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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 Wintzenheim, on July 17, 2015:

Case number:

ALSACAT-2015-07-17-WINTZENHEIM-1

Summary:

With the pseudonym "Ufo#", someone reported his/her observation with his male friend in Wintzenheim, on July 17, 2015, at 11:55 p.m. or about 00:00, of a duration of 2 minutes.

From the terrace, they first noticed a sharp light getting closer to them.

It let see a cylinder shape, with several lights: a white light at the front, a yellow one on the side, a red one in the middle.

Then the lights "started to rotate and the craft moved fast in zig zag" and they then saw its triangle shape. The thing was "quite close", and "one distinguished things that one cannot really explain, like magnetic threads."

The speed was average and there was no noise.

Suddenly the shape "changed once again", and it now resembled more to a plane, and they then heard an engine noise.

They first thought it was a satellite, but during the observation, the witnessed lacked words "to describe some flying object that was unknown so far."

Under another pseudonym or name, "Tschaen", the sighting had also been reported on a UFO blog, this way:

On Friday, July 17, 2015, a little before midnight, in Wintzenheim, the witness and his friend were on the terrace when they suddenly saw a strange light approaching them:

The further it came, the more we could visualize the machine, from which we could see several white lights and one red. There was no engine noise even though it was very close to us.. We thought of a satellite, then we saw a triangular shape with sorts of magnetic beams.. Its trajectory was linear until the lights began to turn and the machine made a kind of shift (right left) but really at a right angle and very fast, then it continued in the same direction as at the start and there, as if by magic, the engine started..

We had a good 2 minutes to see it, it was flying quite low and at an average pace. We saw the same thing, it was neither a plane nor a helicopter.

Data:

Temporal data:

Date: July 17, 2015
Time: ~11:55 p.m.
Duration: ~2 minutes.
First known report date: 2016
Reporting delay: Hours, 1 year.

Geographical data:

Department: Haut-Rhin
City: Wintzenheim
Place: From the terrace, UFO in the sky.
Latitude: 47.074
Longitude: 7.290
Uncertainty radius: 2 km

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: Anonymous witness web report to the UFO website "OVNI France".
Type of location: From the terrace, UFO in the sky.
Visibility conditions: Night.
UFO observed: Yes
UFO arrival observed: Yes
UFO departure observed: ?
Entities: No
Photographs: No.
Sketch(s) by witness(es): No.
Sketch(es) approved by witness(es): No.
Witness(es) feelings: ?
Witnesses interpretation: Unidentified craft.

Classifications:

Hynek: NL
ALSACAT: Probable plane.

Sources:

[Ref. ofe1:] "OVNI FRANCE" WEBSITE:

07/17/2015 - (Dep.68) - Triangular flying object

Date: 07/17/2015

Department: 68 (Haut-Rhin)

Localization: Wintzenheim

Hour: 11:55 p.m.

Numbers [sic] of witnesses: 2 people

Type of observation: NL: Nocturnal Lights

Approximate duration of the observation: 2 minutes

What was seen: Triangular flying object

Description of the facts:

At about 00:00, my friend and I were on the terrace, we notice a sharp light that came close to our direction.

While approaching one could see a cylinder shape with several lights' a white at the front , yellow at the side and red in the middle, then the lights started to rotate and the craft moved fast in zig zag and then we saw it a triangular shape, it was quite close, one distinguished things that we cant really explain, like magnetic threads . It moved at medium pace and without noise... When suddenly the shape changed once again, it resembled more to a plane and then an engine noise was heard.

At the start we thought of a satellite and little by little i admit that the words were missing to describe some flying objects that was unknown until then.

Ovni#

[Ref. ara1:] BLOG "AREA 51":

Copie d'écran.

TSCHAEN says:

07/18/2015 at 1:54

Hello,

Friday July 17, 2015 in Wintzenheim a little before midnight my friend and I were on the terrace when suddenly we saw a strange light which was approaching "us".. The more it progressed the more we could see the machine, from what we saw several white lights and one red. There was no engine noise even though it was very close to us.. We thought of a satellite, then we saw a triangular shape with sorts of magnetic beams.. Its trajectory was linear until the lights began to turn and the machine made a kind of shift (right left) but really at a right angle and very fast, then it continued in the same direction as at the start and there, as if by magic, the engine started. .

We had a good 2 minutes to see it, it was flying quite low and at an average pace. We saw the same thing, it was neither a plane nor a helicopter.

Discussion:

Map.

It would be easy to propose that this was actually a plane, since it resembles a plane once seen at the closest!

Planes show all kinds of lights. Landing lights on or off, flashing beacons, cockpit lights, lights pouring from the cabin portholes, jet exhausts light with or without post-combustion, headlights directed at the wings so that the crew can check for frost, etc.:

Plane lights.

To the eye, these lights may appear very different from what is shown on the photograph above, depending on the conditions.

The "rotation" of the lights of a plane is something I already dealt with during a field investigation in 2002. In reality, the lights did not really "rotate", they just appear to move around the craft body. The illusion was caused by the unsynchronized flashing beacons of the plane. The witness drew this:

Scan.

We still have the possibilities of a drone with LED lights, or a "true UFO", who knows...

Evaluation:

Probable plane.

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 November 24, 2016 Creation, [ofe1].
1.0 Patrick Gross November 24, 2016 First published.
1.1 Patrick Gross March 31, 2023 Addition [ara1]. In the Summary, addition of the information from [ara1].

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This page was last updated on March 31, 2023.