The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 17-sep-54-Château-Gaillard.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
[Ref. lrr1:] LE ROUERGUE REPUBLICAIN:
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The fact of the unknown flying machines, "saucers" or "cigars" is on the way to become a daily topicality.
Hardly a day goes by without bringing forth new testimonies of people "who saw" and increasingly precise assertions of people whose reliability and perfect cerebral balance cannot be questioned.
It seems, moreover, that the sky of France, without mentioning other countries skies, becomes an excursion field more and more visited by the mysterious "objects", so that, without being too much a prophet, one may predict that the time is close when the "saucers" and "cigars" will not be a mystery anymore.
The observers are closing in on them now: one can follow their evolutions with binoculars, and draw sketches of their silhouettes.
It will not take long before their occupants are photographed - if there are indeed occupants - We do say photograph, and not draw according to memories, or imaginative mind, as it happened in the past.
Very recently still three assumptions were put forth concerning the nature and the origin of these machines: 1. they come from another planet; 2. they were built secretly by the Russians or the Americans; 3. they were only play of lights, fruits of collective or individual self-hallucinations.
Of these three assumptions, one, according to the latest observations, can be eliminated right now: the third.
Saucers or cigars - it is perhaps the same thing - exist indeed; they cannot be doubted anymore.
Where do they come from? To whom do they belong? This is, obviously, the heart of the question. But already some light is shed, revealing of a reality which, soon, we are convinced of that, will not be disputable any longer.
And if you were still skeptics, the technical report - for that is an appropriate title for this remarkable document - that we borrow from our fellow "La Liberté", of Clermont-Ferrand, must shake your skepticism seriously.
It originates from a technician, familiarized with exact science. Engineer, captain of artillery of the reserve, Knight of the Legion of Honor, he is a witness all the more qualified since before convincing our readers, he had to convince himself, for he did not believe "in the saucers" and other "cigars." He believes in it now. Not in the existence of "saucers" or "cigars" per se, but in "unknown flying machines."
So here is the account provided to "La Liberté" by this engineer.
Engineer at Company X..., I left my work by car on Friday, September 17, around 01:00 P.M. in company of my wife who had come to take me at the exit of the factory.
At 07:12 p.m. very precisely, whereas we are on the Clermont - Lyon National Road, and between Château-Gaillard and the railway crossing known as of the "Grand-Tournant" [Large-Turning], my wife had me observe a mobile located on our left in the portion of visible sky between the mountains constituting in this place there, the two slopes of the valley of the Durolle river.
I stopped my car at once and we could very clearly observe a luminous body of a white glare similar to that of the sun, but not dazzling and which moved from left on the right, that is to say in the apparent direction South to North. It is obvious that this direction is only an apparent direction and that the body would have appeared to us in the same way if it had moved SE to NW or SW to NE for example.
This body seemed to us an isosceles triangle with a very pointed angle, point backwards, and we had the impression to distinguish at its front part a small spot slightly less luminous than the rest. However, given that the contours of this ensemble constantly remained perfectly clear and a constant length, I could not affirm if only the less luminous point located at the head constituted the mobile, the triangle constituting a luminous trail (what appears the most probable to me) or if on the contrary it was an entire solid body having this shape of "half-cigar" which I already had heard in the press.
The body had a slight slope relative to the horizontal, the tail slightly higher than the head, which made me think that its travel was slightly downward though that was difficult to note because of the very low rate of travel of the mobile.
Indeed I tried to evaluate this speed by blocking me at the bottom of my seat and by delimiting a length of one centimeter approximately on my windshield. I thus could count 34" approximately for a displacement of one centimeter, which enabled me to later calculate that the apparent displacement of the mobile was approximately 2 degrees by minute, my eye being located at approximately to 57 cm of my windshield at the time of this examination.
Given that the machine itself could be contained 8 times approximately in this centimeter, I could deduce from it that its apparent diameter (tail included) was about 1/8 of a degree, that is to say 7 to 8 meters approximately.
