The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 16-sep-54-Annonay.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper Le Progrès, of Lyon, for September 21, 1954, reported from their correspondent in Annonay on September 20, 1954, that "last Thursday", thus on September 16, 1954, at 12:15, Mr. Vialon, a railroad retiree living in Annonay, was preparing to eat when his 7-year-old grandson who was playing in the garden shouted to him: "Come see the flying saucer."
Mr. Vialon was outside right away and was surprised:
"As soon as I was outside, I saw in the sky, moving silently, in a north-south direction, An elongated craft which I would probably have taken for an airplane if it had not been followed by a white trail which was considerably longer than the craft, may be eight to ten times its length and which, unlike that produced by some aircraft, lept its rectilinear shape in the extension of the craft and always kept the same size."
"The speed of this strange machine was less than that of the planes passing regularly and in the front one could distinguish a kind of brilliant disc resembling sun reflections on a metallic part."
"This craft took about three to four minutes to cross the sky of Annonay. Then suddenly, as it approached the limit of my field of vision, it dove vertically and disappeared."
"During this dive, the white trail immediately took its place in the prolongation of the apparatus and at no time did it fade in the sky like a usual trail that one sees in the wake of planes..."
The newspaper noted that this "flying cigar" had no other witness known to them at the moment. They reported that Mr. Vialon had been waiting for Monday, September 20, 1954, to talk about the strange craft he had seen, because he was then certain that what he saw was "identical to the one reported in the sky from the lower Ardèche."
His story also appeared in Le Quotidien de la Haute Loire for September 22, 1954.
In 1958, ufologist Aimé Michel told that what he had seen was a plane with an unusual contrail.
In 2005, my Web page on the case was quoted by Luc Chastan as the source of a "real UFO" case, whereas he silenced explanation of Aimé Michel that I gave and made mine.
[Ref. prs1:] "LE PROGRES" NEWSPAPER:
|
(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT)
Annonay, September 20th. LAST THURSDAY, at 12:15, Mr. Vialon, retired from the railways, residing at Annonay, was preparing to take his meal when his grandson, aged seven, who was playing in the garden, shouted to him, "Come quickly to see the flying saucer."
Mr. Vialon went out at once, and the spectacle he saw was not without surprise, but he had to wait until Monday to speak of the strange machine in the sky of Annonay, certain now that the apparatus he saw Was the same as that recorded in the sky of the Lower Ardeche.
Here is the account he gave us about it:
As soon as I was outside, I saw in the sky, moving silently, in a north-south direction, An elongated craft which I would probably have taken for an airplane if it had not been followed by a white trail which was considerably longer than the craft, may be eight to ten times its length and which, unlike that produced by some aircraft, lept its rectilinear shape in the extension of the craft and always kept the same size.
The speed of this strange machine was less than that of the planes passing regularly and in the front one could distinguish a kind of brilliant disc resembling sun reflections on a metallic part.
This craft took about three to four minutes to cross the sky of Annonay. Then suddenly, as it approached the limit of my field of vision, it dove vertically and disappeared.
During this dive, the white trail immediately took its place in the prolongation of the apparatus and at no time did it fade in the sky like a usual trail that one sees in the wake of planes...
Was the "flying cigar" seen by other inhabitants of the city or its surroundings? So far, no other witness is known to us, but the celestial vault will undoubtedly now have a little more contemplators hoping to discover, in their turn, some strange machine.
[Ref. lqh1:] "LE QUOTIDIEN DE LA HAUTE LOIRE" NEWSPAPER:
This newspaper published the following article in its September 22, 1954, issue.
Last Thursday, at 12:15 P.M, Mr. Vialon, retired railroad worker, resident in Annonay, was ready to to take his meal when his young son, seven years old, who played in the garden, shouted at him "quick, come see the flying saucer." Mr. Vialon left at once and the display he saw did surprise him. This is the account that he gave: "As soon as I had left, I saw in the sky, moving silently, in the direction of North-South, an ellongated apparatus which I would undoubtedly have taken for a plane if it had not been followed by a white trail, definitely longer than its length, maybe height up to ten times its length, and which, contrary to trails produced by certain planes, kept its rectilinear form in the prolongation of the machine and always kept the same dimension. The speed of this strange machine was lower than that of the planes which pass regularly and, in the front, a kind of disc shining resembling sun reflections on a metal part could be distinguished, by moments. This apparatus took approximately three to four minutes to cross the sky of Annonay. Then suddenly, at the moment when it approached the limit of my field of vision, it went sharply downwards vertically and disappeared. During this diving, the white trail immediately took its place in the prolongation of the apparatus and at no time, did is dissolve in the sky as the trails usually seen in the wake of the planes do."
A German savant
"Flying saucers are stupidities." No reasonable man can believe in the stupidity of the flying saucers, stated in Wurzbourg, professor Otto Hahn, German specialist in the atomic questions, and winner of the Nobel Prize of chemistry (1945). If Martians, or other beings made flights to take a walk on our planet, they would say hello to us, instead of crossing the skies at high speeds, professor Hahn, who spoke at a scientific meeting, added.
[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:
Aimé Michel reports that on September 16, 1954, an observation was reported in Lyon; which proved to be that of an airplane with an unusual contrail.
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3781: 1954/09/16 12:20 2 4:36:00 E 45:16:00 N 3333 WEU FRN ADC 6:7
ANNONAY,ARDECHE,FR:2 OBS:SCR PASSES ENTIRE SKY:SHOOTS STRAIGHT UP AT HORIZON
Ref#138 GROSS,L.:UFOs a HISTORY-1954/10 bks Book # 3 Page 37 : RESIDENT'L
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates in his database that in the Ardeche in Annonay on September 16, 1954 at 12:15 hours, 'a pensioner prepared to take his meal when his grandson, seven years old, who played in the garden, shouted at him "quick, come see the flying saucer.' The witness came outside at once and the display that he saw was not without surprising him. Here the report he made: 'As soon as I had came out, I saw in the sky, moving silently, in the direction of the North/South, a lengthened apparatus which I would undoubtedly have mistaken for a plane if it had not been followed by a white trail, definitely longer than the apparatus, maybe eight to ten times longer, and who, contrary to that produced by certain planes, preserved his rectilinear form in the prolongation of the machine and always kept the same dimension. The speed of this strange machine was lower than that of the planes that pass regularly and, at the front, one distinguished, by moments, a kind of shining disc resembling sun reflections on a metallic part. This apparatus used approximately three to four minutes to cross the sky of Annonay. Then suddenly, at the moment when it approached the limit of my field of vision, it dove vertically and disappeared. During this diving, the white trail immediately took its place in the prolongation of the apparatus and at no it frayed in the sky as a usual trail do in the wake of the planes.'
The source is indicated as by website at "http://ufologie.net" - the old adresse of its home page then.
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 16 September 1954 at 12:15, 35 miles south of Annonay, France. "Saucer shoots straight up when at horizon. Explanation: Aircraft."
And: "An object was observed. It departed by rapidly flying straight up until lost to sight. One disc was observed in a residential area for two minutes."
The source is indicated as Michel, Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery, S. G. Phillips, New York, 1958.
[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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540916 | 16.09.1954 | Annonay | France | End of the day | DD |
|
Airplane with unusual contrail.
On June 4, 1782, the Montgolfier brother peformed the first public demonstration of a captive balloon, in Annonay.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Annonay, Ardèche, Vialon, trail, contrail, white, disc, metallic, airplane
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | March 9, 2003 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 11, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [lcn1], [uda1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | November 28, 2016 | Additions [prs1], [ubk1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | September 8, 2019 | Additions [lhh1], Summary. |
