ufo - UFOS at close sight: the 1954 French flap, October 10, Cavanac, Aude

Reference for this case: 10-Oct-54-Cavanac.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

An article in the regional newspaper Le Midi Libre, Montpellier issue for October 12, 1954, on page 2, reported that a saucer landed in the middle of the road near Carcassonne, on Sunday, October 10, 1954:

Around 4:30 in the morning, Mr. Louis Vessières came back on a motorcycle from the Talmier factories, near Carcassonne, where he was employed, going back to his home in Cavanac, when he was in the presence of a curved, oval craft, all brilliant which, at his approach, released sparks and, without noise, flew away.

Mr. Vessières took a side road to avoid approaching the craft. Arrived at the campagne Lafarguette, he stopped and saw in the sky the glow of this "craft" about 500 meters towards the "new road" that leads to Couffoulens.

He came home very moved, he had his wife get up, they went up on the terrace of their house, but it was too late, the "saucer was gone."

Reports:

STILL APPARITIONS OF MARTIANS

"I was stopped by a ray of light emanating from a diver"

claims an inhabitant of the Vienne

Poitiers, October 11. -- In all the corners of France and the world, several people worthy of faith claim to have been the witnesses of these phenomena that one calls "flying saucers".

But in Vienna, Mr. Roger Barrault, handworker in Lavoux, declared that, riding his bicycle, Saturday, around 7 p.m., he had been suddenly stopped by a double ray of light emanating from a kind of "diver", tall hardly of 1 m. 30 with boots without heels, very brilliant eyes and a strong moustache.

The diver walked approximately a minute on the road, claims Mr. Barrault, then disappeared suddenly towards the very close forest.

A cylindrical object with a dark core

Nelson. -- An inhabitant of Nelson (New Zealand), Mr. K.M. Gibbons, succeeded in taking with the teleobjective a series of photographs of three flying saucers.

When he had taken two shots of the three mysterious craft, those disappeared vertically, at high speed. He however continued to take photographs in the direction of the saucers. The developed film shows cylindrical objects, having a kind of dark core.

A SAUCER LANDS ON THE ROAD CLOSE TO CARCASSONNE

Mr. Louis Vessières, an inhabitant of Cavanac, locality very close to Carcassonne, saw, Sunday morning, a flying saucer which was posed on the ground in the middle of the road.

Mr. Louis Vessières, returning by motorbike, Sunday morning around 4:30, from the Talmier factories, close to Carcassonne, where he is employed, and moving towards Cavanac where he lives, found himself in the presence of a convex machine, oval, and very shining which, at its approach, released sparks and, without noise, flew away.

Mr. Vessières took a shortcut to avoid approaching the machine.

Arrived at the countryside of Lafarguette, Mr. Vessières stopped and saw then in the sky the gleam of this craft at approximately 500 meters in the direction of the "route neuve" which leads to Couffoulens.

Mr. Vessières returned at his place, very moved, and quickly had his wife stand up.

Both went up on the terrace of their house but it was too late. The saucer had disappeared.

A flying cigar has landed close to Munster

Munster, October 11. -- An cinema operator of Munster [Germany], Mr. Hoge, claimed to have observed, Saturday evening, during ten minutes an "unidentified craft" having the shape of a motionless cigar at approximately 1 Mr. 50 above the ground and under which four "men" of crew of 1 m. 20 were busy.

These beings had, according to him, a rather broad chest, a head proportionally too large for their slender body and legs. Mr. Hoge specified that they wore a kind of one-piece suit whose fabric resembled rubber.

When investigating an observation in Cavannac in 1975, the investigators recall the 1954 sighting as follows:

On October 10, 1954, a Sunday around 04:30 a.m., Mr. Vaissière, returning to Cavanac, saw, from spot 4 of the map, a brilliant oval craft on the road very bulging which rose by sparking sparks. The witness, seized with fear, did not continue on his way.

Note: the "spot 4" of the map related to the 1975 sighting is impossible to locate on that map.

French ufologist and author Jean Sider learned in an article from the newspapers Le Midi Libre, of Montpellier, for October 12, 1954, page 2, and L'Indépendant, of Perpignan, for October 12, 1954, page 7, about the case of October 10, 1954, 04:30 a.m., road to Carcassonne in Cavanac, in the department of the Aude:

Louis Vessières was returning on his motorcycle from his night work at the Talmier Factories, Carcassonne. He had come out of the city when he suddenly saw a flying saucer posed in the middle of the road. It was a convex machine, oval, and very shining, which released sparks at his approach and then flew away without any noise.

Louis Vessières had taken a shortcut to avoid passing too close to the object, and to return home as quickly as possible to warn his wife so that she can see the machine, but it had disappeared.

4044: 1954/10/10 04:30 1 2:20:00 E 43:10:00 N 3333 WEU FRN AUD 8:6

nr CAVANAC,FR:1 OBS:BRILL.BULGING OVOID on ROAD AHEAD:SPARKS:^ SLNT:/r217p101

Ref#194 LUMIERES dans la NUIT.(LDLN France) Issue No. 319 : ROAD+RAILS

Luc Chastan indicates that in the Aude in Cavanac on October 10, 1954 at 04:30 hours "The witness returns by motorcycle from his work in Carcassonne when he observes an object in the form of a convex oval, posed in the middle of the road. It is shining. At the time when the witness approaches, the object emits sparks and flies away without noise."

The website indicates that on 10 October 1954 at 04:30 in Cavanac, France, "Bulging ovoid object on road ahead. Gives off sparks, takes off vertically. Silent."

The website adds: "An object was sighted that had an appearance and performance beyond the capability of known earthly aircraft. One ovoid object was observed by one witness for over one minute. No sound was heard."

The source is indicated as "Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002."

Explanations:

There is no duration, no angular sizes, which, given the description, allows to consider that it might have been a meteor. It would not have been "posed" on the road but would have come from the horizon, giving the impression of this takeoff.

Keywords:

Cavanac, Aude, night, Louis Vessières, Louis Vaissières, flying saucer, craft, object, shining, sparks, silent, road, motorcycle, oval, convex, landing

Version:	Created/Changed by:	Date:	Change Description:
0.1	Patrick Gross	December 2, 2005	First published.
1.0	Patrick Gross	April 18, 2009	Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [lcn1], [uda1].
1.1	Patrick Gross	October 29, 2011	Addition [edr1]. A search on the web and in my documentation did not reveal other sources.
1.2	Patrick Gross	January 22, 2019	Additions [ldl1], [lhh1], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet."

The 1954 French flap:

October 10, 1954, Cavannac, Aude: