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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 Ribeauvillé, on January 23, 2008:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2008-01-23-RIBEAUVILLE-1

Summary:

On the UFO web board Les Mystères des OVNIS, a man reported on March 6, 2009 that after having "plunged back into this world of UFOs and the like", he looked for pictures that I had taken it at random at sunrise on January 23, 2008 between 9:42 and 9:46.

The photos, visible in this file, clearly show contrails of jet planes in the setting sun, with certain characteristics amplified by enlargements and increased contrast which puzzled the photographer and the members of the board.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: January 23, 2008
Time: 09:42 a.m..
Duration: Minutes.
First known report date: March 9, 2009
Reporting delay: 1 year.

Geographical data:

Department: Haut-Rhin
City: Ribeauvillé
Place: From home.
Latitude: 48.195
Longitude: 7.319
Uncertainty radius: 2 km.

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: 1
Number of known witnesses: 1
Number of named witnesses: 0
Witness(es) ages: Adult or aged.
Witness(es) types: Male resident.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: To the Web board "Les Mystères des OVNIS."
Type of location: From home in village.
Visibility conditions: Sunrise.
UFO observed: Yes.
UFO arrival observed: No.
UFO departure observed: No.
Entities: No.
Photographs: Yes.
Sketch(s) by witness(es): No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): No.
Witness(es) feelings: Puzzled.
Witnesses interpretation: Jet contrails?

Classifications:

Hynek: ?
ALSACAT: Jet planes contrails and fuel dump.

Sources:

[Ref. re1:] REPORT, IMAGES AND COMMENTS ON THE FORUM "LES MYSTERES DES OVNIS":

Guest
Guest

Subject: 2008: On 01/23 at 09:42 a.m. - phenomenon photographed in Ribeauvillé - (68) Fri 06 Mar 2009, 10:51 p.m.

After immersing myself in this world of UFOs and others, I looked for pictures that I had taken a little over a year ago.

I took these random pictures of a sunrise in January 2008. January 23, 2008 to be precise.

Regarding the shooting time I think around 9 a.m. .... between 9:42 a.m. and 9:46 a.m. (time to be taken with a grain of salt since at this time of the year and according to the data I have the sun must rise at 9:06 a.m. ... now the times I get may not take into account the reliefs, particularly the Black Forest mountains in Germany)

The weather data for the day indicated on the colmar meyenheim station:

Screenshot.

The photos were taken from Ribeauvillé, a commune in Haut Rhin in Alsace at an altitude of 240m.

Direction of the shots:

Scan.

Scan.

The direction of observation is therefore full EAST.

So that morning I saw while I had breakfast that the sky was beautiful. I therefore took the initiative to take pictures from my window with my Canon A95.

here is the first shot:

Scan.

I then observed this vertical trail ... and I saw that it was progressing slowly.

Zoom on the image and simple processing of the image exposure:

Scan.

There is a doubling effect of the object, but it is simply due to a movement during the shooting (we see it on the objects which are in the foreground .. fireplace, branches...)

The object was therefore advancing slowly.. I first thought of a plane moving towards me in a west-east direction and in an ascending phase.

But here, after 1 minute of observation ...:

Scan.

The object took a fairly sharp turn at an angle of 60 ° going towards the cloud that we see.

Thereafter:

2min after the first photo

Scan.

Zoom and treatment on the exhibit:

Scan.

Scan.

In the same minute:

Scan.

treatment on the exhibit:

Scan.

We observe here, before and especially after treatment, a kind of wave in front of the object in its displacement.

Last photo:

Zoom and processing:

Scan.

Afterwards I didn't pay attention to the object anymore, thinking it was just an airplane (no rendering is enough on the AFN screen. I just noticed that it was strange after putting it on the computer ... and especially today after having treated them (in particular the photo with the "wave")

I always thought that these pictures were pictures of airliners traveling from east to west before changing direction to go SOUTH ... (seen the direction of travel, and the turn very clear, I think it is possible that a plane in ascending phase coming straight towards us can give the impression of turning very clearly (too much) while taking a very normal curve ...)

however the treatments to which I submitted my photos give me new aspects of the image ...

