The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 12-Oct-54-Les-Sables-d'Olonne.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper La Vendée Libre for October 17, 1954, reported that Mr. Leopold Trichet, gardener in the service of the city of Les Sables d'Olonne, would have seen, "in the night of Tuesday to Wednesday", a flying saucer. He told another newspaper:
"I was going to the Chenou to see the fishing places. Towards the North-East, i.e. above the houses, in the direction of La Mothe-Achard, I saw a luminous [point?] which seemed to come towards me. It went and came in the air, then on the sides, then downwards, to such extent that on several occasions I believed that it was going to land. I sat on a stake and told myself: "Well, you're nor dreaming." It took pink and red colors, going even into the purple, then became orange again."
"Really, it was wandering and during half an hour I could follow all its evolutions. I even clearly believed that it stationed above Saint-Mathurin, to set out again then in the clouds while seeming to move back."
[Ref. vle1:] NEWSPAPER "LA VENDEE LIBRE":
Mr. Léopold Trichet, gardener in the City's Services [i.e.: Les Sables d'Olonne], is said to have seen, in the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, a flying saucer.
Here besides what he declared to one of our colleagues:
"I was going to the Chenou to see the fishing places. Towards the North-East, i.e. above the houses, in the direction of La Mothe-Achard, I saw a luminous [point?] which seemed to come towards me. It went and came in the air, then on the sides, then downwards, to such extent that on several occasions I believed that it was going to land. I sat on a stake and told myself: "Well, you're nor dreaming." It took pink and red colors, going even into the purple, then became orange again."
"Really, it was wandering and during half an hour I could follow all its evolutions. I even clearly believed that it stationed above Saint-Mathurin, to set out again then in the clouds while seeming to move back."
[Ref. jcx1:] "LES MYSTERES DE VENDEE" WEBSITE:
In his case listing "UFOs in the Vendée", the author notes this case:
QLes Sables d'Olonne, 12 October 1954Q.
[Ref. jbu1:] JEROME BEAU:
[...]
In La Chenou (the Vendée), a gardener employed by the city goes to see the fishing places. Towards the North-East, above the houses, in direction of La Mothe-Achard, he sees during 30 mn a luminous bath which seemed to come towards him, going to and fro in the air, then on the sides, then to the bottom, at such point that on several occasions he believes that it will land. The phenomenon takes pink and red colors, even going purple, then becoming again orange.
[...]
La source est indiquée comme "'Un jardinier a vu une soucoupe volante', La Vendée Libre, 17 octobre 1954 d'après Choloux, Jérôme: '2. La vague de 1954' in 'Les OVNIs en Vendée', Les Mystères de Vendée, 2007".
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I had the clear feeling that this must have been an astronomical misintrepretation: Venus or some big star, for example.
We have a position for the witness, who says, "I passed by the Chenou to see the fishing grounds". The thing was "towards the North-East, ie above the houses, towards La Mothe-Achard".
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I did not exactly find "Le Chenou", but there is a high probability that it is the spot indicated at Les Sables d'Olonne on my map; there is a port and a channel probably conducive to angling.
The direction of observation would be in the 36°, it is indeed to the Northeast as indicated by the witness.
At 8 p.m, at 30°, we have the bright star Capella. At 9 p.m., it is at 40°. It is between 12 and 15° of elevation at these hours, so actually above the roofs but not too high.
Capella is thus at least a possible explanation.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Les Sables d'Olonne, Vendée, Léopold Trichet, point, dot, luminous, orange, red, purple, manoeuvres, duration, low
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | September 24, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 11, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | April 13, 2009 | Addition [jbu1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | March 4, 2010 | Addition [jcx1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | September 12, 2019 | Addition of the Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
