The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 15-Sep-54-Roubaix.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In his 1958 book on the French wave of 1954, ufologist Aimé Michel reported that a man and his wife who wanted to remain anonymous had testified to this:
On September 15, 1954, at 03:20 a.m. in Roubaix, the man looked northwest and saw at an elevation he considered high, a very bright red disk under which he distinguished a white spot.
He woke up his wife whose sight was better, and she confirmed the details given by her husband, adding that the red disk was surrounded by a bright green halo of the most beautiful effect.
They observed the object for thirty or forty seconds, then it rose vertically at a very fast pace, accelerated rapidly, becoming visually smaller until it became more noticeable than under the shape of a point, and was lost from sight almost to the zenith of the very clear sky.
Aimé Michel did not give a source. His story has been echoed many times by others, but nothing else will be learned to my knowledge.
I eventually got the primary source, which was the regional newspaper Nord-Matin for October 3, 1954. It broadly reports what Michel said, except that nothing said the wife's sight was better, that under the disc, the husband did not see a "white spot" but "a kind of luminous and transparent cylinder", that the object finally rose vertically but that it was not specified that it will then arrive at the zenith, and that it it was not said that the sky was "very clear".
[Ref. nmn1:] NEWSPAPER "NORD-MATIN":
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In Comines, Thursday around 10:30 p.m., a mysterious craft flew over a part of the city.
We met with Adjutant Cocquel and Constable Segars, both judicial police officers from the Comines brigade, who heard at length on Saturday morning, the witness to this appearance; in this case Mr. Anicet Corneillie, mason worker living in Comines, rue des trois Ballots. Here are the facts:
Coming home Thursday around 10:30 p.m., Mr. Corneillie was suddenly surprised by the purple reflections that shimmered on the jacket with which he was adorned. Looking up, he saw at a height of forty meters, a craft in the shape of a cigar, which emitted a rather bright gleam. According to the witness, the craft might have been 8 to 10 meters long and 2 to 3 meters wide. At the same time, a motorist from Tourcoing observed the same phenomenon.
This was happening at the intersection of the streets of the Apothicaire and the Processions, the mysterious craft seeming to be heading towards the hamlet of Vieil Dieu.
Frightened, Mr. Corneille quickly returned home and it was not until the next day that he entrusted the matter to his work comrades. Long questioned yesterday by MM. Cocquel and Segers, the witness still under the effects of emotion, related the facts that we have just reported. The gendarmes of the Comines brigade, while recording Mr. Corneillie's statements, acknowledged the witness's excellent good faith on Thursday evening.
According to the declarations made to us by residents of Roubaix who wished to remain anonymous, during the night of September 14 to 15, around 3:20 a.m., a flying saucer was reportedly seen in the northwest of the city, at a fairly high altitude.
The husband says he saw a kind of very shiny disc, below which we could see a kind of bright and transparent cylinder.
His wife, whom he had woken up, declared to have seen a red ball surrounded by green, the colors being very beautiful besides. It was nothing like the stars, and they could observe the mysterious object for a period estimated at 30-40 seconds, then the disc went up vertically and disappeared.
[Ref. lis1:] "LIBRE ARTOIS" NEWSPAPER:
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In Comines, Thursday around 10:30 p.m., a mysterious craft flew over a part of the city.
We met with Adjutant Cocquel and Constable Segars, both judicial police officers from the Comines brigade, who heard at length on Saturday morning, the witness to this appearance; in this case Mr. Anicet Corneillie, mason worker living in Comines, rue des trois Ballots. Here are the facts:
Coming home Thursday around 10:30 p.m., Mr. Corneillie was suddenly surprised by the purple reflections that shimmered on the jacket with which he was adorned. Looking up, he saw at a height of forty meters, a craft in the shape of a cigar, which emitted a rather bright gleam. According to the witness, the craft might have been 8 to 10 meters long and 2 to 3 meters wide. At the same time, a motorist from Tourcoing observed the same phenomenon.
This was happening at the intersection of the streets of the Apothicaire and the Processions, the mysterious machine seeming to be heading towards the hamlet of the Vieil Dieu.
Frightened, Mr. Corneillie quickly returned home and it was not until the next day that he entrusted the matter to his comrades. Long questioned yesterday by MM. Cocquel and Segers, the witness still under the effect of emotion, told the facts that we just reported. The gendarmes of the Comines brigade, while recording Mr. Corneillie's statements, acknowledged the witness's excellent good faith on Thursday evening.
According to statements made to us by residents of Roubaix who wished to remain anonymous, the night of September 14-15, around 3:20 a.m., a flying saucer was reportedly seen in the northwest of the city, at a fairly high altitude.
The husband says he saw a kind of very shiny disc, below which one could see a kind of luminous and transparent cylinder.
His wife, whom he had woken up, declared to have seen a red ball surrounded by green, the colors being very beautiful besides. It was nothing like the stars, and they were able to observe the mysterious object for a period estimated at 30-40 seconds, then the disc went up vertically and disappeared.
