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October 14, 1954, Meursanges, Côte-d'Or:

Reference for this case: 14-oct-54-Meursanges.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

In his 1958 book on the 1954 French wave, ufologist Aimé Michel stated that on October 14, 1954, Mr. and Mrs. Vitré, grocers on Place Madeleine in Beaune, had just left the village of Meursanges in a van to go home. After having traveled a few hundred meters at the exit of Meursanges on the RN 111 National Road, they saw through the window of their vehicle a luminous object flying rapidly in the sky.

They quickly jumped out of their van and alerted the inhabitants of a neighboring farm, with whom they contemplated "the maneuvers of the craft," dixit Michel. They reportedly told:

"The object paused for a moment, descended slowly, swaying and changing color, casting yellow, orange and violet light, then resumed its course and disappeared behind the trees of a wood."

Reports:

[Ref. aml5:] AIME MICHEL:

[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:

Aimé Michel indicates that on Thursday October 14, Mr. and Mrs. Vitré, grocers living on place Madeleine in Beaune, had just left the village of Meursanges in their van to return to their home. After having driven a few hundreds of meters at the exit of Meursanges on National Road RN 111, they saw a luminous object flying quickly in the sky through the pane of their vehicle.

They quickly jump out of their van and alert the inhabitants of a neighbor farm with whom they contemplate the evolutions of the machine. They stated:

"The object stopped one moment, went down slowly while wobbling and changing color, throwing yellow, oranges and purple luminosities, then departed again and disappeared behind the trees of a wood."

Aimé Michel notes that in addition to the two grocers and of the peasants of the farm which they alerted, a witness of the village of Chevigny-en-Valière, located close to the same wood at the east-south-east described exactly the same spectacle at the same time.

[Ref. gqy2:] GUY QUINCY:

[Ref. jve3:] JACQUES VALLEE:

Jacques Vallée says that M. and Mme. Vitre, grocers on the Place Madeleine in Beaune, had just left the village of Meursanges in the Cote d'Or to go home by car. They had driven only a few hundred yards on Route D-111 when they noted through the window a luminous object flying at high speed. They quickly left their car and called to the people at a nearby farm, and together they watched the maneuvers of the object.

Vallée says their description is fascinating when we recall such a case as that of Frasne, two days earlier, or many others that are as good as identical.

They said that "The object stopped for an instant, came down slowly, balancing and changing color, throwing out yellow, orange and violet beams, and then resumed its course and disappeared behind the trees of a wood."

Next to this group of trees, and east-south-east of Meursanges, in the village of Chevigny-en-Valiere, another witness described the Meursanges object, seen at the same time.

Still farther to the east-southeast in the village of Palleau, four miles in a straight line from Meursanges and 2.5 miles from Chevigny, at the same moment M. Begin, farmer at Chevigny, saw passing overhead a round, green, luminous object crossing the sky at high speed.

Jacques Vallée says that these observations from Meursanges, Chevigny and Palleau deserve special attention: first, though the witnesses at Chevigny and at Palleau knew one another quite well as both lived in the tiny village of Chevigny, they gave different accounts: the witness at Palleau, farther east, only saw "a green ball in rapid movement," while the one at Chevigny reported a complicated spectacle: slowing down, stopping, a "dead-leaf" descent, and a profusion of varied colors.

Second, whereas the two well-acquainted witnesses described quite different phenomena, those who did not know each other, those at Meursanges and the one at Chevigny, described exactly the same sight, and these two reports that are in agreement were from people only a few miles apart.

