The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 18-aug-54-Dole.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper La Bourgogne Républicaine, of Dijon, for August 14, 1954, reported an observation by Mr. Pardon, owner of the cafe du Marché, rue Carondelet, Dole.
He had gone to bed at the usual time, in his room which overlooks the roofs and the meadows which surround the Doubs and the Charles V canal. Towards 06:48 a.m., on Thursday August 12, he woke up suddenly: it seemed to him that he had perceived a glow, coming from the opened window pane of his bedroom.
He stood up and remained fascinated by the spectacle: a brilliant disc, much larger than the moon, was slowly moving in the sky, encumbered with the spares clouds. He woke up his wife, and both observed the phenomenon.
The disc was constantly changing color, from blue to bright white, of such intensity when it was surrounded by a red halo that, according to what they told to the newspaper, the couple was forced to look away.
From time to time, the disc changed shape and turned into an oval shape, similar to that of a rugby ball. Absolute silence reigned over the city, and Mr. Pardon could hear a very perceptible purr that clearly came from the phenomenon.
Mrs. Pardon had the impression that this disc was spinning very fast on itself. It was moving slowly to the right and after 10 minutes of observation it was hidden by roofs.
The witnesses explained that the clouds were very weak, and that the moon was not at all in the direction of the phenomenon.
In his 1958 book, Aimé Michel gave the wrong date of August 19, 1954, to the case; which led to duplicates in the subsequent summaries and catalogs.
[Ref. lbr1:] NEWSPAPER "LA BOURGOGNE REPUBLICAINE":
|
Dole. (Our Press Correspondent.) -- Wednesday evening, Mr. Pardon, owner of the cafe of the Market, Carondelet Street in Dole, had gone to bed at the usual time. His room overlooks the rooftops and meadows that surround the Doubs and the Charles Quint canal.
At 6:48 a.m., Thursday morning, he awoke suddenly: it seemed to him that he had seen a light, transmitted by the glass that was open in the window of his bedroom.
He stood up and remained fascinated by the spectacle that was offered to him: a brilliant disk, much larger than the moon, moved slowly in the sky crowded of barely sketched clouds. Mr. Pardon woke up his wife, and both contemplated the still unexplained phenomenon.
The disc constantly changed color: it went from the blue to the bright white, of such intensity that, according to the testimony that was made to us, the couple were forced to look away. At this time, the disc was surrounded by a red halo. From time to time (and probably under the influence of some refraction, the disc changed shape and took an oval shape, like, we are told, a rugby ball.
Mrs. Pardon, who was watching, her too, with great acuity, had the impression that this disc was turning quickly on itself. It was moving slowly to the right, and soon it was no longer visible, because it was hidden by rooftops. Mr. Pardon also mentioned in its observation made extremely careful by the absolute silence that reigned over the sleeping city, a perfectly perceptible hum, and that clearly came from the mysterious craft.
The sighting lasted ten minutes, and lasted as long as the craft was visible. Let us repeat that there is no mistaking: the clouds were very low, similar to a smoke, the witnesses told us, and secondly, the moon was not present at all in the observed direction. Perhaps, other people noticed the presence of the machine in question, and it is important that they also bring their testimony to the great unsolved problem of the flying saucers and mysterious machines that daily crisscross the atmosphere.
[Ref. aml7:] AIME MICHEL:
[... other cases...]
Then, on August 13 [, 1954], an extraordinary machine flew over Dole, in the Jura.
[... other cases...]
[Ref. aml2:] AIME MICHEL:
During the nights of the 12th and 13th of August [1954] an object flew over the village of Dole that remained in sight for 10 minutes. It was so brilliant that certain witnesses who were already in bed were alerted by the light shining through their windows.
[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:
Ufologist Aimé Michel reports that in the night from the 18 to the 19 of August 1954, Mr. and Mrs. Pardon slept in the bedroom of their apartment on Carondelet street in Dôle, which open window directed towards south-east and provided a sight on the roofs and the meadows surrounding river Doubs and Charles-Quint canal.
At 00:45 A.M., Mr. Pardon woke up suddenly because of an intense light reflected by the pane of the window. He rose went to look at the window.
He was amazed to see a gigantic mass in the shape of disc outside in the sky, where a cirrus cloud was hovering. The object was much larger than the full moon, and slowly moved from left to right.
After having stayed stunned at the window for a moment, Mr. Pardon woke his wife up and she came to also see the display.
The object radiated an intense blue, then changed to a white color while at the same time as a red halation appeared on its edges. At this time the luminosity of the object became so intense Mr. and Mrs. Pardon has to frequently look away from the object which was very dazzling.
At the same time when the object changed color, it changed shape, going from a quasi circular shape at the beginning to an increasingly elongated shape and in the vertical direction. Mrs. Pardon later said that she was under the impression that it was moving on itself, perhaps animated with a fast rotation.
The object moved away more and more towards the right in the direction of the South-West.
The object emitted a quiet buzz, audible in the asleep and silent city, the sound volume decreased as the object moved away.