In order to continue to see the machine, I started my drive again and discovered it on several occasions still at the exit of the many turns of the road and this up to 07:18 P.M. when the machine disappeared behind the hill located above the railway crossing of the Grand-Tournant.
It is thus on the whole during 6 minutes approximately that my wife and myself have observed this machine lengthily.
I first of all believed in a comet (I had never seen any, but this mobile seemed to correspond to the idea that I had about it, except perhaps with regard to the tail which was clearly closing instead of widening), and it is only on Monday, September 20, while reading in the newspapers that a similar body had flown over Rome three quarters of an hour before I saw it myself above Thiers that I gave some importance to my observation.
Statements published these last days in the newspapers, which corroborate perfectly my own statements with the color of the machine excepted (the article speaking about a reddish gleam whereas I saw it perfectly white) decided to me to report my observation to you.
It must be noticed about this matter that the inhabitants of Clermont speak about a reddish color whereas the observers of the countryside announce a yellow color (like myself) or orange. This difference may come from the filtering of the luminous rays through the relative fog which constantly hovers above large cities.
[Ref. aml1] AIME MICHEL:
Aimé Michel indicates that on September 17, 1954, in France, there was a whole series of observations, especially in the center of the country and especially in Clermont-Ferrand, from 07:15 p.m. on, three quarters of an hour after the Ciampino observation in Italy.
He talks of the statement of an engineer, former artillery observer.
When he saw the strange object, he was driving in the very mountainous region, with curvy roads, of Clermont-Ferrand. The engineer and his wife had first seen the object in front of them, at a fairly low angular altitude. They stopped to see better, but the object soon disappeared behind the mountain. He said:
"In order to continue observing the craft, I started again, and I was able to see it again at the end of many bends of the road. In total, my wife and I were able to observe this craft at length during six minutes, I first of all thought of a comet of a special kind, but when I read the papers and saw that a similar body had flown over Rome three quarters of an hour ago, I gave some importance to my observation."
Michel said a dozen other witnesses reported the same details, and five of them who did not know each other, and were at the time of the observation in different places were more precise: the object resembled a sort of cigar, and the two witnesses who made the most accurate statement - and also did not know each other - reported a cigar in an oblique position.
Michel argues that although with the reading of the testimonies one may think that it was possibly all about a plane, in the more global context of other testimonies as well as official statements in Italy, a plane does not seem to really be the explanation. This is why, sometimes, the press of those days seemed to have a tone which could appear too much convinced.
[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
The magazine indicates that on September 17, 1954, at 07:30 P.M., between La Monnerie and Thiers, a craft has been seen going from the South to the North.
[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
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Fifty years ago, just as today, many witnesses provided testimonies too vague to allow the desirable cross-checks in the case of multiple simultaneous sightings at great distances. This is particularly evident in the case of the observations of October 16, around 9:30 p.m., to which we may have the opportunity to return: the time is rarely indicated with precision, and in the only case where it is (Paris Xlllth rue de la Glacière: 9:23 p.m.), the witness does not specify either the direction of his gaze, or that of the movement of the phenomenon. Elsewhere (Tergnier, Montcornet), the geometric data is reasonably precise, but it is the time that is approximate!
The case that Robert Zirolo has just described to us constitutes a good example (too rare) of really precise testimony. Here is another one: it is that of Mr. Luc-Belmont (first name Stéphane), engineer and Technical Director of the "La Durollienne" cutlery factory, at La Monnerie-le-Montel (some 4 km to the north-east of Thiers).
On the evening of Friday, September 17, Mr. Luc-Belmont left the factory around 7 p.m. His wife came to pick him up by car.
At exactly 7:12 p.m., when they were between Château-Gaillard and the so-called "Grand Tournant" level crossing, Mrs. Luc-Belmont pointed out to her husband an object in the sky, on their left, in the portion of sky visible between the mountains that border the Durolle valley.
