France 1954 ▶ Home ☰

Cette page en français

The 1954 French flap:

The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.

◀ Previous  All  Next ▶

November 11, 1954, Les Sables-d'Olonne, Vendée:

Reference for this case: 11-Nov-54-Sables-d'Olonne.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

In their 1979 book "La Grande Peur Martienne" ("The Great Martian Fear"), the "skeptical" ufologists Gérard Barthel and Jacques Brucker indicated that according to the newspaper La Vendée Libre for November 14, 1954, several trustworthy residents of Les Sables d'Olonne had seen very early, "Thursday", a flying craft in the shape of a cigar, from which emanated layers of different colors.

The two authors add that the newspaper is mistaken about the date "since it dates two other cases of the same day wrongly", and that there was consequently "no ufological fact on November 11, 1954".

Around 2006, local ufologist Jérôme Choloux would explain on his website that there was in fact no reason to question the observation date of Thursday, November 11, 1954.

Reports:

[Ref. bbr1:] GERARD BARTHEL AND JACQUES BRUCKER:

The two authors say they quote the newspaper La Vendée Libre for November 14, 1954:

"Les Sables d'Olonne (85)."

"Several residents of Les Sables d'Olonne state in good faith to have seen at a very early hour, Thursday, a flying machine having the shape of a cigar, of which emanated drapes of various colors."

The two authors comment that the newspaper is mistaken in the date since they wrongly date two other cases as being of this same day, and that there was consequently no ufological occurrence on November 11.

[Ref. jcx1:] "LES MYSTERES DE VENDEE" WEBSITE:

The website's author found this observation in Barthel and Brucker's book and notes the following:

• The relevant issue of "La Vendée Libre" is unfortunately not available for reading in the Departmental Archives, either because it is missing or because it is in a too bad state, and all the observations which it contains thus remain unknown except three cases among them this one. The entirety of the September 1954 month is in the same case and some observations of this period will only be known when these documents are scanned, unless this month is quite simply lost.
• Barthel and Brucker are making some incredible interpretation by modifying the dates of the observations without explaining at all how this makes sense.
• Barthel and Brucker make a curious analysis which raises doubts, since they claim that the three events are at the same date while only one is dated exactly, then they claim that there are no ufological facts on November 11, 1954, then that ufologists give false dates by mistaking the dates of publications in newspapers and the dates of the sightings, which is sometimes true but is obviously not a question here.
• The author of the "Mysteries of Vendée" presents the three cases dated as of November 11 since one is dated at November 11, and that there are no precise details for the two others. He notes that it is not necessarily the same object which was observed in the other sightings mentioned in the same newspaper article.

[Ref. jcx2:] "LES MYSTERES DE VENDEE" WEBSITE:

In his case listing "UFOs in the Vendée", the author notes this case:

"Aizenay, La Roche-sur-Yon, Les Sables, 11 November 1954".

Explanations:

The newspaper La Vendée Libre for Sunday 14, November 14, 1954, wrots that the sighting was on Thursday, and the Thursday preceding Sunday 14, November 14, 1954 is really Thursday, November 11, 1954.

The case at least shows the intellectual weakness of the "analysis" by debunkers Barthel and Brucker, as rightfully exposed by [jcx1].

As for the observation, the lack of data only allows to to suggest that it might have been a meteor.

Keywords:

(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)

Les Sables-d'Olonne, Vendée, multiple, morning, object, craft, cigar, colors

Sources:

[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.

• [----] Article in the regional newspaper La Vendée Libre, Les Sables-d'Olonne, Vendée, France, November 14, 1954.
• [bbr1] "La Grande Peur Martienne", book by Gérard Barthel and Jacques Brucker, Les nouvelles Editions Rationalistes publisher, France, pp 132-133, 1979.
• [jcx1] Les Mystères de Vendée, website by Jérôme Choloux, France, circa 2006, at journaldumerveilleux.perso.cegetel.net
• [jcx2] Les Mystères de Vendée, website by Jérôme Choloux, France, circa 2006, at www.mysteresdevendee.fr/ovnisbis.htm

Document history:

Feedback  |  Top  |  Back  |  Forward  |  Map  |  List |  Home

This page was last updated on July 5, 2019.