The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 20-Oct-54-Arras.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In the 1970s, Dr. Claude Poher, ufologist at the ufology group GEPA, the future leader of the official GEIPAN, created a computer catalog of observations in France for which the witnesses were officials and / or an official invesitgation had been conducted.
There is a recording of an observation of October 20, 1954, at 09:25, in Arras p.m., in the Pas-de-Calais department, the report coming from officials. The witnesses were 6, and there was an official investigation.
What was seen during "1 to 9 seconds" is noted as "orange or fire colored", "luminous or fluorescent", with "flames" and / or "sparks", producing no noise.
[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: | 0640552010195421251JA6004010200010ZZZZ032400017000000000000000000000000000000000 |
| Location: | Arras - France |
| Case number: | 0640 |
| Source code: | 55 |
| Nature of the source: | Reports from official French sources: Police, Gendarmerie, Army, Pilots |
| Day: | 20 |
| Month: | 10 |
| Year: | 54 |
| Hours: | 21 |
| Minutes: | 25 |
| Type of Time: | 1 = local time |
| Number of witnesses: | 6 = 6 |
| Main witness named: | 0 = name is not indicated |
| Main witness age: | 0 = no indication |
| Main witness occupation: | 4 = army, police, fireman, constable |
| Official investigation: | 1 = an official investigation was made |
| Weather: | 0 = no indication |
| Duration: | 2 = from 1 to 9 seconds |
| 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)): | 0 = no indication |
| Dimensions of the phenomenon: | ZZZZ = no indication |
| Color of the observed phenomenon: | 03 = orange, fire color |
| Luminosity of the phenomenon: | 2 = luminous, fluorescent |
| Lights or projectors on the phenomenon: | 4 = "flames", "sparks" |
| 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: | 1 = no noise, total silence, object noiseless |
| Maximum angular height of observation (horizon = 0°): | 7 = altitude is indicated |
| 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 in his database that in the Pas-de-Calais in Arras on October 20, 1954 at 21:25 hours, "Six gendarmes observed during a few seconds a luminous orange object moving without noise and emitting showers of sparks."
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19541020 | 20.10.1954 | Arras | France | 21.25 |
|
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The description fits a meteor.
There is at least one other almost identical observation of what would be this meteor at the same time in Ham in the Somme department, 60 km in the South-Southeast of Arras.
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(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Arras, Pas-de-Calais, multiple, official, orange, luminous, flame, silent, meteor
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | December 6, 2004 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 24, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Addition [lcn1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | March 6, 2017 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | August 23, 2019 | Addition of the Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet. Description fits a meteor." |
