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The 1954 French flap:

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October 26, 1954, Heiteren, Haut-Rhin:

Reference for this case: 26-Oct-54-Heiteren.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

This case surfaced for the first time in the book "Les Phénomènes Insolites de l'Espace" (Strange Phenomena from Space) by Jacques Vallée in 1966 as a line of a UFO sighting list saying nothing more than this:

On October 26, 1954, there was a UFO sighting in Heiteren in France.

The same year in the Flying Saucer Review, Vallée said that there were two witnesses, that Heiteren is near Colmar, that they saw a flying object coming from the west and landing at one kilometer from them.

Jacques Vallée indicated later in the LDLN magazine in 1969 and in his "catalog of UFO landings" published in his book "Passport to Magonia" also in 1969 that it was a Mrs. Spinner and another witness, who had seen "a flying object that came from the West and landed one kilometer from them."

As a source, he said it was "Personal", a mention that, in Vallée's work, just says that he had no trace of his source, not that he knew the witnesses personally.

This totally insufficient report whose actual source remains unknown to this day, nobody having found it in the Press of the time was then copied as is by Figuet and Ruchon and later widespread on the English-speaking and French-speaking web - with occasional unjustified additions or errors. Nobody seems to realize that the "flying object" could be almost anything, like a meteor, a star, or a plane.

The only ufologist who looked further is the Alsatian Christian Valentin, who in 2012 said he did some research to find the witnesses in Heiteren, but to no avail.

Reports:

[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:

[Ref. jve8:] JACQUES VALLEE:

[Ref. jve1:] JACQUES VALLEE:

[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":

In a list of cases that the magazine called for investigation or re-investigation, there was:

[Ref. jve3:] JACQUES VALLEE:

[Ref. prn1:] PETER ROGERSON - "INTCAT":

[Ref. fru1:] MICHEL FIGUET AND JEAN-LOUIS RUCHON:

The two authors indicate that in Heiteren in the department of Haut-Rhin, on october 26, 1954 at 09:30 p.m., Mrs Spinner and another witness have observed a flying object coming from the west and landing at one kilometer away of them.

They indicate that their source is the catalogue by Jacques Vallée and that the information is sparse.

[Ref. aldl:] MRS. GUEUDELOT, "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" ARCHIVE:

[Ref. mft1:] MICHEL FIGUET:

This ufologist noted:

[Ref. lgs1:] LOREN GROSS:

[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:

The Belgian ufologist indicates in her catalogue that in 1954, on October 26 in France in "Heiteren (Colmar)", "Mrs. Spinner and another witness saw a flying object which came from the west and lands at 1 km."

The source is noted "Jacques Vallée: 'Chronique des apparitions ET' - DENOEL 1972 - J'AI LU COLL. - p. 290".

[Ref. uwb1:] "UFOWEB" WEBSITE:

[Ref. djn1:] DONALD JOHNSON:

[Ref. jbu1:] JEROME BEAU:

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:

Luc Chastan indicates that in the Haut Rhin in Heiteren on October 26, 1954 at 21:30 hours "Two witnesses observe a flying object coming from the west and landing at one kilometer of them."

The source is noted as "Ovni, Premier dossier complet... by Figuet M./ Ruchon J.L. ** Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979".

[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on 26 October 1954 at 21:30 in Heiteren, France, "Mrs. Spinner and another witness saw a flying object come from the west and land one kilometer away."

And: "At 9:30 p.m. Mrs. Spinner and another witness in Heiteren, France saw a flying object come from the west and land a kilometer away."

And: "An object was observed. It moved with a falling-leaf motion. One star was observed by one witness."

The sources are indicated as Bowen, Charles, The Humanoids: FSR Special Edition No. 1, FSR, London, 1966; 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).

[Ref. cvn2:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:

The former journalist Christian Valentin published in 2012 a very interesting book about the history of UFO sighting reports in Alsace, from the origin to 1980.

In this book, he tells that there was a case dated Tuesday, October 26, 1954 at 09:30 p.m. in Heiteren in the Haut-Rhine, and reported by Jacques Vallée in "Chronique des Apparitions Extraterrestres" published by EP / Denoël like this:

"Mrs S. and another witness saw a flying object that came from the west and landed at 1 km (Personal)."

Valentin commented that the observation would surely arouse the curiosity of fans, "because we would like to know how this information has come from the witness to Jacques Vallée without going through the press. Does this personal source mention imply that there is a direct link between our region and the specialist who inspired Spielberg for the role of the French scientist (played by François Truffaut) in the movie 'Close Encounters of the third kind?"

He added that he made a short investigation in and it did not allow to locate the witnesses.

