The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 16-Oct-54-Walincourt.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper La Voix du Nord, in the local issue of Cambrai for October 19, 1954, reported that on Saturday, October 16, 1954, around 09:30 p.m., a flying object in the shape of a cigar emitting a trail of flames of about 10 meters hovered over the town of Walincourt for about ten minutes, then headed for Caudry.
The newspaper stated that many trustworthy people had seen this phenomenon, including Mr. Ernest Burge, a former forest ranger who was able to admire it for a while "and is able to provide details that would be too long to list here."
[Ref. vdn1:] NEWSPAPER "LA VOIX DU NORD":
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Saturday, October 16, around 9:30 p.m., a flying object in the shape of a cigar and giving off a trail of flames of about 10 meters hovered over the town for ten minutes then headed for Caudry.
Many trustworthy people saw this phenomenon in particular Mr. Ernest Burge, a former forest ranger who admired it for some time and is able to provide details that it would take too long to list here.
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That day, this is well known - the ufologist Aimé Michel had reported it, the press sometimes reported it - a big meteor had passed at 09:30 p.m. over France.
The description in the newspaper, despite the "details that it would take too long to list here", matches this meteor very well, with the exception of the claim that it hovered, and the duration given as 10 minutes; which is impossible for a meteor.
But the witnesses, in the 10 minutes in question, should have seen the meteor pass in addition to the "craft"; and this is not in the newspaper report. It is therefore reasonable in my opinion to think that the duration of 10 minutes is an extrapolation from the newspaper, without any real basis.
This can be explained if, for example, some witnesses gave the time as 09:30 p.m. and others as 08:40 p.m.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Walincourt, Nord, night, multiple, object, cigar, trail, flames, notionless, duration, Caudry, Ernest Burge, forest ranger
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
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| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | October 18, 2021 | First published. |