The questions I ask myself:

- This turn, so sharp in the photo, can it really be due to the way of taking a photo of an airliner ... or even a military craft?

- can the dark aspect of the trail compared to the clouds be compatible with an airliner?

- is this position compatible with an aerial road?

- last question ... is it really an airplane as I have thought it for a year and as I doubt it for a few days?

In total I have 7 pictures that I can provide for people who would like to do more in-depth analyzes.

The time between the first shot and the last is 4 minutes.

I remain available for any questions as much as possible since it's been over a year .. I don't know if I can remember little details.

Guest
Guest

Sujet: Re: 2008: On 01/23 at 09:42 - phenomenon photographed in Ribeauvillé - (68) Fri 06 Mar 2009, 10:51 p.m.

Nobody to give me an opinion on these pictures?

I myself am quite perplexed, and I tell myself that it could simply be an airliner, with the dawn lighting which has this somewhat strange effect in the jet engines ... But it is still strange to me!

Felyanne
Good participation
Female Age: 42
Number of messages: 20
Registered on: 06/03/2009
Localization: France
Hobbies: sport, lecture,sciences

Sujet: Re: 2008: On 01/23 at 09:42 - phenomenon photographed in Ribeauvillé - (68) Mon 09 Mar 2009, 10:23 a.m.

Your photo is puzzling indeed, but if it were a plane, one should see the headlights, it seems to me that at dawn planes keep lighting on their craft similar to that in the night, dont't they?

Yours truly
Fely

Sujet: Re: 2008: On 01/23 at 09:42 - phenomenon photographed in Ribeauvillé - (68) Mon 09 Mar 2009, 10:23 a.m.

Your photo is indeed disturbing, but if it were a plane, then we would see headlights, it seems to me that at dawn the planes keep the same lighting on their device as at night, right?

Yours
Fely

Guest
Guest

Subject: Re: 2008: Le 23/01 at 09:42 - phenomenon photographed in Ribeauvillé - (68) Mon 09 Mar 2009, 01:28 p.m.

I hadn't thought too much about this story of lights ...

let's say that the dawn was still well advanced .. the sun was starting its riseand it was only a matter of minute to see it come out of the black forest mountains ..

In addition, the object, in view of its speed of progress, was still very far from me .. several tens of kilometers I would say ...

Pierre31
Participation exceptionnelle
Male Age: 62
Number of messages: 713
Registered on: 02/21/2009
Localization: Toulouse
Profession: Engineer
Hobbies: travel

Subject: Re: 2008: On 01/23 at 09:42 a.m. - phenomenon photographed in Ribeauvillé - (68) Mon 09 Mar 2009, 01:45 p.m.

It's quite curious indeed. The photos would make think of the contrails of an airliner, ..... if there were not this conical wave in front of the trace. It immediately makes one think of the shock wave of a supersonic military plane as in the videos below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_eYgMxUPpc: this pilot is crazy !! Its altitude is lower than the length of the plane, ie <17 m !!! Its speed is subsonic (no bang), but shock wave nonetheless, so not far from the speed of sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX04ySm4TTk: not bad either this one, and it is beyond the speed of sound because we hear the bang

Hence my questions:

did you hear a "bang"?
Did it seem to move quickly after its turn?

Guest
Guest

Subject: Re: 2008: Le 23/01 at 09:42 - phenomenon photographed in Ribeauvillé - (68) Mon 09 Mar 2009, 02:31 p.m.

It's true that this wave can make one think of this kind of thing ...

However, no bang (it's been a long time since I heard it since it was common when I was young.)!

After its change of direction I did not notice any obvious variation in speed .. that said I recall that the object was far ..! we could see it moving forward, but it was pretty minimal!

