The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 18-Oct-54-Cambrai.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In 1968-1969, before the official ufology effort of GEPAN was put in place, its future leader Dr. Claude Poher had been a member of the unofficial ufology group GEPA, and had coded on computer reports of UFO sightings from official witness (police or military personal).
One of the records said that on October 18, 1954, at 9:20 p.m., in Cambrai, in the Nord, three witnesses had observed a luminous or fluorescent round or spherical object, of a size estimated - we are not told how - as "like a melon", or "10 to 12 cm."
[Ref. cpr1:] CLAUDE POHER, UFO RESEARCH GROUP "GEPA":
In 1968-1969, before the official GEPAN ufology effort started, its future head Dr Claude Poher was a member of the unofficial GEPA ufology group, and gathered a computer coded listing of more than 700 UFO reports on which multiple factors statistical computation could be run. In the file were a number of 1954 French UFO reports, among those this one.
For readability, a decoded interpretation of the data is provided here under the original 80 character encoded string. Decoding was done according to the original indications, the code number and its generic meaning is given. Please not that the generic meaning of each code is a predefined category, not the real specific details of the case. For example, if the main witness' age was 33, the coding would result in a number "3" which corresponds to a category "Adult from 21 to 59 years."
| Original code: | 0639551810195421201JA3000010000012AA0D002000000000000000000000000000000000000000 |
| Location: | cambrai - France |
| Case number: | 0639 |
| Source code: | 55 |
| Nature of the source: | Reports from official French sources: Police, Gendarmerie, Army, Pilots |
| Day: | 18 |
| Month: | 10 |
| Year: | 1954 |
| Hours: | 21 |
| Minutes: | 20 |
| Type of Time: | 1 = local time |
| Number of witnesses: | 3 = 3 |
| Main witness named: | 0 = name is not indicated |
| Main witness age: | 0 = no indication |
| Main witness occupation: | 0 = no indication |
| Official investigation: | 1 = an official investigation was made |
| Weather: | 0 = no indication |
| Duration: | 0 = no indication |
| Minimal distance witness - phenomenon: | 0 = no indication |
| Method of observation: | 0 = no indication |
| Number of "objects" observed simultaneously: | 01 = 1 |
| Shape of the "object" (terminology of witness(es)): | 2 = round, circular, bowl |
| Dimensions of the phenomenon: | AA = angular size, 0D = "like melon" (10 to 12 cm) |
| Color of the observed phenomenon: | 00 = no indication |
| Luminosity of the phenomenon: | 2 = luminous, fluorescent |
| Lights or projectors on the phenomenon: | 0 = no indication |
| Moving speed of the phenomenon: | 0 = no indication |
| Acceleration of the phenomenon: | 0 = no indication |
| Trajectory of the phenomenon: | 0 = no indication |
| Sounds perceived during observation: | 0 = no indication |
| Maximum angular height of observation (horizon = 0°): | 0 = no indication |
| Nature of the landing place: | 0 = no indication |
| Number of contact points with ground: | 0 = no indication |
| Traces of landing: | 0 = no indication |
| Observation of "occupants": | 0 = no indication |
| Height of the occupants observed: | 00 = no indication |
| Garment of the occupants: | 00 = no indication |
| Garment: | 0 = no indication |
| General behavior of "occupants": | 0 = no indication |
| Interaction of "occupants" with witness: | 0 = no indication |
| Head, hair: | 0 = no indication |
| Voice, breathing, chin: | 0 = no indication |
| Skin: | 0 = no indication |
| Eyes: | 0 = no indication |
| Mouth: | 0 = no indication |
| Various details: | 0 = no indication |
| Thermal effects: | 0 = no indication |
| Luminous effects: | 0 = no indication |
| Magnetic effect (or electromagnetic): | 0 = no indication |
| Odor perceived by witness: | 0 = no indication |
| Physiological effects on the witness(es): | 0 = no indication |
| Psychological effect on the witness(es): | 0 = no indication |
| Effects on animals: | 0 = no indication |
| Other effects reported: | 0 = no indication |
| Nebulosity: | 0 = no indication |
| Oscillations, emission of matter: | 0 = no indication |
| Spin, formation flight: | 0 = no indication |
| Immediate disappearance: | 0 = no indication |
| Halo surrounding the phenomenon: | 0 = no indication |
| Interaction witness / phenomenon (complement to the other rubrics): | 0 = no indication |
| Drawing or photo: | 0 = no indication |
| Structural details observed: | 0 = no indication |
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in Nord in Cambrai on October 18, 1954 at 21:20 hours "Three witnesses observed a fluorescent spherical object, whose size was from 10 to 12 cm (estimated). "
The source is indicated as "Les Universons by Poher Claude ** http://www.premiumwanadoo.com/universons/".
[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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19541018 | 18.10.1954 | Cambrai | France | 21.20 |
[Ref. dcn1:] DOMINIQUE CAUDRON:
Dominique Caudron tells me by email having just completed a study of the October 18, 1954, meteor, and having found corrigenda to do in my catalog. For this case, he indicates to me that there is "No case in the newspapers in Cambrai itself, for the whole flap."
|
The data available to me for now is so meager, and does not mention any strangeness, so that I cannot give a proper evaluation. I just venture to point out the possibility that this was a meteor, for example.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Cambrai, Nord, official, multiple, round, luminous
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | January 22, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 6, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Addition [lcn1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | March 9, 2017 | Addition [lcn1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | January 19, 2019 | Addition of the Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | September 7, 2021 | Addition [dcn1]. |