[Ref. ldl2:] "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" UFOLOGY MAGAZINE:

[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:

[Ref. fru1:] MICHEL FIGUET AND JEAN LOUIS RUCHON:

Michel Figuet indicates that on October 14, 1954, at 06:30 P.M., Mr and Mrs Vitré, grocers in Beaune, had left the village of Meursanges driving their van. The grocer and his wife then saw a luminous object which moved in the sky "at a tremendous pace," they stopped the car, stepped down quickly and alerted the inhabitants of a farm so that they also see what the "luminous object" started to do. It had stopped and went down slowly while wobbling. During this descent, it changed color, throwing yellow, oranges and purple luminosities. It was indeed an "attractive spectacle." After some time, this object departed again and disappeared behind the trees of a wood. Another witness, living close to this wood, observed in an independent way the same spectacle, at the same moment.

The authors indicate that the sources are "Quincy" and Aimé Michel in "A Propos des S.V." pages 211

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

The two authors note this case of October 14, 1954:

"Meursange - 21 - At approximately 06:30 p.m.: investigation. The witness confirms: luminous phenomenon of fire color, no stop."

[Ref. via1:] MAGAZINE D'UFOLOGIE "VIMANA 21":

[Ref. via3:] UFOLOGY BULLETIN "VIMANA 21":

This magazine listed this case:

[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":

[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:

Godelieve van Overmeire indicates that in 1954, on October 14, in France, in " Meursanges and Palleau, Mr. and Mrs. Vitré get out of their van towards 18:30 and alert other witnesses to look at an object which stopped one moment, went down slowly while oscillating, changing color in yellow, orange, violet, then disappeared behind the trees of a wood. In Pallau (at 7 km) Mr. Bégin sees a luminous round object passing and cross the sky at a sharp pace."

The source is noted "Aimé Michel: 'M.O.C.' Seghers pub., p. 232".

[Ref. amn1:] AUGUSTE MEESSEN:

Auguste Meessen indicates that on October 14, 1954 at 18:30, Mr. and Mrs. Vitré, grocers in Baune, had just left in the van the village of Meursanges. When they saw a luminous object which moved in the sky "at full speed", they stopped the car, came out quickly and even alerted the residents of a farm so that they also see what the "luminous object" started to do. It had stopped and went down slowly while swinging, changing color during this descent, by throwing yellow oranges and violets gleams, which was indeed an "attractive display." After some time, this object resumed its race and disappeared behind the trees of a wood. Another witness, living close to this wood, observed the same display at the same time independently.

The sources are given as "A. Michel : A propos des soucoupes volantes, Arthaud, 1958, p.", "Mystérieux Objets Célestes, Séghers, 1977, p. 231-232", et "M. Figuet et J.L. Ruchon : Le premier dossier complet des rencontres rapprochées en France, A. Lefeuvre, 1979, p.161."

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:

Luc Chastan indicates in his database that in the "Côte d'or" in Meursanges on October 14, 1954 at 18:30 hours, "the witnesses, a couple of grocers, come to leave Meursanges and move towards Beaune, by the Dlll. They crossed a few hundreds of meters when they see, through the pane of their vehicle, a luminous object flying in the sky. Quickly, they get out of their van and alert the inhabitants of a farm who join them and observe the attractive display. The object, they say, stopped a while, went down slowly while swinging and while changing color, throwing yellow, orange and violet luminosities, then took again its trajectory and disappeared behind the trees of a wood."

The source is noted: "Ovni, Premier dossier complet... by Figuet M./ Ruchon J.L. ** Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979".

[Ref. rbt1:] JOURNAL "LA GAZETTE DE COTE-D'OR":

The author indicates under the title "collective Hallucination? - October 14, 1954, Meursanges" that on October 14, 1954, at 18:30 the Vitré couple, grocers at the square of the Madeleine in Beaune, leaves the small village of Meursanges to join their home. A few hundreds of meters after having come out of the village by secondary road 111, the two tradesmen saw a luminous object moving "at full speed" in the dark sky. There was panic on board, the driver immobilized his van and ran to alert the inhabitants of a nearby farm. They observed together and declared together: "The objet stopped for a while, went down slowly while swinging and changing color, throwing yellow, orange and violet luminosities, then resumed its race and disappeared behind the trees of a wood".

