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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 Heiligenstein, on May 10, 2014:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2014-05-10-HEILIGENSTEIN-1

Summary:

Someone under anonymity reported on a UFO website an observation on May 10, 2014, at 11:59 p.m. in Heiligenstein in the Bas-Rhin:

"My friend and I were walking on a wine road linking the towns of Heiligenstein and Gertwiller (Bas-Rhin) when above us in a cloudy sky, an intense spherical green light caught my attention. Having immediately talked of it to my friend, he noticed in turn the same as I, that is to say, a green ball the size of a helicopter cabin leaving no trail, giving off no halo and making no noise. It was moving from south to north, zigzagging from side to side a little faster than an airliner in landing process (comparison possible given the nearby araport of Enzheim ar about 35 km from Heiligenstein) arriving over Obernai. About 5 km from the place of the beginning of the observation, the green sphere changed course and headed west against the wind and came almost above the town of Bernardswiller about 2 km from the city of Obernai. This green ball turned around to head back to the east and took the same trajectory line, continuing its flight north still zigzagging from side to side. We managed to observe it until our eyes could not perceive it anymore. It was 11:59 p.m. This green light flew below the clouds but at a distance higher than that of Mont Sainte Odile peaking at 764 m. The duration of the observation of this green ball was about a minute. I specify that my friend and I had already the opportunity to observe this type of unusual "light" during our hikes."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: May 10, 2014
Time: 11:59 p.m.
Duration: 1 minute.
First known report date: August 2014
Reporting delay: Hours, 4 months?

Geographical data:

Department: Bas-Rhin
City: Heiligenstein
Place: Vine road between Heiligenstein and Gertwiller, UFO in the sky.
Latitude: 48.417
Longitude: 7.459
Uncertainty radius: 500 m

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses: 2
Number of known witnesses: 1
Number of named witnesses: 0
Witness(es) ages: ?
Witness(es) types: ?

Ufology data:

Reporting channel: Witness web report to UFO website "OVNI-France.fr".
Type of location: Vine road between two villages.
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: Puzzled.
Witnesses interpretation: ?

Classifications:

Hynek: NL
ALSACAT: Unexplained, needs investigation, helicopter?

Sources:

[Ref. ofe1:] TESTIMONY ON THE "OVNI-FRANCE" WEBSITE:

10-05-2014 - (Dép.67) - intense green light of spherical shape moved south to north while zigzagging from right to left

Date: 10-05-2014

Department: 67 (Bas-Rhin)

Localization: Heiligenstein

Hour: 23h59

Numbers [sic] of witnesses: 2 persons

Type of observation: NL: Nocturnal Lights

Approximate duration of the observation: 1 seconds

What was seen: intense green light of spherical shape moved south to north while zigzagging from right to left

Description of the facts:

My friend and I were walking on a wine road linking the towns of Heiligenstein and Gertwiller (Bas-Rhin) when above us in a cloudy sky, an intense spherical green light caught my attention. Having immediately talked of it to my friend, he noticed in turn the same as I, that is to say, a green ball the size of a helicopter cabin leaving no trail, giving off no halo and making no noise. It was moving from south to north, zigzagging from side to side a little faster than an airliner in landing process (comparison possible given the nearby araport of Enzheim ar about 35 km from Heiligenstein) arriving over Obernai. About 5 km from the place of the beginning of the observation, the green sphere changed course and headed west against the wind and came almost above the town of Bernardswiller about 2 km from the city of Obernai. This green ball turned around to head back to the east and took the same trajectory line, continuing its flight north still zigzagging from side to side. We managed to observe it until our eyes could not perceive it anymore. It was 11:59 p.m. This green light flew below the clouds but at a distance higher than that of Mont Sainte Odile peaking at 764 m. The duration of the observation of this green ball was about a minute. I specify that my friend and I had already the opportunity to observe this type of unusual "light" during our hikes.

Discussion:

Map.

Map.

Above: Localizations of the places mentioned in the report.

I have no idea of a good explanation for this ball of green light.

The trajectory alone seems to exclude many explanations, such as a meteor, a Chinese lantern. The green color is also something peculiar.

At best, I can inform that helicopters are used occasionally in the Alsatian sloped vineyard to spread chemicals, such as in this operation reported on the website of a regional newspaper in 2013:

Helicopter.

But would this be done at night? Can it look like a green ball of light? Would a helicopter be unheard here?

Evaluation:

Unexplained, needs investigation, helicopter?.

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 August 21, 2014 Creation, [ofe1].
1.0 Patrick Gross August 21, 2014 First published.

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This page was last updated on August 21, 2014.