ALSACAT-1996-08-01-COLMAR-1
On August 1, 1966, in northern and eastern France at least, there were several dozen testimonies generally located around 9:30 p.m., typical of a re-entry into the atmosphere of space debris.
Through the GEIPAN website, in 2017, it can be seen that one of the sighting locations was Appenwihr, that there had been a Gendarmerie report on the two testimonies; but as theses cases are gathered in a national case file and that the numerous reports of the Gendarmerie are anonymized both for the names of the witnesses and the places, I cannot for the moment identify the Gendarmerie report corresponding to the observation in Appenwihr.
The synthesis of the case by the GEIPAN nevertheless allows us to learn that a 60-year-old man saw at 9:15 p.m. / 9:30 p.m. to the northeast of his position, or going towards the northeast, an object with "drag, Tail" or a "drag, Tail", of overall shape "2 axes of symmetry - Spherical, Ball", of red, orange, or fire color, which he said was the size of two pétanque balls, fast, and completely silent.
The GEIPAN classified the case, and the others at this time, as a "B" case, as a probable atmospheric re-entry.
I was able to find that that evening at that hour, the Russian automated and unmanned logistics spaceship "Progress M-31" had burned up in the Earth's atmosphere, after having supplied the Russian space station MIR. It had was deorbited at 19:44 UTC and the end of the reentry, so the moment when the debris burned, would have been 21:33 local time in Alsace.
However, I have not yet been able to find any data on the trajectory of this reentry, which is in any case the only one known to have taken place that evening.
| Date: | August 1, 1996 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 09:15 p.m. 09:30 p.m. |
| Duration: | ? |
| First known report date: | 1996 |
| Reporting delay: | Hour, months. |
| Department: | Haut-Rhin |
|---|---|
| City: | Colmar |
| Place: | ? |
| Latitude: | 48.078 |
| Longitude: | 7.359 |
| Uncertainty radius: | 5 km. |
| Number of alleged witnesses: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number of known witnesses: | 1 |
| Number of named witnesses: | 1 |
| Witness(es) ages: | 60 |
| Witness(es) types: | Man. |
| Reporting channel: | To the National Gendarmerie. |
|---|---|
| Type of location: | ? |
| Visibility conditions: | Night. |
| UFO observed: | Yes. |
| UFO arrival observed: | No. |
| 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: | ? |
| Hynek: | NL |
|---|---|
| ALSACAT: | ? |
[Ref. gei1:] GROUPE D'ETUDES ET D'INFORMATIONS SUR LES PHENOMENES AEROSPATIAUX NON IDENTIFIES (G.E.I.P.A.N.):
SUMMARY
Probable observations of an atmospheric re-entry.
DESCRIPTION
On the evening of August 1, 1996, many witnesses observed the very rapid passage of a very luminous white ball with a yellow and green trail. The luminous phenomenon lasts about thirty seconds. It is described in the same terms from Cantal to Alsace. The times indicated differ a little but the phenomenon seems to have occurred between 9:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. with a movement towards the North-West.
This large-scale phenomenon, seen by many witnesses in eastern France, is probably an atmospheric re-entry.
TESTIMONIES
[... other testimonies in other places...]
COLMAR (68) 08/01/1996
[... other testimonies in other places...]
| WITNESS | |
| DATE OF THE OBSERVATION | 08/01/1996 |
| AGE | 60 |
| GENDER | H |
| REACTION | Emotion - Curiosity, Interest - Active |
| CONDITION | |
| WEATHER CONDITIONS | Sun or light night |
| LOCAL DATE AND HOUR | 01/08/1996 09:15 p.m. / 09:30 p.m. |
| REFERENCE FRAME | Sky |
| START OF THE OBSERVATION | Condition of appearance provoked by the witness |
| END OF THE OBSERVATION | Conditions of disappearance provoked by the phenomenon |
| LOCALIZATION | |
| HORIZONTAL DIRECTION OF OBSERVATION | 45.00 |
| NATURE OF THE OBSERVATION OR DECRIPTIVE TERMS | Object |
| CHARACTERISTIC OT THE OBSERVATION | Trail, Tail |
| GLOBAL SHAPE | 3D - 2 axis pf symmetry - Spherical, Ball |
| COLOR | Red Orange, fire |
| APPARENT SIZE | 2 pétanque balls |
| APPARENT SPEED | Fast |
| NOISE | None, Total silence |
| EFFECT ON THE ENVIRONMENT | Unknown - Nor specified |
| NUMBER OF OBSERVED PHENOMENON | only one |
Note: the GEIPAN publishes numerous reports from the National Gendarmerie relating to these observations on the evening of August 1, 1996; but as all the place names are suppressed, it is not possible to reconcile these proceedings with the corresponding place of observation.
[Ref. jbu1:] JEROME BEAU:
Thursday, August 1, 1996 at 9:30 p.m. to 45 A very large number of witnesses observe the very rapid passage of a very luminous white ball with a yellow and green trail. The luminous phenomenon lasted about 30 s and is described in the same terms from Cantal to Alsace. The phenomenon seems to have moved towards the northwest.
This large-scale phenomenon, seen by many witnesses in eastern France, is probably an atmospheric re-entry.
|
On May 5, 1996, the Russian automated and unmanned logistics spaceship "Progress M-31" was launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan by the Roscosmos agency using a Soyuz-U rocket, to bring cargo to the Russian space station MIR, which was done successfully. It was deorbited at 19:44 UTC, then re-entered and burned in the atmosphere on August 1, 1996 until 20:33 UTC i.e. 09:33 p.m. local time in Alsace.
Below: Progress M52, similar to Progress M31.
|
The sources are numerous, see for example planet4589.org/space/gcat/data/derived/launchlog.html or en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_in_spaceflight
The most complete data I had (below) was on space.kursknet.ru/cosmos/english/cargoes/prm31.sht
|
Unfortunately I have not yet managed to obtain its reentry trajectory.
Space junk reentry.
* = 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 | February 15, 2023 | Creation, [gei1], [jbu1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 15, 2023 | First published. |
