The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 22-Sep-54-Saint-Chéron.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
Author and ufologist Aimé Michel indicated in his 1958 book on the French wave of 1954 that on September 22, 1954, in Saint-Chéron, at approximately 07:30 p.m., the cloudy weather had an overcast of clouds but at a rather high altitude. People in this city saw towards the east-north-east, above Breuillet, or, further, above Arpajon, in any case in the general direction of the secondary road D19, a large luminous object which moved slowly towards the south.
The object seemed distant, with a low angular height on the horizon, appearing to sail at the height of the limit of the cloud layer. It was described as producing "light plays."
Witnesses saw it disappear, still in the visual direction of Arpajon.
The observation lasted three to four minutes, one of the witnesses was Cyrille Maillard, a radio operator officer of Mirgaudon, close to Saint-Chéron.
Aimé Michel noted that one can easily first think that this could be explained by a drifting weather balloon illuminated by the setting sun, but he indicated that the described object was too big and that there was no sun, the sky being covered with clouds.
In 1979, the "skeptical" ufologists Gérard Barthel and Jacques Brucker said that in Saint-Chéron on September 22, 1954, "around 07:30 p.m. or 08:30 p.m.", a luminous phenomenon "at high altitude" was observed, and that the witness confirmed that it was a luminous phenomenon at high altitude. They say it was "a big meteorite" because - according to them - the description is "identical" to that of a case in Dôle that day whose witness told them he had seen "at 08:30 p.m. a fleeting gleam that crossed the sky."
[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:
Author and ufologist Aimé Michel indicates that on September 22, 1954 in Saint-Chéron, at approximately 07:30 p.m., the cloudy weather had an overcast but at a rather high altitude. People in this city saw towards the east-north-east, above Breuillet, or, further, above Arpajon, in any case in the general direction of the secondary road D19, a large luminous object which moved slowly towards the south.
The object seems distant, with a low angular height on the horizon, appearing to sail at the height of the limit of the cloud layer. It is described as producing "light plays."
Witnesses saw it disappear still in the visual direction of Arpajon.
The observation lasted three to four minutes, one of the witnesses is Cyrille Maillard, a radio operator officer of Mirgaudon, close to Saint-Chéron.
Aimé Michel notes that one can easily first think that this could be explained by a drifting weather balloon illuminated by the setting sun, but he indicates that the described object was too large and that there was no sun, the sky being covered with clouds.
[Ref. aml2:] AIME MICHEL:
Such is the great cloud-cigar. It has, as I have said, been described a great many times in identical terms and in all countries of the world. In France, it was seen during the wave of 1954 very near Paris: in the night of August 22 to 23 in Vernon, and the evening of September 12, around 19 h. 30, in broad daylight, by a crowd of witnesses from south of Paris, at Saint-Chéron, at Arpajon, on national road 7, at Chailly-en-Bière, etc. The description is always the same.
[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
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September 22 [1954]
07:30 p.m.: Saint-Chéron/Breuillet (Seine-et-Oise)
07:30 p.m.: Arpajon (Seine-et-Oise)
08:00 p.m.: Saint-Fargeau/Ponthierry (Seine-et-Marne): sphère des nuées
08:30 p.m.: Rueil-Malmaison/Rebais/Sénart (S.et Oise): luminous ball
08:30 p.m.: Paris 7°(Seine): disque lumineux
? (same h?): Chailly-en-Bière (Seine-et-Marne)/Nationale 7,N. of Fontainebleau (S.et-Marne: clouds sphere + 7 or 8 small lumin. "balls."
[Ref. lex1:] UFOLOGY BULLETIN "LES EXTRATERRESTRES":
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Sometimes the phenomenon is immobile, sometimes it moves to the right, to the left, vertically, in all directions, but with majestic slowness... (Ponthierry on September 22, 1954).
[Ref. gep1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "GEPO":
| 09 22 54 (19) | St Cheron and Arpajon OE | ? | 000A21 |
[Ref. bbr1:] GERARD BARTHEL AND JACQUES BRUCKER:
The two authors indicate that in Saint-Chéron on September 22, 1954, at 07:30 p.m. or 08:30 p.m., a high altitude luminous phenomenon was observed and that the witness confirmed that it was a high altitude luminous phenomenon.
They say that one can seriously think that it was large a meteorite since the description is "identical" to a case in Dôle the same day in which the witness had told them to have seen at 08:30 p.m. a fast fugitive gleam which crossed the sky.
[Ref. lgs1:] LOREN GROSS:
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"September 22nd.
"Vast luminous object."
