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The 1954 French flap:

The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.

September 26, 1954, Challes-les-Eaux, Savoie:

Reference for this case: 26-Sep-54-Challes-les-Eaux.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

The case begins with a line from the computer catalog of Jacques Vallée, in the 1970s, suggesting that on September 26, 1954 at 5:15 p.m. there was a sighting in Challes, France.

Then, according to the catalog established by the American Larry Hatch in the 2000s, the case comes from the book "The UFO Enigma - Challenge to Science" by Jacques Vallée, published in 1966, and it would be a case of September 26, 1954 at 5:20 p.m., in Challes, Savoie, France, with a humanoid observed waddling rapidly towards a saucer, and a "circle" was found.

It is then the American Donald Johnson who in the years 2000 indicates that on this day, "Minutes after a sighting above a local radio station a short humanoid in a diver suit was seen by a Mr. Guyard at the Challes Airport. The being wadded quickly toward and got into a saucer-shaped craft. A ten foot circle was found at the landing site."

He gives as a source, this time, Aime Michel's 1958 book.

But whereas there is indeed a story in Challes on September 26, 1954, with one named "Guyard" in Aimé Michel's book, his story has really, really, nothing to do with the above. Michel wrote:

A few days later [than the Croix du Nivolet affair] M. Michel Guyard, chief pilot at the Challes-les-Eaux airfield (three and a half miles south of the Croix du Nivolet) reported that at the same time as the Col du Chat sighting he thought he had seen a flying saucer, but had identified it as a flock of starlings in flight. Everybody was satisfied with such a reassuring explanation, given by such a well-qualified person.

Reports:

[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:

145 -005.98851 45.54900 26 09 1954 17 15 2 CHALLES F 151100 C** 130

[Ref. gep1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "GEPO":

09/26/54 (17) Challes les eaux F ? 000V3 X

[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":

3842: 1954/09/26 17:20 10 5:59:00 E 45:33:00 N 3333 WEU FRN SVO A:6

CHALLES,SAVOIE,FR:1 OBS:OID IN SUIT WADDLES QUICKLY TO SCR:10' CIRCLE FOUND

Ref# 3 VALLEE:UFO ENIGMA: Challenge/Science Page No. 248 : RESIDENT'L

[Ref. djn1:] DONALD JOHNSON:

On this Day

September 26

[...]

1954 - One minute after the radio station sighting a short humanoid in a diver suit was seen by a Mr. Guyard at the Challes Airport in Savoie department, France. The being waddled quickly toward and got into a saucer-shaped craft. A ten-foot circle was found at the landing site. (Source: Aime Michel, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery, p. 81).

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

*Sep. 26, 1954 - One minute after the radio station sighting a short humanoid in a diver suit was seen by a Mr. Guyard at the Challes Airport in Savoie department, France. The being waddled quickly toward and got into a saucer-shaped craft. A ten-foot circle was found at the landing site. (Source: Aime Michel, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery, p. 81).

[Ref. tai1:] "THINK ABOUT IT" WEBSITE:

Date: September 26 1954

Location: Col du Chat, France

Time: night

Summary: Minutes after a sighting above a local radio station a short humanoid in a diver suit was seen by a Mr. Guyard at the Challes Airport. The being wadded quickly toward and got into a saucer-shaped craft. A ten foot circle was found at the landing site.

Source: Aime Michel, Flying Saucers & The Straight Line Mystery

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

This database recorded the case 8 times:

Case Nr. New case Nr. Investigator Date of observation Zip Place of observation Country of observation Hour of observation Classification Comments Identification
19540926 26.09.1954 Challes France 17.15 NL
19540926 26.09.1954 Challes France 17.15
19540926 26.09.1954 Challes France 17.15 NL
19540926 26.09.1954 Col Chat France 17.15 DD
19540926 26.09.1954 Col Chat France 17.14 DD
19540926 26.09.1954 Col Chat France 17.14 DD
19540926 26.09.1954 Col Chat France 17.14 NL
19540926 26.09.1954 Col Chat France 17.14 DD

Explanations:

Map.

There is no mention at all of this case in "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", the French version, and "Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery", the Engish version of the book by Aimé Michel, and I was unable to find even a single other source for this case.

What appears in Michel's book is:

A few days later [than the Croix du Nivolet affair] M. Michel Guyard, chief pilot at the Challes-les-Eaux airfield (three and a half miles south of the Croix du Nivolet) reported that at the same time as the Col du Chat sighting he thought he had seen a flying saucer, but had identified it as a flock of starlings in flight. Everybody was satisfied with such a reassuring explanation, given by such a well-qualified person.

It is therefore clear that the American ufologists were totally confused, I do not know how, and that this case of "close encounter of the third kind" simply never took place.

Keywords:

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

Challes, Challes-les-Eaux, Savoie, humanoid, occupant, diving suit, Guyard, Challes, airport, quick, walking, saucer, craft, object, landing, traces, circle

Sources:

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

Document history:

Version: Created/Changed by: Date: Change Description:
1.0 Patrick Gross November 12, 2005 First published.
1.1 Patrick Gross June 18, 2010 Addition [jve5].
1.2 Patrick Gross November 15, 2014 Addition [nip1].
1.3 Patrick Gross January 11, 2017 Additions [tai1], [ubk1].
1.4 Patrick Gross October 4, 2021 Additions [lhh1], Summary.
1.5 Patrick Gross April 10, 2022 Addition [gep1].

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