Mr. Luc-Belmont immediately stopped the car, and began to observe a luminous, white body, with a brilliance comparable to that of the sun, although not dazzling. The thing was moving from the left to the right of the witnesses, on a trajectory oriented approximately from south to north.
direction of movement ---
horizontal
1: company also known as Durol
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the "Puy de Dômes" in La Monnerie le Montel on September 17, 1954 at 19:12 hours, "the witness and his wife are in the car on the Main road Clermont - Lyon, and between the places known as "Chateau-Gaillard" and the level the crossing known as the "Grand-Tournant". He tells the observation himself: ' My wife noted a mobile located on our left in the visible portion of the sky between the mountains constituting in this place there, the two slopes of the valley of Durolle. I stopped my car at once and we managed to very clearly observe a luminous item of a white glare similar to that of the sun, but not dazzling and which moved from left to the right, that is to say apparently in the direction South-North. It is obvious that this direction is only an apparent direction and that the body could have appeared to us in the same way if it had moved S.E. - NW or S.W. - N.E. for example. This body seemed to us an isosceles triangle with a very closed point, point backwards, and we had the impression to distinguish at its front part a small spot a little less luminous than the whole. Being given however that the contours of the whole constantly remained perfectly clear and a constant length, I could not affirm if the less luminous point located at the head constituted the mobile, the triangle constituting a luminous trail (what appears to me most probable) or if on the contrary it was a solid body having this shape of a "half-cigar" of which I already had heard about in the press. The body had a slight slope on the horizontal, the tail slightly higher than the head, which lets me think that its apparent move was slightly downward though that was difficult to note because of the very low rate of travel of the mobile. I indeed sought to evaluate this speed by inserting myself deep in my seat and by delimiting on my windshield a one centimeter length approximately. I thus could count 34 "approximately for a displacement of one centimeter; which enabled me to calculate later on that the apparent displacement of the mobile was approximately 2 minute degrees, my eye being approximately at 57 cm of my windshield at the time of this examination. Being given that the machine itself could be contained 8 times approximately in this centimeter, I could deduce from it that its apparent diameter (tail included) was about 1/8 of degree, that is to say 7 to 8 meters approximately. In order to continue to see the machine, I resumed my travel and discovered it on several occasions again at the exit of the many turns of the road and this to 19.18 when the machine disappeared behind the hill located above the level crossing of the Grand-Tournant. It is thus on the whole during 6 minutes approximately that my wife and I managed to observe this machine at length. I first of all believed in a comet (I had never seen one, but this mobile seemed to correspond to the idea that I had about it, except perhaps with regard to the tail which was clearly closed again instead of widening), and it is only Monday September 20, while reading in the newspapers that a similar body had flown over Rome three quarters of hour before I saw it myself above Thiers that I gave some importance to my observation. The statements published these last days in the newspapers, which corroborate perfectly my own statements except for the color of the machine (the article speaking about a reddish gleam whereas I saw it perfectly white) decided me to report my observation to you. It is to be noted on this matter that the resident of Clermont speak about a reddish color whereas the observers of the countryside announce a yellow color (like myself) or orange. This difference could come from the filtering of the luminous rays through the relative fog which hovered constantly above large cities.'"
The source is indicated to be my website at "http://ufologie.net".
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Jet plane contrail in the setting sun.
Aimé Michel said there were multiple observations; which would exclude a plane as an explanation of some of the September 17, 1954, sightings. I need to summarize the actual situation.
This is a map of the places indicated in the various versions of the sightings to consider, those of September 17, 1954, between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the Puy-de-Dôme and not too far:
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The width or the territory shown on this map is about 200 km.
The cases are, in reality:
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, object, craft
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | March 13, 2004 | Première publication. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 15, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Addition [lc1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | June 30, 2019 | Additions [aml1], [ldl1], the Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet. Plane?" |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | July 13, 2022 | Addition [ldl1]. |
