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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 Riedisheim, on June 9, 2012:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2012-06-09-RIEDISHEIM-1

Summary:

A person who has remained anonymous seems to have deposited his testimony and two photos, visible below in this case file, on the ufology website of the MUFON (United States), where it is now available only to the paying members.

However, another website in the USA, UFO Stalker, which collects sighting reports, had picked it up.

It is said that around 2:30 a.m., in 2012 (the date June 9, 2012 seems to have been given in the header), in front of his parents' house, along the canal from the Rhône to the Rhine rivers, in Riedisheim, lights came from the south and headed north, they were "red/white" in color and made "these beautiful designs in the sky".

The witness said that usually "we always hear the animals, but there, dead silence."

The sighting would have lasted over an hour, and the witness said he was accompanied by a friend, his parents and some neighbors.

The witness said he contacted GEIPAN (the official research and information group on "unidentified aerospace phenomena" which, he said, "ridiculed me by specifying that they are Chinese lanterns."

The report was apparently made on May 29, 2018, 6 years after the sighting date.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: June 9, 2012
Time: 02:30 a.m.
Duration: 1 hour.
First known report date: May 29, 2018
Reporting delay:

Geographical data:

Department: Haut-Rhin
City: Riedisheim
Place: Outside in front of the home near the Rhone-Rhin canal.
Latitude:
Longitude:
Uncertainty radius:

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: 6 or more.
Number of known witnesses: 1
Number of named witnesses: 0
Witness(es) ages: Varied.
Witness(es) types: Two friend, parents, neighbors.

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: By the Web to the MUFON ufology group.
Type of location: Outside in front of home near canal.
Visibility conditions: Night.
UFO observed: Yes
UFO arrival observed: ?
UFO departure observed: ?
Entities: No
Photographs: Yes.
Sketch(s) by witness(es): No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): No.
Witness(es) feelings: ?
Witnesses interpretation: Not Chinese lanterns.

Classifications:

Hynek: NL
ALSACAT: Probable Chinese lanterns or LED balloons.

Sources:

[Ref. usr1:] SITE WEB "UFO STALKER":

UFO Sighting (FR-05292018-0009)
Riedisheim, Grand Est on June 9, 2012

Sighting Basics

Case 92346
Occurred 2012-06-09 02:30
Reported 2018-05-29 13:37 (Reported 6 Years Later)
Time Zone Europe/Paris
Source MUFON
Summary Lumiã¨res arrivant en forme blanche/rouge et se transformant en jaune
Tags photo contact

Sighting Location

Approximation to protect the reporters identity

City Riedisheim
Region Grand Est
Country France
Postal Code 68400

Photos, Videos and Media

[The two pictures shown here are visible below.]

Sighting Specifics

Distance Unknown
Altitude Over 500 Feet - Under Cloudcover
Duration 01:00:00
Features Other
Flight Path Path With Directional Change, Path Then Hovering
Shape Circle

Weather Details

Sorry, weather details are unavailable for this sighting.

Detailed Description

Bonsoir, je vous partage les photos que j'ai pris vers 2h30 du matin en 2012 devant chez mes parents. ces lumiã¨res venaient d'un axe sud et se dirigeait vers le nord. elles venaient rouge/blanche puis faisait ces magnifiques dessins dans le ciel. chose importante, c'est devant le canal du rhã´ne au rhin ã riedisheim, c'ã©tait en plein ã©tã© et d'habitude nous entendions toujours les animaux, mais lã , un silence de mort. cette observation ã durã©e plus d'une heure, j'ai comme tã©moins mon ami auquel je peux vous donner ces coordonnã©es, mes parents et quelques voisins. j'avais contactã© le geipan qui m'a fait tournã© en ridicule en prã©cisant qu'il s'agit de lanternes thaã¯landaise. je reste ã votre disposition pour plus de renseignements, en l'attente de votre veuillez agrã©er mes sincã¨res salutations

[Good evening, I share with you the photos that I took around 2:30 a.m. in 2012 in front of my parents' house. these lights were coming from a southern axis and heading north. they would come red / white and then make these beautiful designs in the sky. important thing, it is in front of the canal from the rhine to the rhine in in riedisheim, it was in the middle of the summer and usually we could still hear the animals, but there, dead silence. this observation lasted more than an hour, I have as a witness my friend to whom I can give you the coordinates, my parents and some neighbors. I had contacted the geipan who made a fool of me by specifying that it is was Chinese lanterns. I remain at your disposal for more information, while waiting for your please accept my sincere greetings]

Photo.

Photo.

[Ref. oda1:] "PLANETE ODLA" WEBSITE:

Screenshot.

June 01. 2018

A UFO made of strange luminous drawings in Alsace

On June 9, 2012, at 2:30 a.m., an unidentified light was repeatedly observed and photographed over Riedisheim, a town in Alsace, eastern France.

Testimony:

"Good evening, I'll share with you the photos I took around at about 2:30 a.m. in 2012 in front of my parents' house. These lights were coming from a south axis and heading north. They would turn red / white then do these beautiful designs in the sky.

Importantly, it is in front of the Rhône-Rhine canal in Riedisheim, it was in the middle of summer and usually we could still hear the animals, but there, dead silence. This sighting lasted over an hour. I have as witnesses my friend to whom I can give you these coordinates, my parents and some neighbors.

I had contacted the GEIPAN which made me ridicule by specifying that it was Chinese lanterns. I remain available to you for more information, awaiting your please accept my sincere greetings."

Source [Badly designed link "http: //activite-paranormale.nethttp//www.ufostalker.com/event/92346"]

Discussion:

Map.

The witness says he contacted GEIPAN. GEIPAN (www.cnes-geipan.fr) did not published anything about his sighting so far. It is possible that the witness only telephoned with the GEIPAN without going through the drafting of his observation report on their detailed form; he may also not have contacted GEIPAN at all, of course.

What we see in the two photos is orange in color, not "red/white" (what is that color, anyway? Either it was red, or it was white, and a red and white mix is ??pink). The color is compatible with that of most of the Chinese lanterns.

On the first photo, I see for the "UFO" the appearance of either a shake or a displacement, or a combination of the two. There is apparently no movement with the visible vegetation; so it seems to me that there was movement, probably. But there probably was no visually-seen "drawing", the drawing is probably due to the long exposure time, at night, thus capturing the trajectory of the object. At the bottom of this trajectory, the "blinking" appearance does not occur anymore.

I interpret this as the trace of a light source that flickers a little on the first moments of the exposure, and the apparent "change of direction" at the end of the exposure as due to a fast and brief camera shake.

The blinking does not rule out a Chinese lantern: the fuel flame may flicker enough to cause this on a photograph.

But it is quite possible that the light source was a "LED balloon", these small balloons inflated with helium and equipped with one or more LED lamps often have a flashing feature, often programmable.

On the other hand, the observation time of one hour would not be compatible with a single Chinese lantern, these devices can only fly for a few minutes, a quarter of an hour for some models.

But the witness is not preicse at all: he does not say that there was one light, he says, "these lights". So there could have been a succession of lanterns - or other balloons - for an hour.

The report is quite poor, in the sense that we have no precision on the number of objects, an indication of color which does not correspond to what we see in the photos, no original photo containing the metadata on date, hour, exposure etc., no precise location, a very succinct account, anonymity of all witnesses, no investigation, etc.

Evaluation:

Probable Chinese lanterns or LED balloons.

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 July 5, 2021 Creation, [usr1], [oda1].
1.0 Patrick Gross July 5, 2021 First published.

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This page was last updated on July 5, 2021.