The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 23-aug-54-Varennes.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
A French newspaper for September 1954, reported that a month before, so around the end of August, Mrs. Lucas, resident of Dizes, a hamlet of Varennes, had seen a craft that hovered and, all of a sudden, shot up vertically. It was under a beautiful moonlight. Mrs. Lucas did not dare to say anything, lest one scoffs at her.
Ufologist Jacques Vallée cataloged this case by a summary, which changed Mrs. Lucas into Mr. Lucas, changing the hamlet of Dizes near Varennes into Varennes near Diges, and giving the approximate date of August 23, 1954.
[Ref. bre1:] NEWSPAPER "LA BOURGOGNE REPUBLICAINE":
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Auxerre (from our P.C.). - Friday morning, Mrs. widow Geoffroy, living in the hamlet of Les Jolivets, commune of Dizes [sic] (Yonne), was going to join the wash house where she usually works, at a place called "En Bécard", when her attention was attracted by a strange craft resting to the left in a clearing.
It was a "flying saucer" type craft, as the press has described it for a few weeks.
Elongated, measuring six or seven meters, the cigar (seen in profile) was brown in color with a bulge at its upper central part. Beside, a man of average height was looking at Mrs. Geoffroy, who got scared and did not return until two hours later.
Fortunately, another person, Miss Gisèle Fin, who kept her goats on the other side of the wood, was warned of this unusual presence by the barking of her dogs. She saw, about thirty meters away, a crouching man, appearing of normal height, who was busy around a machine.
Continued on page 6, under the title
SAUCER
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This craft is described in the same way as Mrs. Goeffroy did.
Miss Fin carefully brought her goats back along a path towards the road in order to have a better look, while being safe. She took her eyes off the apparatus for three or four minutes. When she wanted to look again from the road, she saw nothing. Silently, craft had disappeared.
On the dew, where it had been seen, there were traces of dry grass, 50 centimeters apart, attesting that the saucer, mounted on skates. "I saw them clearly [sic]," said Miss Fin, had indeed landed there.
Other people passing by a few moments later could verify it.
The declarations of the Icauneses correspond to those given by a peasant from Bugeat, who saw an identical craft and a person on the plateau of Millevaches, in Limousin.
A month ago, a resident of Dize, hamlet of Varennes, Mrs. Lucas, saw a craft which was hovering and which, all of a sudden, soared vertically. It was a superb moonlight. Mrs. Lucas dared not say anything, for fear that she would be laughed at.
Does the region of Dize, due to the presence of heaps of ocher extracted from the wells of Sully, attract, by its light spots, the attention of observers of interplanetary ships?
[Ref. prs1:] UNKNOWN NEWSPAPER:
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Auxerre (of our C.P.). - Friday morning Mrs. widow Geoffroy, living in the hamlet of Les Jolivets, commune of Dizes [sic] (Yonne), went to join the washhouse where she usually works, at the place "En Bécard", when her attention was attracted by a bizarre machine resting on the left of a clearing.
It was a device like a "flying saucer", as the Press had described it for a few weeks.
The cigar (seen in profile) was elongated, six or six feet in diameter, and was brown in color with a bulge in its upper central part. Beside, a man of average height was looking at Mme Geoffroy, who became frightened and did not return until two hours later.
Fortunately, another person, Miss Gisèle Fin, who kept her goats on the other side of the wood, was warned of this unusual presence by the barking of her dogs. She saw, about thirty yards away, a crouching man, apparently of normal height, who was busy working around a machine.
Continued on page 6, under the title
SAUCER
This device is described in the same way as Mrs. Geoffroy did.
Miss Fin led her dogs cautiously by the path in the direction of the road to better look while being safe. So she looked away from the craft for three or four minutes. When she wanted to look again, she saw nothing. Without noise, the craft had disappeared.
On the dew, in the place where it had been seen, there were traces of dried grass, at a distance of 80 centimeters, attesting that the saucer, mounted on skates - "I clearly saw them," said Miss Fin - did really land there.
Other people passing a few moments later were able to check it out.
The declarations of the Leaunais correspond to those given by a Bugeat peasant, who traded an identical craft and person on the plateau of Millevaches, in Limousin.
A month ago, a resident of Dizes, a hamlet of Varennes, Mrs. Lucas, had seen a hovering craft; which suddenly skyrocketed vertically. It was a superb moonlight. Madame Lucas dared not say anything, lest she whould be mocked.
Does the region of Dizes, because of the presence of ocher piles extracted from the wells of Sully, attract, by its clear spots, the attention of the observers in the interplanetary vessels?
[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
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about August 23 [1954]
evening: Varennes (commune of Diges--Yonne): discoid craft at low altit.
