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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 between Strasbourg and Entzheim, on November 4, 1988:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1988-11-04-ENTZHEIM-1

Summary:

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.

Sketch.

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.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: November 4, 1988
Time: 05:05 p.m.
Duration: 25 minutes.
First known report date: January 1989.
Reporting delay: Days, weeks.

Geographical data:

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

Witnesses data:

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.

Ufology data:

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: ?

Classifications:

Hynek: DD
ALSACAT: Plane fuel dump contrails.

Sources:

[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":

Scan.

November 4, 1988

From 5:05 p.m. until around 5:30 p.m., five people traveling on the motorway, between Strasbourg

Scan.

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":

Scan.

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)

Discussion:

Map.

Map.

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.

Photo.

The two trails might be just that.

Evaluation:

Airplane fuel dump contrails.

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 May 26, 2021 Creation, [ldl1].
1.0 Patrick Gross May 26, 2021 First published.
1.1 Patrick Gross January 9, 2023 Addition [cnu1].

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This page was last updated on January 9, 2023.