The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 1-oct-54-LaGuerche.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit #319 of July 1993 indicated that the newspaper Le Berry Républicain for October 5, 1954, reported that "Friday, around 07:00 p.m., Mr. (or Mrs.?) Rousset, living on the farm of "Moulin de l'Oie" was busy closing the shutters of his house, when he saw in the sky a large luminous ball of a reddish color, which at times took the form of a cigar. In the middle of the ball, "she" saw like little threads. This was also witnessed by Mrs. Villepreux, lock keeper at the lock of "l'Oie."
Then, in his 1997 book on the French wave of 1954, author Jean Sider noted that Mr. Desbois, investigator of the group "Lumières Dans La Nuit", who carried out investigations to check UFO reports of 1954 in France, had investigated a case of October 1, 1954, at 07:30 p.m. in La Guerche-sur-Aubois in the Cher, and that this case remained without trivial explanations.
[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
On October 1st, 1954, in La Guerche in the département of Indre-et-Loire, at about 07:30 p.m., a large reddish ball has been seen in the sky.
The magazine quotes as source the newspaper "Le Berry Républicain" for October 5, 1954, which indicates that on "Friday, towards 07:00 p.m., Mr. [Mrs.?] Rousset, living the farm of the "Moulin de l'Oie" [Goose Mill farm] in La Guerche was busy closing the shutters of her home when she saw a large luminous ball of a reddish color the sky, and at times it took the shape of a cigar. In the center of the ball, she saw like small threads. This fact was also noted by Mrs. Villepreux, lockkeeper at the "L'Oie" lock."
[Ref. jsr1:] JEAN SIDER:
In his 1997 book on the 1954 French flap, UFO researcher and author Jean Sider notes that Mr. Desbois, investigator member of the private ufology group "Lumières Dans la Nuit", who has done counter-investigations on a number of french UFO reports of the year 1954, has investigated a case of October 1st, 1954, at 07:30 p.m. in La Guerche-sur-Aubois, in the Cher, and that he could not find any trivial explanation of that case.
[Ref. tie1:] "TOURAINE INSOLITE" WEBSITE:
The author indicates that on Friday, October 1, 1954, towards 07:00 p.m., Mrs. Rousset, living the farm "Moulin de l'Oie" in La Guerche was busy closing the shutters of her dwelling when she saw in the sky a large luminous ball of a reddish color, which at times took the shape of a cigar. In the center of the ball, she saw small threads. This fact was also noted by Mrs. Villepreux, lockkeeper at the lock of "L'Oie."
The source is given as "Le Berry Républicain" for Tuesday, October 5, 1954.
[Ref. tie2:] "TOURAINE INSOLITE" WEBSITE:
The website's author indicates that in La Guerche, on October 1, 1954, at 19:00, there was "A large luminous ball of a reddish color, which per moment took the shape of a cigar."
The source is indicated as"Le Berry Républicain" for Tuesday, October 5, 1954 and "LDLN #319 P9".
[Ref. edr1:] EMMANUEL DEHLINGER:
(Cet auteur défend la thèse que les OVNIS sont causés par "des militaires" utilisant des ondes et autres appareils pour faire croire aux extraterrestres en trompant des témoins.)
| Place | Approximate coordinates | Date 1954 | Civilan hour | Duration | Sky | Distance and movement of the ufo | Altitude of the ufo | B angle of the sun on the horizon | Azimut of the sun | B angle of the moon on the horizon | Azimut of the moon | EL | State of the night | Case | Comment | LDLN ref. |
| La Guerche (Indre-et-Loire) | 0° 44’ E 46° 53’ N |
1er oct | ~07:30C p.m. | Sky | -9° 42’ | 276° | 5° 6’ | 226° | 18%+ | ECS, ECL ? |
J1 | Large reddish ball. La Guerche is located in the valleyof the Creuse with very sharp slopes which may have provided a shadow zone with the Moon [IGN 1825 and 1925]. | Nr 319 p. 9 |
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Indre et Loire in La Guerche on October 1, 1954, at 19:30 hours "around 19:30, a large reddish luminous ball was seen in the sky."
The source is said to be my website at "http://ufologie.net".
[Ref. tie3:] "TOURAINE INSOLITE" FORUM :
La Guerche, October 1, 1954, 07:00 p.m.
A large luminous ball of a reddish color, which per moment took the form of a cigar. Sources: "Berry Républicain" for Tuesday October 5, 1954 LDLN No 319 P9
[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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19541001 | 01.10.1954 | La Guerche | France | 19.30 | NL |
[Ref. jqy1:] JEAN DE QUERCY:
|
37/15 - 1954 on October 01 - La Guerche-sur-Aubois
On October 1, 1954, at La Guerche in the Indre-et-Loire, around 7:30 p.m., a big reddish luminous ball was seen in the sky.
"On Friday, at about 7:00 p.m., Madame Rousset, who lived at the "Moulin de l'Oie" farm at La Guerche, was busy closing the shutters of her house when she saw in the sky a big luminous ball of a reddish color, and which, at times, took the form of a cigar. In the middle of the ball, she saw like little threads. This fact was also noted by Madame Villepreux, lock keeper at the lock of "L'Oie"."
(Source: Le Berry Républicain for October 5, 1954)
|
The "Moulin de l'Oie" farm (46° 56' 44.99'' North, 2° 56' 20.08'' East) is indeed in the vicinity of La Guerche-sur-l'Aubois, in the department of the Cher (and not La Guerche in the Indre-et-Loire department).
There is also a small lock and a mill on a small canal crossed by a bridge and leading by the "Chemin de l'Oie" to the "Moulin de l'Oie" farm after 200 meters.
As for the observation, poorly documented, it may suggest that it could have been a meteor. Just a sighting duration would have helped about that...
Another possibility is the Moon, which was then at the 222° azimuth and the low height of 7° 36', conducive to a "Red Moon" and a misinterpretaion.
This is not a certainty, the moon was then a crescent with 19% of its surface illuminated. But clouds could have distorted its shape.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
La Guerche-sur-l'Aubois, Cher, large, red, ball, cigar, luminous, multiple, threads
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | April 16, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 12, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [tie1], [lcn1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | March 8, 2010 | Addition [tie2]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | October 19, 2011 | Addition [tie3]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | December 26, 2016 | Addition [ub3]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | July 21, 2019 | Additions [jqy1], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | February 19, 2021 | Addition [edr1]. |
