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The 1954 French flap:

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January 12, 1954, Prairay, Côte-d'Or:

Reference for this case: 12-Jan-54-Prairay.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

In a 1987 catalog of regional observations, the ufology group A.D.R.U.P. reported that according to an unknown issue of the newspaper La Bourgogne Républicaine, an observation of what A.D.R.U.P. decided to be an "unidentified" occurred at Prairay near Francheville, January 12, 1954 at 7:45:

In an observation "identical to that of Perrigny", one Miss X saw in the still dark, starless and a little cloudy sky, a kind of shooting star appear, but much bigger and of slower speed.

It was a fireball followed by flames, which gave the impression of burning. It crossed the sky "and disappeared".

Reports:

[Ref. via3:] "VIMANA 21" UFOLOGY MAGAZINE - ADRUP:

This magazine listed this case:

54 01 12 7H45 LN Prairay

[Ref. via1:] UFOLOGY BULLETIN "VIMANA 21":

54 01 12 / PRAIRAY / 7:45 / NL / P NI [= Not Identified] A /

Observation identical to that of Perrigny, made by Miss X, at Prairay, near Francheville. The sky was still dark, starless and a little cloudy. She saw a sort of shooting star appear, but much bigger and of slower speed. A fireball followed by flames. This ball left the impression of burning. It crossed the sky and disappeared (Source: Bourgogne Républicaine, NI)

Explanations:

Prairay is a hamlet near Francheville. The catalog in [via1] is defined as a catalog of observations in the Côte-d'Or department, but Prairay near Francheville is in the Côte-d'Or department.

This is a perfect description of a meteor.

So, even in 1987, a UFO group was capable of claiming to be "unidentified" what was obviously a meteor!

I must add that the source is not dated, and not available to me at the moment, and that this meteor could actually be the widely reported meteor of January 9, 1954, at this time. The fate of January 12, 1954, may be that of the publication of the Press source.

Addition on January 28, 2021: having now access to the newspaper La Bourgogne Républicaine for the year 1954, I founf nothing in it about this report.

Keywords:

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

Prairay, Côte-d'Or, fireball, trail, flames, burning, single, shooting star

Sources:

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

[----] Article in the regional newspaper La Bourgogne Républicaine, France, unknown date.
[via3] "Listing fichier ADRUP", in the ufology magazine Vimana 21. ADRUP, France, #17, 4^th quarter 1984.
[via1] Catalogue in the ufology bulletin Vimana 21, of the A.D.R.U.P. ufology group, France, page 13, 4^th quarter 1987.

Document history:

Version:	Created/Changed by:	Date:	Change Description:
1.0	Patrick Gross	January 25, 2019	First published.
1.1	Patrick Gross	January 28, 2021	In the Explanations, addition of the paragraph "Addition on January 28, 2021...".

This page was last updated on January 28, 2021.