[Ref. gqy2:] GUY QUINCY:
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About August 23, 1954: Varennes (commune of Diges--Yonne): disc low alti.
[Ref. jve3:] JACQUES VALLEE:
Vallée says that reports of "landings" of the French wave of 1954 started on August 20, in Barennes [sic].
[Ref. jve6:] JACQUES VALLEE:
Jacques Vallée mentions that on August 20, 1954, there was a sighting in Varennes, France.
[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:
| 112 | -003.41730 | 47.73600 | 23 | 08 | 1954 | (VARENNE P. DIGES) | F | 001 | G |
[Ref. jve1:] JACQUES VALLEE:
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136 August 23, 1954, Varennes, near Diges (Yonne, (France). Appriximate date.
Approximate date.
A strange object hovered low over the house of Mr. Lucas and left straight up. (P 4)
[Ref. jve2:] JACQUES VALLEE:
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August 23, 1954. Varennes, near Diges (Yonne, France). Approximate date:
A strange object hovered low over the house of Mr. Lucas and left straight up. (L'Yonne républicaine, September 28, 1954).
[Ref. prn1:] PETER ROGERSON:
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311 23 August 1954 (approx. date) VARENNES, near DIGES (FRANCE)
A strange object hovered low over the house of Mr Lucas and left straight up.
(M136; L'Yonne Republicaine, 28 September 1954)
[Ref. fru1:] MICHEL FIGUET AND JEAN-LOUIS RUCHON:
The two authors indicate that in Varennes in the Yonne on August 23, 1954, at an unspecified time, Mr. Lucas observed a strange object hovering rather low above his house, then went away vertically.
The two authors indicate Jacques Vallée and the newspaper L'Yonne Républicaine for July 28 as sources.
[Ref. mf2:] FRANCAT - MICHEL FIGUET:
| CASE Nr | CLASSIFICATION | DATE | HOUR | PLACE | ZIP CODE | CREDIBILITY SOURCES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59 | CE0 | 08 23 1954 | hnp | Varennes | 89230 D3 | NI-RS-P, OVNI: p. 72 |
[Ref. mcn1:] MARK CASHMAN:
Varennes, near Diges (France).
8/23/1954
Approximate date. A strange object hovered low over the house of Mr. Lucas and left straight up.
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Yonne in Varennes on August 23, 1954 at an unknown hour, "The witness observed a strange object which hovered rather low above his house, then left vertically."
The source is indicated as "Ovni, Premier dossier complet... by Figuet M./ Ruchon J.L. ** Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979".
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that in 23 August 1954 in Varennes, France, "A strange object hovered low a house." And: "A strange object hovered low over the house of Mr. Lucas and left straight up. Approximate date. Nocturnal lights were reported."
The source in indicated as "Vallee Magonia Database".
[Ref. uda2:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 23 August 1954 in Varennes C.Diges, France, "An object was sighted that had an appearance and performance beyond the capability of known earthly aircraft. One object was observed by a male witness in a yard (Lucas)."
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); Vallee, Jacques, A Century of Landings (N = 923), (in JVallee04), Chicago, 1969; Schoenherr, Luis, Computerized Catalog (N = 3173); Rogerson, Peter, World-Wide Catalog of Type 1 Reports.
[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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540820 | 20.08.1954 | Varennes | France | |||||||
| 19540820 | 20.08.1954 | Varennes | France | |||||||
| 19540823 | 23.08.1954 | Varennes | France | NL | ||||||
| 19540823 | 23.08.1954 | Varennes | France | CE I | ||||||
| 19540823 | 23.08.1954 | Varennes | France |
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Besides the approximative date, there is a potential location problem:
I did not find a hamlet named Dizes in the Yonne or elsewhere - unless "Dizes" was a misspell for Diges.
Varennes exists and there is a Varennes indeed in the Yonne. There must probably have been a hamlet or place called "Dizes" there, perhaps absorbed by Varennes since.
As for the observation, it is very summarily reported, and one could at least consider a helicopter - or something else.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Varennes, Yonne, Lucas, hovering, ascending, newspaper, night
[-] indicates that I do not have a copy of the reference.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | December 16, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 25, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [lcn1], [uda1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | March 20, 2010 | Addition [uda2]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | June 17, 2010 | Addition [jve5], [jve6]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | November 20, 2016 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | January 27, 2019 | Additions [prn1], [fru1], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not Looked for yet." |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | January 29, 2021 | Addition [bre1]. |
| 1.6 | Patrick Gross | February 19, 2021 | Addition [gqy1]. |
| 1.7 | Patrick Gross | October 27, 2021 | Addition [gqy2]. |
| 1.8 | Patrick Gross | June 5, 2022 | Addition [jve3]. |