[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:
Aimé Michel reports that a man and his wife, who wanted to keep anonymity, testified to the following observation.
On September 15, 1954 at 3:20 in Roubaix, the man saw a red and very shiny disc under which it distinguished a white spot, towards the North-West at an altitude which he considered to be high.
He woke up his wife who had a better sight, she confirmed the details given by her husband and added that the red disc was surrounded by a green luminous halation of the most beautiful effect.
Both observed the object during thirty or forty seconds, then it started to go up vertically at a very sharp pace, accelerated quickly while becoming visually increasingly small until being perceptible only in the form of a point, and was lost from sight almost to the zenith of the very clear sky.
Aimé Michel reports that the object observed in Roubaix was similar to the one observed in Chateau-Gontier and in Angers on september 1, 1954: red color, green halation, circular shape.
[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
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September 15 [1954]
03:0: Roubaix (Nord): red circle + green halo
[Ref. gni1:] GNEOVNI:
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At 3:20 a.m. Mr X sees a very bright red disc at a fairly high altitude, beneath which he can see a white spot. His wife confirms these details and adds that the disc is surrounded by a green luminous halo. Observed for 30 to 40 seconds, the object rises vertically at very sharp pace, becomes smaller and smaller and finally disappears in the very clear sky almost at its zenith.
(M.O.C. A. Michel page 66)
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3774: 1954/09/15 03:20 1 3:10:00 E 50:42:00 N 3333 WEU FRN NRD 7:7
ROUBAIX,FR:2 OBS:BRILL RED DISK W/LUMn GRN HALO:^^/TERRIFIC ACCELERATION
Ref# 49 MICHEL,Aime: FS & STRAIGHT LINE TH: Page No. 49 : UNKNOWN
[Ref. jdt1:] JEAN-PIERRE D'HONDT:
This ufologist indicates that on September 15, 1954, in Roubaix, in the Nord, "3 20. There are two witnesses, husband and woman, who want to preserve anonymity. It is Mr. X... who, the first, sees towards the North-West, at an altitude appearing rather high, a red disc very shining under which one distinguishes a white spot. He wakes up his wife, who has a better eyesight. The latter confirms the first details and adds that the red disc is surrounded by a green luminous halation of a very beautiful effect. The two witnesses observe the object during thirty to forty seconds. It then starts to go up vertically at a very sharp pace, accelerates quickly, becomes increasingly small, then hardly perceptible in the form of a point, and disappears finally in the very clear sky, almost at the zenith."
The source is indicated as "book 'M.O.C.' by Aimé Michel page 66".
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Nord in Roubaix on September 15, 1954, at 03:20 "A man sees towards the North-West at an altitude which he considered high a red disc very shining under which he distinguished a white spot. He awoke his wife who sees better, the latter confirmed the details given by her husband and added that the red disc was surrounded by a green luminous halation of the most beautiful effect. Both observe the object during thirty or forty seconds, then it starts to go up vertically at very sharp pace, accelerates quickly while becoming visually increasingly small until being perceptible only in the form of a dot, and is lost from sight almost at the zenith of the very clear sky."
The source is indicated as "M.O.C. par Michel Aimé ** Arthaud 1958".
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 15 September 1954 at 03:20 in Roubaix, France, "Red disc surrounded by green halo rose vertically until point of light. Disappeared at zenith. A flying disc was observed. One red disc was observed by two witnesses, a married couple, at a house for 36 seconds."
The sources are listed as Michel, Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery, S. G. Phillips, New York, 1958; Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002
[Ref. nip1:] "THE NICAP WEBSITE":
*Sep. 15, 1954 - At 3:20 a.m. a red disc-shaped object surrounded by a green halo was sighted by a married couple in Roubaix, Nord department, France for 35 seconds. It rose vertically until a point of light, and disappeared when at the zenith. (Source: Aime Michel, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery, p. 49).
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":
| Case Nr. | New case Nr. | Investigator | Date of observation | Zip | Place of observation | Country of observation | Hour of observation | Classification | Comments | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540915 | 15.09.1954 | Roubaix | France | NL | ||||||
| 19540915 | 15.09.1954 | Roubaix | France | NL |
|
Unidentified.
A meteor does not seem to fit because the object was lost from sight at the zenith.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Roubaix, Nord, high, disc, red, shiny, halo, halation, spot, white, green, duration, manoeuvre, ascencion, elevation, fast
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | August 8, 2004 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | May 24, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [lcn1], [uda1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | November 2, 2014 | Addition [nip1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | January 18, 2017 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | September 8, 2019 | Additions [lhh1], Summary. Explanations changed, was "Not looked for yet." |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | January 19, 2020 | Additions [gni1]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | April 2, 2020 | Additions [nmn1], [lis1]. In the Summary, addition of the paragraph "I eventually got the primary source..." In the Explanations, "Unidentified" and "A meteor does not seem to fit because the object was lost from sight at the zenith" changed to "Possible meteor." |
| 1.6 | Patrick Gross | March 4, 2021 | Addition [gqy1]. |