The sighting lasted ten minutes and the object had, during this time, crossed the entire visual field of the witnesses. It was lost of sight behind roofs, the light which it diffused being still visible some moments then disappeared. The Moon is in the sky during the sighting and remained visible separately from the object, although almost unobtrusive off the sight because of the strong luminosity of the object.
[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
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August 19 [1954]
00:45 a.m.: Dôle (Jura): "clouds-cigar?"
[Ref. pmi1:] PAUL MISRAKI:
Paul Misraki indicates that in a book by Aime Michel an observation of a flying saucer in Dôle in the Jura in 1954 is described as: "Radiating an intense blue initially, the object soon turned white, while a red halation appeared on its edges. The object was moving on itself, animated of a fast rotation."
[Ref. pmi2:] PAUL MISRAKI:
This proponent of a "parapsychological" thesis about UFOs, which would be "signs in the sky" produced by higher powers possibly extraterrestrial according to him, in a comparison table, believes that object seen in Arras is to be compared with that of the "apparitions" of Fatima:
|
| Fatima (extracts form the officially recorded reports). |
Testimonies describing flying sucers (taken from the books of Aimé Michel and Donald Keyhoe). |
| Suddenly changed to a wheel of fire, the sun threw sparks of light, blue, red, purple, yellow, green. | Emitting initially an intense blue, the object soon changed to the white, while a red halo appeared on its edges. The object moved on itself, animate of a fast circling [or rotating] motion. (Observation recorded in Dôle (Jura) in 1954.) |
[Ref. jve6:] JACQUES VALLEE:
Jacques Vallée mentions that in the night from August 18 to 19 1954, in Dole in the Jura there was an observation that remained a classic of the type of a vertical cylindrical formation in the atmosphere associated with a diffuse cloud.
[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:
| 110 | -005.49619 | 47.09250 | 19 | 08 | 1954 | 00 | 45 | 1 | DOLE - JURA - | F | 11 2 | C**037 |
| 109 | -0005.49619 | 47.09250 | 12 | 08 | 1954 | 24 | 2 | DOLE - JURA - | F | 11 | A** |
[Ref. gep1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "GEPO":
| 08 00 54 ( ) | Jura | 100V2 | 30 |
[Ref. lgs1:] LOREN GROSS:
Another "thing" at Dole, France.
Forty-five minutes after midnight, August 19th, in the Jura district of France, something spectacular slowly coasted across the dark heavens. A gigantic, dazzling blue, circular mass (compare with the August 11th Pacific ocean case)moved under a veil of cirrus clouds, travelling on a southwest course, Much bigger than the Moon which was also visible in the sky (which was four days passed full), the phenomenon cast a strong light through the apartment window of Mr. and Mrs. Pardon who lived in La Carondelet, Dole. When the bedroom lit up with a powerful glare, the Pardons woke up and rushed to the window to investigate. While the couple watched in amazement, the phenomenon changed to a big white disc with a red-colored halo, and then it changed position, assuming a vertical orientation, thus giving the impression it was the shape of a cigar. Both the man and his wife witnessing the event felt the thing gave off a kind of buzzing noise as it moved by, the UFO or whatever, eventually obscured by the rooftops after about 10 minutes. 197.
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3713: 1954/08/19 00:50 50 5:28:00 E 47:07:00 N 3333 WEU FRN JRA 7:A
DOLE,JURA,FR:CLOUD-CGR HOVERS+LITES WHOLE TOWN:SCRS ALL OVER AREA/NEXT DAY
Ref# 3 VALLEE:UFO ENIGMA: Challenge/Science Page No. 151 : PASTURE
[Ref. jtr1:] "UFO ROUNDUP", JOSEPH TRAINOR:
UFO ROUNDUP
Volume 5
Number 32
August 10, 2000
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
[...]
The Jura is a region in eastern France just west of the Alps. As author Aime Michel points out, "I have often driven through that ancient and charming province at night on my way to the Alps; nowhere in the world do people sleep more soundly."
Indeed they do. But on Wednesday, August 18, 1954, M. and Mme. Pardon were awakened from their sound sleep by a most unusual light.
"That night M. and Mme. Pardon were asleep at their apartment in La Carondelet" in Dole, a city in Jura located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of Dijon and 225 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Paris. "Their room, which faces southeast, looks out on roofs and fields around the Doubs River and the Charles V Canal. The window was open."
"About 12:45 a.m., M. Pardon awoke with a start, aroused from sleep by an intense light reflected across the room by the windowpane. He went to the window and was astounded by the sight before him; in the sky, under a veil of cirrus clouds, a gigantic mass that seemed to be shaped like a horizontal disk, much larger than a full moon was moving slowly from left to right."
"After an instant of amazement, M. Pardon awoke his wife and both watched the rest of the spectacle."
"At first giving off an intense blue light, the object soon turned white, and a red halo appeared at its edges. At that moment the light was so brilliant that the two witnesses were dazzled and had to turn their eyes away frequently."
"With the change in color came a change in shape; the object, nearly circular when they first saw it, became more and more elongated and assumed a vertical orientation."
