynek: | DD |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | Plane fuel dump contrails. |
[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
|
From 5:05 p.m. until around 5:30 p.m., five people traveling on the motorway, between Strasbourg
|
and the Entzheim airport, observed a luminous phenomenon in the sky, in the approximate direction of Molsheim, that is to say of the west.
It is a taxi driver and his four passengers (a woman and three men) whom he was driving to the airport. Mrs. M. first of all noticed two thin luminous lines, parallel, quite high above the horizon: Mrs. M. speaks of 45° (but we know the classic illusion which often leads to overestimating this angle).
The very appearance of these two lines is incompatible, or very little compatible, according to Mrs. M., with the hypothesis of two contrails left by airplanes.
These two lines, little by little, shortened, at the same time as they thickened in their central part, to take the appearance of two very flat ellipses, always of the same color. They moved closer to each other, moved away, moved closer, and moved away again, these successive movements occurring in several minutes.
[Drawing caption:] The two successive aspects of the phenomenon.
At the start of the observation (phase of the two thin lines), the length of each line could be a little greater than the apparent diameter of the moon.
When the taxi arrived near the airport, the witnesses lost sight of the phenomenon, then saw it again: it had become smaller and paler. When they arrived in Entzheim, nothing could be seen, but it is true that the four travelers, in a hurry to catch the plane from Paris, had little time to continue their observation.
[Ref. cnu1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "CNEGU":
|
Ref: F/ /67/ 88 11 04 (01) IQ=2 IE=0 IPI=P?
On Friday, November 4, 1988, from 5:05 p.m. (UTC: 4:05 p.m.) until around 5:30 p.m. (UTC: 4:30 p.m.), five people traveling on the motorway between STRASBOURG (67) and the ENTZHEIM airport observed, in the sky, in the approximate direction of MOLSHEIM, two luminous lines, parallel, quite high above the horizon. These two lines, at first thin and of a length which may be a little greater than the apparent diameter of the moon, shortening and widening in their central part, to take the appearance of two very flat ellipses, always of same color, which approach each other, deviate, approach and deviate again, these successive movements taking place over several minutes. At the end of the observation, the phenomenon became smaller and paler. Arrived at ENTZHEIM, the witnesses no longer see anything.
(Source: LDLN nr 295, Jan.Feb. 89, pages 13-14)
|
|
The witnesses are on the A352 motorway, between Strasbourg and Entzheim, going towards Entzheim, their destination for taking a plane. The airport runways are visible on the map. Molsheim is indeed towards the West.
In modern civil aeronautics, when a transport plane is preparing to land, if there is any emergency (sick passenger needing to be evacuated urgently, technical incident, etc.) the procedure requires that it gets rid of the small remnants of fuel from its tanks.
There are two reasons for this: safety in case of fire if the landing goes badly, but above all, to reduce the aircraft weight for landing.
The quantity of fuel loaded before take off is always calculated as accurately as possible with only a small surplus allowing a small safety margin.
This leftover fuel vaporizes when dropped. If this were not the case, there would obviously be protests from people receiving this fuel on their land and homes. The two trails correspond to two tanks in two wings, and their short length is explained by the fact that it is only leftover fuel and not emptying of full tanks.
|
The two trails might be just that.
Airplane fuel dump contrails.
* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.
| Main author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Create/changed by: | Date: | Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | May 26, 2021 | Creation, [ldl1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | May 26, 2021 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | January 9, 2023 | Addition [cnu1]. |
