The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 27-sep-54-La-Varenne-Saint-Hilaire.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In his 1958 book on the French wave of 1954, the pioneering ufologist Aimé Michel noted that on September 27, 1954, at 07:57 p.m., at La Varenne in Paris, according to a letter from Mr. Lemarié, 111 boulevard of Champigny, which he quoted, the author of the letter said to have distinguished from the window of his dwelling on the third floor which gave a good visibility on the surroundings, a large spot of an intense and moving light.
The witness reported it to his wife who saw it too, then he took binoculars for a better examination.
He said that the object seemed at first motionless, but after a few seconds it began to move horizontally and disappeared in the southwesterly direction at a brisk pace. The duration of the observation was about a minute.
[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:
French ufologist Aimé Michel notes that on September 27, 1954 at 07:57 p.m., in La Varenne in Paris, according to a letter by Mr. Lemarié, of 111 boulevard de Champigny, which he quotes, the writer of the letter distinguished a large spot of an intense and moving light from the window of his place on the third floor, which offered a clear view on the landscape. The witness brought it to the attention of his wife, who also saw it, and he took binoculars for a better examination.
The witness writes that the object seemed motionless at first, but after a few seconds it started to move horizontally and disappeared from view at an important speed in the direction of the southwest. The duration of the observation was of about one minute.
[Ref. aml3:] AIME MICHEL:
Monday, September 27 [1954].
[...]
Let's join Rixheim [actually the 28th] to Froncles [actually the 28th]: the line passes on the north of Paris and above La Varenne. Of all observations of the day, only finally that of Lanta proves to be resolutely erratic. All the others are located on two straight lines intersecting at Rixheim.
[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
|
September 27, 1954]
[... Other cases...]
07:27 p.m.: La Varenne-Saint-Hilaire/(Seine): luminous disc
[... Other cases...]
[Ref. lgs1] LOREN GROSS:
|
Paris. September 27th.
In La Varenne, a suburb of Paris, at 7:57 p.m. the evening of September 27th, a M. Lemarie observed a strange object through the window:
"I called it to the attention of my wife, who took my opera glasses to examine it better. There was good visibility all around.
"At first it seemed to me that the object was motionless. But after a few seconds it began to move horizonally, and disappeared at high speed toward the southeast. The sighting had lasted about a minute." 140.
The sources are given further on as:
140: "Michel, Aime. Flying saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery. p.86."
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3850: 1954/09/27 19:50 8 2:23:20 E 48:52:20 N 3333 WEU FRN PRS 8:9
La VARENNE E/PARIS,FR:SVRL SEP.OBS:1 OR MORE SCRS MANEUVER:PART AND REJOIN
Ref# 49 MICHEL,Aime: FS & STRAIGHT LINE TH: Page No. 85 : RESIDENT'L
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates in his database that in the Val de Marne (94) in "St Maur les Fossée (La Varenne S" on September 27, 1954 at 19:57 hours, "the witness residing on Champigny bvd observes by the window a broad stain of intense and moving light. He informs his wife and observes with the binoculars a motionless object which after a few seconds started horizontally and disappeared towards the southwest at a sharp pace."
The source is indicated as: "M.O.C. by Michel Aimé ** Arthaud 1958".
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 27 September 1954 at 19:57 in La Varenne, France, "One or more discs maneuver, part and rejoin. Several separate observers."
And: "Hovering objects were observed. Multiple independent witnesses. More than one disc was observed by two witnesses in a residential area for over one minute ((Chappuis; Lemarie; Petit)."
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); Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002".
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":
This database recorded this case twice:
| Case Nr. | New case Nr. | Investigator | Date of observation | Zip | Place of observation | Country of observation | Hour of observation | Classification | Comments | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540927 | 27.09.1954 | La Varenne | France | 19.57 | NL | |||||
| 19540927 | 27.09.1954 | La Varenne | France | 19.57 | NL |
|
I thought of the Eiffel Tower projector. But the witness was 16 km away, and east-southeast (289°) from the Eiffel Tower; so there's no strong reason to think that was that.
The case remains unidentified for me, but of low strangeness.
There will be three more testimonies from Paris that day, but apparently all around 10 p.m.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
La Varenne Saint-Hilaire, Val-de-Marne, Lemarié, spot, luminous, fast, duration
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | April 13, 2004 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 5, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [lcn1], [uda1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | February 9, 2017 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | July 30, 2019 | Additions [lhh1], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | November 19, 2021 | Addition [gqy1]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | April 11, 2022 | Addition [lgs1]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | July 12, 2022 | Addition [aml3]. |