Pierre31
Participation exceptionnelle
Male Age: 62
Number of messages: 713
Registered on: 02/21/2009
Localization: Toulouse
Profession: Engineer
Hobbies: travel

Subject: Re: 2008: Le 23/01 at 09:42 - phenomenon photographed in Ribeauvillé - (68) Mon 09 Mar 2009, 08:12 p.m.

I reprocessed the image with "The GIMP" (color change + posterization), and the "wave" becomes really apparent

It doesn't say what it is, but we see that the wave is conical, centered on the end of the trace and symmetrical on both sides: the shock wave hypothesis is plausible. It would therefore be a hunter, not necessarily at supersonic speed, but still quite close to the speed of sound. The altitude and the distance may explain why you didn't hear a bang .... well, now I won't put my hand in the fire.

Opinion?

Guest
Guest

Subject: Re: 2008: On 01/23 at 09:42 a.m. - phenomenon photographed in Ribeauvillé - (68) Mon 09 Mar 2009, 09:08 p.m.

Besides the wave that could be due to a passage of the barrier, I wonder about the trail! I find it particularly dark compared to the clouds that can be seen around ...

Except this trail is none other than condensation .. clouds basically! After that I do not know myself enough to know whether this aspect can be due to the density of the condensation produced by the reactors ...

as of the wave we can also wonder about its size in relation to the craft... if we look at the size of the tip of the trail in relation to the width of the wave, and assuming that the height of the craft is 3 or 4 m (for a fighter type craft), we can deduce a wave with an approximate height of:

Scan.

(I even wonder if I was not wrong somewhere .. but no that's it!)

therefore with 3m of height for the craft the wave would measure: 3x42 = 126m ....

I don't have a rference, but it seems huge to me!
then given the distance the sources of errors are multiple ...

Pierre31
Participation exceptionnelle
Male Age: 62
Number of messages: 713
Registered on: 02/21/2009
Localization: Toulouse
Profession: Engineer
Hobbies: travel

Sujet: Re: 2008: Le 23/01 à 09h42 - phénomène photographié à Ribeauvillé - (68) Lun 09 Mar 2009, 21:19

wrote:

therefore with 3m of height for the craft the wave would measure: 3x42 = 126m ....

Ie 63 m on both sides. Watch the 2nd video at 0:10 (still image). Your rating appears to match this image.

Guest
Guest

Subject: Re: 2008: On 01/23 at 09:42 - phenomenon photographed in Ribeauvillé - (68) Mon 09 Mar 2009, 09:31 p.m.

Pierre31 wrote:

gelix wrote:

therefore with 3m of height for the device the wave would measure: 3x42 = 126m ....

Or 63 m on both sides. Watch the 2nd video at 0:10 (still image). Your rating appears to match this image.

Indeed ... I did not check since it did not seem so huge to me ...

So we are heading towards a plane that has passed the barrier..

I must say that I am already happy to have been able to take this shot which taken at random must be quite rare! :-)

[Ref. spa1:] "SPICA" UFOLOGY ASSOCIATION:

City Date and hour of observation General shape
Identification
General color
Hypothesis
Conclusion
RIBEAUVILLE Wednesday 23 January 2008 at 09:43 a.m. Luminous trace
Unidentified
black
None
Unsolved -lack of info

Discussion:

Map.

There are indeed some "features" that at first sight seemed strange, among the otherwise ordinary jet contrails.

But they have a possible explanation, which is obviously not a "shock wave" by breaking the sound barrier, which would by definition be behind the plane and not in front.

The simple explanation is that these features correspond to fuel dumps, which planes sometimes do.

Evaluation:

Jet planes contrails and fuel dump.

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 March 19, 2023 Creation, [myo1], [spa1].
1.0 Patrick Gross March 19, 2023 First published.

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This page was last updated on March 19, 2023.