When reading books of legends, one sometimes gets the impression that the editor set out to raise the blood pressure of overzealous ufologists. One inevitably flips back to see what year the book actually dates from. In this specific case, it is the "German Alpine Legends" by a certain J. N. Ritter von Alpenburg. He published his work in Vienna in the year 1861.
However, I do not have the original here in Munich, but rather a reprint from the Heinrich Hugendubel publishing house. A man named L. Borowsky is responsible for the new edition. Admittedly, this gentleman's surname sounds suspicious: the last three letters spell "SKY", meaning heaven. But let us leave that aside. My edition is from 1977, and I do not believe that ufological or UAP-related content was deliberately smuggled in.
The Tailor's Uncanny Encounter
The legend concerns a tailor who was pursued at night by an "Alberkasten"—a flying object shaped like a chest. The UFO generated a hellish noise and, likely due to its emissions, scorched everything in its vicinity.
Furthermore, this strange chest was capable of altering its external shape, occasionally appearing in a spherical form. Ultimately, the pilot or ufonaut disembarked to lay hands on the tailor and abduct him.
The narrative notes that in the Upper Inn Valley, particularly around Stanz near Landeck, stories about the Alber—known elsewhere as a fiery dragon—remain quite common. The phenomenon, viewed traditionally as a malevolent entity, travels through the night skies in various guises, appearing sometimes as a burning broom, other times as a glowing ladle, a fiery chest, or in round, spherical shapes. It is said that wherever the Alber lands, the grass is entirely scorched, trees wither away, and the soil turns to stone.
The Abduction at the Brandjöchle
One evening, a tailor from Grins, who had been in Stanz, was heading back home. It was almost dark when he became frightened because a burning object flew swiftly through the air behind him from the direction of Stanz, looking precisely like the Alber.
It resembled a flaming broom, but of such immense size that, had anyone been able to wield it, an entire village could have been swept away at once. The tailor ducked, and with a crackling and rattling sound, the broom passed over him, heading upward toward Grins.
Hardly had the bridge been crossed when another Alber shot over from Schrofenstein with equal speed and passed above him; it blazed brightly and looked like a massive ladle with a long handle and a round cup.
The tailor ducked again but remained completely silent this time. A hellish music resounded in the air, and as the fiery ladle passed by, it took on the appearance of a large box—a glowing chest that rumbled all the way up to the Brandjöchle and down into the Sanna Valley.
Trembling and shaking all over his body, the tailor finally walked on after recovering a little, longing deeply for Grins. However, he still had a good stretch of the way ahead of him, as Grins lies a three-quarter-hour walk from Stanz, and the uphill path is strenuous.
And on this path there now stood something, and this something was a spirit. This very spirit blocked the tailor's every step and would not let him pass. But then the brave tailor's inherent courage awoke, he became thoroughly enraged, and uttered a curse.
As soon as the last word was spoken, the spirit vanished, and the Alberkasten was there, stand-ing on the path and glowing. The door flew open, and a devil emerged, grabbed the tailor, put him into the chest, crawled in after him, and snapped the small door shut.
Immediately, the chest rose again and flew away, but not toward Grins; instead, it traveled further, far above Grins, high up to the Grinser Spitz, where the ice-cold glacier lies between the Kaiserjoch and the Passeier Spitz. Oh, you poor tailor's soul.
Geographical Riddles and Questions
We do not learn what became of the brave tailor; the origin of the spirit also remains cloudy, but it was likely part of the aircraft's crew. The legend reminded me of the Brazilian Chupa-Chupa phenomenon, in which people were hunted using similar vehicles. The legend certainly packs a punch.
I wonder which bridge the tailor crossed. The Inn River lies clearly behind Stanz, and the Mühlbach stream is already located in Grins. According to the description, however, he must have been just past Stanz, and I can no longer find a river or a bridge there on digital maps.
The historical timeline plays no role here either; they will not have rerouted the Inn River over the centuries. Perhaps a ravine disappeared or was filled in? Furthermore, the Schrofenstein castle ruins are located closer to Stanz than to Grins. Are there any Tyroleans here who could provide me with information?
The book also contains an afterword dedicated to the author. This section reveals that he became a collector of legends during the height of the Biedermeier period, which can be estimated around the late 1830s or the 1840s.
From the text, one could deduce that he did not speak directly with the tailor or the actual witness, regardless of his profession. It is recorded that he collected legends himself, meaning he did not adopt texts from other sources.
The descriptions are highly detailed and correct, as my study of digital maps has shown. Although the aforementioned bridge cannot be found, the indirect distance information from Stanz to Grins, for instance, is accurately given as a 40-minute walk. The other location data and flight routes also make geographical sense.
Collectors of legends usually leave a list of sources in their books containing the name of the person from whom the story was learned, along with the location and date, which unfortunately is not the case here.
I suspect, or rather deduce from the text, that we might be dealing with a contemporary, second-hand report because a relatively large number of specific details have been preserved.
This would be unlikely if many people had formed a chain of narration. It was probably someone from the witness's family who likely had multiple opportunities to listen to the account of the experience.
Many other legends in the volume lacked so many reference points, suggesting a large chronological distance or a long chain of narration. I assume that the story could very well have taken place within the 19th century.
The ufological aspects are too obvious and too densely packed to be attributed to coincidence or pure invention. The matter is so interesting that a visit to the region would be worthwhile to study the scene of the event a bit more closely.
Editorial Note on Processing
For documentation and copyright purposes regarding this archive report, it is formally noted that the original German text was completely and faithfully translated into English without any cuts or content reductions.
Furthermore, all verbatim quotes from the historical source mentioned in the text were deliberately paraphrased into indirect speech during the translation process to ensure a smooth and contextual English narrative while fully preserving the original meaning and substance.
This English version, including the paraphrased sections, was generated and prepared with the assistance of Gemini, an AI collaborator, acting as the translating and adapting creator!ʬ