[Ref. nip1:] "THE NICAP WEBSITE":

[Ref. spa1:] SPICA UFOLOGY GROUP:

[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":

This database recorded the case 5 times:

[Ref. prn2:] PETER ROGERSON - "INTCAT":

Explanations:

Heiteren is about 15 km in the Southwest of Colmar.

As of the sighting, all is said in the Summary, for now.

Totally insufficient data, possible meteor or astronomical or plane.

Keywords:

(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)

Heiteren, Haut-Rhin, object, landing, multiple, Spinner, night

Sources:

[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.

• [jve5] "Catalogue préliminaire de 500 observations", listing in "Les Phénomènes Insolites de l'Espace", book by Jacques and Janine Vallée, Table Ronde publishers, France, 1966.
• [jve8] "The Pattern Behind UFO Landings", article by Jacques Vallée, in the ufology magazine Flying Saucer Review (FSR), U-K., special issue "The Humanoids", 1966.
• [jve1] "Passport to Magonia - On Ufos, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds", book by Jacques Vallée, Contemporary Books publishers, USA, 1969.
• [jve1] "Un Siècle d'Atterrissages", catalogue by Jacques Vallée, in the ufology magazine Lumières Dans la Nuit, France, #102 bis, page 3, January 1970.
• [ldl1] "Réenquêtes 1954", in the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #118, page 4, June 1972.
• [jve3] "Chronique des Apparitions Extra-Terrestres", French translation of "Passport to Magonia", book by Jacques Vallée, Denoël publisher, France, page 290, 1972.
• [prn1] "INTCAT Part 10", catalogue compiled by Peter Rogerson, in the ufology magazine MUFOB, U-K., New Series #5, page 7, Winter 1976 - 1977.
• [jve5] "Catalogue préliminaire de 500 observations", listing in "Les Phénomènes Insolites de l'Espace", book by Jacques and Janine Vallée, Robert Laffont publisher, France, page 253, 1978.
• [fru1] "OVNI, Premier Dossier Complet des Rencontres Rapprochées en France", book by Michel Figuet and Jean Louis Ruchon, Alain Lefeuvre publisher, France, page 199, 1979.
• [ald1] Record of the archive by Mrs. Gueudelot, of the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, not dated, published circa 2020 by the ufology association SCEAU, France, at https://sceau-archives-ovni.org/fonds/fond_gueudelot/base_guy_jpr_fiches_gueudelot.html
• [mft1] "Catalogue Francat des rencontres rapprochées en France (Listing 800 1982) (2 · Suite)", list compiled by Michel Figuet, in the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #257-258, page 20, November - December 1985.
• [----] "Computerized Catalog", compiled by Luis Schoenherr.
• [lgs1] "The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse - UFOs: A History - 1954 October", monography by Loren E. Gross, USA, page 86, 1991.
• [goe1] "Chronologie OVNI", web page compiled by Godelieve Van Overmeire, Belgium, circa 2003, at users.skynet.be/sky84985/afin54.htm
• [uwb1] "68", listing by the UFOweb ufology website, France, circa 2003, at http://ufoweb.free.fr/68.htm
• [djn1] "Encounters With Aliens On This Day", compiled by Donald A. Johnson, USA, circa 2005, at www.ufoinfo.com/onthisday/October26.html
• [jbu1] "Mardi 26 octobre 1954", page web par Jérôme Beau, site web RR0, France, circa 2007, à www.rr0.org/data/1/9/5/4/10/26/index.html
• [lcn1] Base OVNI France, web site by Luc Chastan, France, circa 2005, at baseovnifrance.free.fr/listgen.php?typlist=2&page=27&numobs=1195
• [uda1] "26 Oct 1954 - Heiteren, France", web page by the UFOdna website, circa 2008, at www.ufodna.com/uf18/uf9/189186.htm
• [cvn2] "Mythes et Réalités des Phénomènes Aériens Non Identifiés - Histoire des soucoupes volantes en Alsace jusqu'en 1980", book by Christian Valentin, Grimoires d'Alsace publishers, France, page 60, 2012.
• [nip1] List on The NICAP Website, USA, found in 2014, at http://www.nicap.org/reports/1954_ufocat.htm
• [spa1] "DEPARTEMENT 68 - HAUT-RHIN", listing of UFO sighting reports by the Alsatian ufology group SPICA, Alsace, France, not dated, found in May 2015, at http://www.spica.org/Page_Listing_68.htm
• [ubk1] Online database UFO-Datenbank, Germany, found in 2016, at ufodatenbank.de
• [prn2] "INTCAT 1954", catalogue compiled by Peter Rogerson, U-K., circa 2016, at https://intcat.blogspot.com/search?q=1954

Document history:

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This page was last updated on September 1, 2023.