[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":

This database recorded this 5 times:

Explanations:

There was the 06:13 p.m. meteor of that day: however, the descrition given hardly fits. Doubts remain, in my opinion.

Keywords:

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

Beaune, Meursanges, Palleau, Chevigny, Vitré, multiple, object, luminous, fast, descent, colors, color, oscillations, wobble, yellow, orange, purple

Sources:

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

• [aml5] "Un nouvel accès au problème des soucoupes volantes", article by Aimé Michel, in the magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #4, pp. 4-5, May 1958.
• [aml1] "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", book by Aimé Michel, Arthaud publisher, France, 1958.
• [aml1] "Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery", book by Aimé Michel, English version of "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", S.G. Phillips publisher, USA, 1958.
• [gqy2] "Atterrissages au XXe siècle", monograph by Guy Quincy, France - Algeria, private publication, unnumbered pages, the 1950's.
• [aml5] "Non! La question des M.O.C. n'est pas une faribole", article by Aimé Michel, in the magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #57, page 2, March 1963.
• [jve3] "Anatomy of a Phenomenon", book by Jacques Vallee, Henry Regnery publisher, USA, 1965.
• [ldl2] Ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #77, page 3, September /October 1965.
• [jve3] "Anatomy of a Phenomenon", book by Jacques Vallee, Neville Spearman publishers, U-K., 1966.
• [jve5] "Catalogue préliminaire de 500 observations", listing in "Les Phénomènes Insolites de l'Espace", book by Jacques and Janine Vallée, Table Ronde publishers, France, 1966.
• [aml1] "A Propos des Soucoupes Volantes", book by Aimé Michel, reprint of "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", Planète publishers, France, 1966.
• [jve3] "Anatomy of a Phenomenon", book by Jacques Vallee, Tandem publishers, U-K., page 157, 1974.
• [aml1] "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", book by Aimé Michel, Séghers publisher, France, pp 231-232, 1976.
• [jve5] "Catalogue préliminaire de 500 observations", listing in "Les Phénomènes Insolites de l'Espace", book by Jacques and Janine Vallée, Robert Laffont publisher, France, page 250, 1978.
• [fru1] "OVNI - Le Premier Dossier Complet Des Rencontres Rapprochées en France", book by Michel Figuet and Jean Louis Ruchon, A. Lefeuvre publisher, France, page 161, 1979.
• [bbr1] "La Grande Peur Martienne", book by Gerard Barthel and Jacques Brucker, Les Nouvelles Editions Rationalistes publishers, France, page 196, 1979.
• [via1] "Les Objets Volants Non Identifiés en Côte-d'Or", catalogue in the ufology magazine Vimana 21, ADRUP, France, page 16, 4^th quarter 1984.
• [via3] "Listing fichier ADRUP", in the ufology magazine Vimana 21. ADRUP, France, #17, 4^th quarter 1984.
• [lhh1] "*U* Computer Database", database by Larry Hatch, USA, circa 2002.
• [goe1] "Chronologie OVNI", web page compiled by Godelieve Van Overmeire, Belgium, circa 2003, at users.skynet.be/sky84985/afin54.htm
• [amn1] "Les mouvements oscillatoires des ovnis et leur explication", paper by Auguste Meessen, Professor emeritus at the Faculté des Sciences de l'UCL, Belgium, in the ufology bulletin Inforespcace, SOBEPS, Belgium, #102, page 4, 2001.
• [lcn1] Base OVNI France, website by Luc Chastan, France, circa 2006, at baseovnifrance.free.fr/detobs.php?numobs=995
• [rbt1] "A la une - OVNI: mythe ou réalité?", article by Roald Billebault in the newspaper La Gazette de Côte-d'Or, France, May 10, 2007.
• [ubk1] Online database UFO-Datenbank, Germany, found in 2016, at ufodatenbank.de

Document history:

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This page was last updated on May 10, 2022.