"Mme. Pardon had the impression that it was also moving on its own axis, perhaps rotating rapidly. It moved farther and farther southwest. In the complete silence of the little sleeping town, a sort of buzzing noise, slight but perfectly audible, was heard; this grew fainter as the mysterious object moved away. The two witnesses felt that this buzzing came from the luminous cigar."
"In ten minutes the object had passed out of their field of vision. They watched it disappear behind the roofs; for a few more minutes its light was still visible, then everything disappeared."
"There was nothing in the sky now but the moon (then in its last-quarter phase - the full moon was on August 14 in 1954 - J.T.) which had been almost invisible a little while before, in the intense light from the object." (See the book Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery by Aime Michel, Criterion Books, New York, N.Y. 1958, pages 27 to 29.)
[Ref. djn1:] DONALD JOHNSON:
Encounters With Aliens On this Day
1954 - At 12:45 a.m. Mr. & Mrs. Pardon saw a brilliant ball of light near the river in Dole la-Carondelet, Jura department, France that changed color from blue to white to a red halo. The shape of the object also changed from circular to oblong, then assumed a vertical position, and became a luminous cigar. Their sighting lasted ten minutes. (Source: Aime Michel, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery, p. 27; Jacques & Janine Vallee, Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma, p. 129).
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Jura in Dôle on August 19, 1954 at 00:45 hours "a couple sleeps in their room when the man is suddenly waken up by an intense light passing through the panes of the window. He stands up and observes then by the latter a gigantic mass in the shape of a disc, much larger than the full Moon. It slowly moves left to right. The witness awakes his wife who observes it too. The initially blue object becomes white whereas a red halation appears on the edges. The luminosity dazzled the witnesses. The object lengthens vertically and seems to even whirl on itself and the object moves away towards the Southwest. A slight buzzing sound was audible. The object disappears behind the roofs, leaving only the moon visible."
The source is indicated as "M.O.C. by Michel Aimé ** Arthaud 1958".
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 12 August 1954 at 24:00 in Dole, France, "An unidentified object was sighted, but with appearance and behavior that most likely would have a conventional explanation. One object was observed."
The sources are indicated as Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Vallee, Jacques, Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma, Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1966; Vallee, Jacques, Preliminary Catalog (N = 500), (in JVallee01).
[Ref. uda2:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 19 August 1954 at 00:45 in Dole La-Carondelet, France "Brilliant color changed from blue to white to red halo. Shape change from circular to oblong, assumed vertical position, became luminous cigar."
And: "A cigar-shaped object was observed. One changing color shifting-shape object was observed by two witnesses, a married couple, on a river for ten minutes (Pardon). A buzzing sound was heard."
The sources are indicated as Michel, Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery, S. G. Phillips, New York, 1958; Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Vallee, Jacques, Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma, Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1966; Vallee, Jacques, Preliminary Catalog (N = 500), (in JVallee01); Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002.
[Ref. nip1:] "THE NICAP WEBSITE":
*Aug. 19, 1954 - At 12:45 a.m. Mr. & Mrs. Pardon saw a brilliant ball of light near the river in Dole la-Carondelet, Jura department, France that changed color from blue to white to a red halo. The shape of the object also changed from circular to oblong, then assumed a vertical position, and became a luminous cigar. Their sighting lasted ten minutes. (Source: Aime Michel, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery, p. 27; Jacques & janine Vallee, Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma, p. 129).
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":
This database recorded the case 6 times instead of one:
| Case Nr. | New case Nr. | Investigator | Date of observation | Zip | Place of observation | Country of observation | Hour of observation | Classification | Comments | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540812 | 12.08.1954 | Dole | France | 24.00 | NL | |||||
| 19540812 | 12.08.1954 | Dole | France | 24.00 | ||||||
| 19540819 | 19.08.1954 | Dole | France | 00.45 | ||||||
| 19540819 | 19.08.1954 | Dole | France | 00.45 | NL | |||||
| 19540819 | 19.08.1954 | Dole | France | 00.45 | ||||||
| 19540819 | 19.08.1954 | Dole | France | 00.45 | NL |
|
Possible extraterrestrial craft.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Dole, Doubs, Pardon, couple, night, bed, blue, change, white, large, slow, object, red
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | September 26, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 3, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [djn1], [lcn1], [uda1], [uda2]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 3, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [lcn1], [uda1], [uda2]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | February 24, 2010 | Addition [djn1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | March 6, 2010 | Addition [pmi1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | June 17, 2010 | Additions [jve5], [jve6]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | October 18, 2014 | Addition [nip1]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | November 25, 2016 | Additions [lgs1], [ubk1]. |
| 1.6 | Patrick Gross | July 5, 2019 | Additions [lbr1], [lhh1], Summary. |
| 1.7 | Patrick Gross | January 22, 2020 | Addition [pmi2]. |
| 1.8 | Patrick Gross | February 19, 2021 | Additions [gqy1], [aml7]. |
| 1.9 | Patrick Gross | April 14, 2022 | Addition [gep1]. |
| 2.0 | Patrick Gross | July 13, 2022 | Addition [aml2]. |
