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Between November 18 and 24, 1954, Vasselay, Cher:

Reference for this case: 18/24-Nov-54-Vasselay.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

In his 1966 book "Les Phénomènes Insolites de l'Espace", ufologist Jacques Vallée published in a "Preliminary Catalog of 500 observations", that there had been an observation on December 7, 1954, at Fontland in the Cher department.

In 1997, ufologist and author Jean Sider told much more in his book "Le Dossier 1954 et l'Imposture Rationaliste", reporting what he found in the newspaper Le Berry Républicain for December 7, 1954.

On a date that Jean Sider estimated to be between November 18 and 24, 1954, at 7:20 p.m., in Vasselay in the Cher, Jean-Guy Chagnoux, 13 and a half years old, was returning by bicycle from the hamlet of Fontland, when he saw a ball of fire about 60 centimeters in diameter, at a few hundred meters away, above Camille Lanoue's farm.

This luminous mass was moving slowly in the direction of the teenager, who took fright and accelerated. The ball increased in volume and placed itself vertically, lighting up the road violently, arriving a few meters from the boy and giving off an intense red-orange light, while its spherical shape became oval.

Its size was now 7-8 meters long, and it moved silently. The teenager stopped and so did the ball. The teenager resumed his trip, and the ball did the same.

Approaching the road from Saint-Eloy to Vasselay, the teenager turned at a right angle, and the ball continued straight ahead and disappeared.

It reappeared 200 meters further in front of the teenager, huge and dazzling, leaving behind a large trail of smoke.

When the teenager arrived at La Jonchère, the thing rose slowly and, still in silence, disappeared after having lit the house of the rural policeman.

The witness was the nephew of Robert Patient, witness to a well-known sighting a few weeks earlier in the same area.

Reports:

[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:

[Ref. gqy2:] GUY QUINCY:

[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:

[Ref. jsr1:] JEAN SIDER:

Jean Sider reports what he found in the newspaper Le Berry Républicain for December 7, 1954.

On a date that Jean Sider estimated to be between the 18th and the 24th of November, 1954, at 07:20 p.m., in Vasselay in the department of Cher, Jean-Guy Chagnoux, aged 13 and a half, was returning on his bicycle of the hamlet of Fontland, when he saw at a few hundreds of meters a ball of fire of approximately 0 meters 60 in diameter above the exploitation of Mr. Camille Lanoue.

This luminous mass moved slowly in the direction of the teenager, who became afraid and sped up. The ball increased its volume and came overhead, violently illuminating the road. The phenomenon was not more than a a few meters of the young boy and emitted an intense light of red-orange color, and its spherical form became oval.

Its size was now 7 to 8 meters of length, and it moved without any noise. The teenager stopped and the ball stopped too. The teenager resumed his travel, and the ball did the same.

Approaching the road of St Eloy in Vasselay, the teenager turned at a right angle, and the ball continues straight on and disappeared.

It reappeared 200 meters further in front of the teenager, enormous and dazzling, and leaving behind itself a large trail of smoke.

When the teenager arrived in La Jonchère, the thing rose gently and still in silence, and disappeared after having lit the house of the forest warden one.

The witness was the nephew of Robert Patient, another witness of a well-known observation a few weeks before in the same sector.

[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on 7 December 1954 in Fontland, France, "An object was sighted that had an appearance and performance beyond the capability of known earthly aircraft. One object, about 10 feet across, was observed."

The sources are indicated as Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Vallee, Jacques, Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma, Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1966; Vallee, Jacques, Preliminary Catalog (N = 500), (in JVallee01).

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

[Ref. jqy1:] JEAN DE QUERCY:

Explanations:

Vallée gave the date "December 7, 1954" but obviously this is the date of publication in the press, not the date of the sighting. There was obviously no precise date, Sider giving an interval, Vallée had to content himself with entering his date without perhaps even knowing that it was a publication date and not an observation date.

There was indeed a Camille Lanoue in Vasselay at that time: there is no longer a Lanoue in Vasselay now, according to the phonebook anyway.

I couldn't find a "La Jonchère" in the area, the closest being a "La Jonchère"... 40 km away. I also haven't found any "Jonchères" or "Jachère" in the area so far.

At the start of the observation, the witness "was returning by bicycle from the hamlet of Fontland", and saw the ball of fire "a few hundred meters away", "above Camille Lanoue's farm" and coming towards him.

The ball came towards the witness, "placed itself vertically", violently illuminating the road - we do not know which one, but a road between Fontland and Vasselay.

Approaching "the road from Saint-Eloy to Vasselay", the teenager "turns" and the ball "continued straight ahead and disappeared."

It "reappeared 200 meters ahead of the teenager, huge and dazzling, leaving behind a huge trail of smoke."

When the teenager "arrived at Jonchère", the thing rose slowly and "disappeared after having lit the house of the country guard."

So I think the route followed is probably the one indicated in red:

The "farm of Camille Lanoue" may have been "La Brosse", but it is not obvious. The bend is there, before the farm.

The sizes given, "0.6 meters" at the start then "7 to 8 meters" when passing over the witness, are obviously impressions of apparent size.

The clues of a meteor are:

• It grew in size as it reached the witness, and changed from a ball shape to an oval shape. This is what one would say of a meteor which approaches from the horizon then passes over the place of observation. From the front, it is a ball, from below, it is elongated.
• We are told that the approaching thing, "huge and dazzling", arriving, "left behind a huge trail of smoke."

The disappearance then reappearance can be caused by an obstacle to the sight. The witness probably passed in front of "La Brosse", when the supposed meteor was moving away, it is perhaps this farm which hid the supposed meteor, then let it be seen again.

It is not known how far before the turn the witness saw the "ball" for the first time; it was maybe a few meters before the turn. If he then passed in front of the farm "La Brosse" and passed it, he must have traveled about 500 meters.

If he had traveled 500 meters, by bike (he accelerates), if he had been at 10 km per hour, the distance would have been covered in three minutes. It is a bit long for a meteor; but it is an approximation, thus not fatal.

Another "obstacle" to this explanation would be the rise of the thing at the end of the observation; but it can be done if the meteor bounced off the atmosphere. This requires that it arrives at a low angle, which then results in a possibly long passage time, longer than that of a falling meteor at a high angle.

So, for the moment, while waiting to locate the Lanoue farm, the country-guard house and "La Jonchère", I think a meteor is likely but not assured.

Keywords:

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

Vasselay, Cher, Jean-Guy Chagnoux, ball, fire, luminous, slow, fast, acceleration, night, frightened, illuminated, silent, manoeuver, red, orange, bicycle, smoke

Sources:

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

• [----] Article in the regional newspaper Le Berry Républicain, Bourges, France, page 4, December 7, 1954.
• [gqy1] "Observations 1954", monograph by Guy Quincy, France - Algeria, private publication, page 24, the 1950's.
• [gqy2] "Atterrisages au XXe siècle (10)", monograph by Guy Quincy, France - Algeria, private publication, unnumbered page, the 1950's.
• [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.
• [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 253, 1978.
• [jsr1] "Le Dossier 1954 et l'Imposture Rationaliste", book by Jean Sider, Ramuel publisher, France, pp 131-132, 1997.
• [uda1] "7 Dec 1954 - Fontland, France", web page by the UFOdna website, circa 2008, at www.ufodna.com/uf02/uf4/024172.htm
• [ubk1] Online database UFO-Datenbank, Germany, found in 2016, at ufodatenbank.de
• [jqy1] "Les OVNIS du Centre", book by Jean de Quercy, Lulu.com publishers, France, pp 63-64, 2017.

Document history:

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This page was last updated on March 29, 2022.