A number of UFO reports from Paris and the countryside around the great city were preceeded by the appearance of a spectacular sky object the evening of September 22nd.
There was a high overcast at 7:30 p.m. when the first sighting was made at St-Cheron. Out of the east-northeast, moving below the clouds, was a vast glowing bulk. In view for approximately 3.5 minutes, its approach was slow. One of the witness-s was M. Cyrille Maillard who said the object was "playing its lights" whatever that meant. Unfortunately no more detail from M. Maillard is available.
The vast luminous object arrived over Arpajon just moments later and was spotted by a Mme. Chatelin. Again the report is very brief.
[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
The Belgian ufologist indicates that in 1954, on September 22 in France, in "Ponthierry, Arpajon, etc. (the Seine et Oise)", at 19:30, and "in St Cheron with inter alia witnesses Cyrille Maillard, radio operator officer. Sometimes the object moves on the right, on the left, vertically, in all the directions, with a majestic slowness. In Arpajon Mrs. Chatelin is the witness of the same phenomenon. Little before 20:00 Mr. Rabot of Ponthierry sees a luminous object of great red volume surrounded by a luminous smoke of the same color: the object is vertical. Observation also made by Mrs. Gamundi between Ponthierry and Fontainebleau, who stopped to observe during half an hour. Suddenly another smaller ball emerges from the lower part, which fell in free fall, slows down then fled while obliquing. One moment later the phenomenon was repeated, and several times again in continuation. The witness forgot to count so intense his stupor was. When a plane came, the phenomenon hid in the clouds. Then the phenomenon did not reappear any more.
The source are indicated as "Aimé Michel: 'M.O.C.' Seghers pub., p. 89, 90" and "Henry DURRANT: 'Premières enquêtes sur les Humanoïdes ET' - Laffont 1977 - p. 199".
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Essonne at St Chéron on September 22, 1954, at 19:30 "Several residents observe towards the east north-east a vast luminous object moving slowly towards the south at the lower border of of the cloudy ceiling. The object did a play of lights."
Luc Chastan indicates that the source is "M.O.C. by Michel Aimé ** Arthaud 1958".
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 22 September 1954 before 2000 between St-Fargeau and Ponthierry on Route N-7, Ponthierry, France, there was a "Red luminous object surrounded by luminous vapor."
And: "At 8:00 p.m. red luminous cloud-cigar was seen by three people emitting disc-shaped UFOs in Fontainebleu, France. The object was surrounded by a luminous vapor. The cigar-shaped UFO flew in a manner to avoid a passing airplane."
And: "A cigar-shaped object was observed. One red elliptical was observed in cloudy weather by three male witnesses on a highway (Rabot)."
The sources are indicated as Michel, Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery, S. G. Phillips, New York, 1958; 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":
| Case Nr. | New case Nr. | Investigator | Date of observation | Zip | Place of observation | Country of observation | Hour of observation | Classification | Comments | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540922 | 22.09.1954 | St. Cheron | France | 19.30 | NL | |||||
| 19540922 | 22.09.1954 | St. Cheron | France | 19.30 | ||||||
| 19540922 | 22.09.1954 | St. Chéron | France |
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The case was noted as having taken place in the department of the Seine-et-Oise; but a colleague ufologist took care to inform me that when this unmanageable department was dismantled, in the Sixties, it was split in the Essonne, the Yvelines, the Val d'Oise, and that this case thus must now be affected to the Essonne.
This was maybe the 07:30 p.m. meteor.
However, this is not guaranteed: the indicated duration, "three to four minutes", if it is valid, would exclude it.
Note the "lighter" version by Barthel and Brucker: who reduced the observation to "a luminous phenomenon at high altitude". We do not know at all which witness they would have spoken to, and they may have "added" the time of 08:30 p.m. just to "fit" the case with the observation at 08:30 p.m. in Dôle.
Below: places mentioned for the observations of September 22, 1954, in the evening, in the Paris area, plus localization of the Orly airport mentioned by Aimé Michel.
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(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Saint-Chéron, Essonne, clouds, overcast, weather, object, big, luminous, lights, balloon, slow, direction, multiple, Cyrille Maillard, Mirgaudon
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | April 26, 2007 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 17, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [goe1], [lcn1], [uda1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | January 31, 2017 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | April 2, 2019 | Addition [aml2]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | August 30, 2019 | Additions [lgs1], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Probably the 07:30 p.m. meteor." |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | March 13, 2021 | Addition [gqy1]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | April 12, 2022 | Addition [gep1]. |
| 1.6 | Patrick Gross | June 14, 2022 | Addition [lex1]. |
