The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 27-sep-54-Paris.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The newspaper Le Parisien for September 28, 1954, reported they received three phone calls the evening before at about 10 p.m., reporting the passage of a luminous disk on Paris.
There was a call from Mr. Ilias, and moments later a call from Mr. Thibaut.
The third testimony was from Mr. Georges Chapty (or Chappuis), 36, rue Jouffroy, who said about the luminous "craft":
"- I saw it arrive from the east of Paris, it stopped a short moment above the Sacré-Coeur, then it left again at full speed without changing course - that is to say in the direction north-northwest."
[Ref. lpn1:] NEWSPAPER "LE PARISIEN":
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Several of our readers took the trouble to call us last night, around 10 o'clock, to tell us about an observation that had moved them deeply.
It was Mr. Ilias, 18 rue David-d'Angers, who first informed us:
"I was making a little tour with my wife," he told us, when we saw a luminous craft, a bit like a neon-lit disk passing over the Buttes-Chaumont. It stopped for five or six seconds, then it set off again at full speed in the east-north direction."
Moments later, Mr. Thibaut, who lives at 78, avenue Secrétan, confirmed to us the words of Mr. Ilias:
- Is it a flying saucer? I would not swear it, but it was a luminous disc which, after a short stop above the Buttes-Chaumont, sped towards Montmartre.
And, in Montmartre, Mr. Georges Chapty, who lives at 36, rue Jouffroy, saw, too, luminous "craft".
- I saw it arrive from the east of Paris, it stopped a short moment above the Sacré-Coeur, then it left again at full speed without changing course - that is to say in the direction north northwest.
It should be noted that our volunteer correspondents are careful not to say that they saw a flying saucer. But they agree on the direction, the speed and the luminosity of the mysterious craft.
[Ref. ppe1:] NEWSPAPER "PARIS-PRESSE":
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There are many types of Martians. This is what can be concluded from the statements of a Portuguese peasant. Those we "saw" in France were the size of pygmies. The Portuguese Martians are 2.50 m guys!
In a letter to the daily "Diario de Lisboa", Mr. César Cardoso reveals that on September 24, at 10 a.m., he saw there, as well as three of his comrades, a flying saucer landing in the middle of a meadow in the Gardunha mountains (Spanish-Portuguese border).
- A sphere appeared in the sky, says the witness. It flew at breakneck speed and launched multicolored flashes. It landed noiselessly 200 meters from us and two figures, about 2.50 meters tall, descended from it. They looked like aluminum men. These visitors first gathered herbs and picked up stones which they placed in a blindingly bright box. Then, perceiving us, they came to us and uttered a few sounds.
The Portuguese not understanding Martian, the travelers invited them by gestures to get into their apparatus.
- We politely refused, César Cardoso adds. They did not insist and got back into their craft. It took off vertically and disappeared at lightning speed, releasing a shower of sparks.
The witness - who, for a mountain dweller, uses very learned terms - clarified that only the "poles" of the sphere were rotating and that the "equatorial" part was transparent and allowed moving shadows to be seen inside!
Is this the same saucer that a Panamerican Airways plane encountered? Captain Freeman, who piloted an aircraft of this company on the New York-South Africa line, declares that in the broad Atlantic, at 37 degrees west longitude and 38 north latitude, off the Azores, he was struck by the presence of several sparkling lights on the ocean.
Portugal does not have a monopoly on mysterious craft. Several inhabitants of Svendborg, in Denmark, saw, last night, a luminous object having the aspect of an immense fluorescent tube and which moved at high speed in the sky. It disappeared after five seconds.
In Ontario, a "saucer" (which was probably a cup) dropped an "azure blue rain"...
In France, yesterday, the Martians were discreet. Several Parisians claim, however, to have seen a luminous disc which, after having moved above the Buttes-Chaumont, stopped above the Sacré-Coeur...
Also, two women assure that last Friday they saw a saucer landing in a field in Diges (Yonne). The "pilot" was inspecting the craft whose door he had left open.
[Ref. bre1:] NEWSPAPER "LA BOURGOGNE REPUBLICAINE":
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Paris, 29 (A.C.P. - A.F.P). - Testimonies are multiplying about flying saucers. Three different people phoned the other night, around 10 p.m., to a Parisian daily, to which they told more or less the same story:
"I saw a luminous craft above the Sacré-Coeur: it was heading north."
Doctor Martinet, dermatologist in Chambéry saw a flying saucer move above the Croix du Nivolet.
"About fifteen people," he said, "can testify to this."
The doctor and his wife were returning by car from the Col du Chat when they saw, directly above the Croix du Nivolet, at an altitude of about 2,000 meters, a dark aluminum gray mass. The doctor stopped his vehicle to follow the maneuvers of the craft. Three other cars also stopped:
"I observed my watch, said the doctor. It was 5:14'30" p.m.. The moves of the saucer lasted until 05:18'40" p.m.. At 5:16 p.m., as it was presented from the front, that is to say in the form of a disc I discerned a lighter zone in the center of the craft and dark spots all around. The craft descended directly to the Revard cable car station, then suddenly disappeared at lightning speed."
In the meantime, around fifteen people had gathered around Doctor Martinet and made the same observations as him.
In the Vienne, a 28-year-old farmer, Mr. Yves David, residing in Les Brouloux, commune of Vouneuil-sur-Vienne, met on the road from Cernon [sic] to Vouneuil, a sort of "scuba diver." The latter came to "caress" his arms, emitted intelligibile sounds, went towards a craft that Mr. David cannot
Continued on pages 3, under the headline
SAUCER
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describe and which rose silently vertically, then disappeared at full speed.
A resident of Wimereux (Pas-de-Calais), Mr. Raoul Baptiste, 72 years old, retired entrepreneur, stated he had seen, Sunday evening a flying saucer heading north at very low altitude.
In the Drôme, a resident of Valence, Mrs. Leboeuf, who was walking near Chabeuil, claims to have met on the path she followed, a small being and dressed so oddly that at first she thought it was a cellophane scarecrow. The dog accompanying the walker barked furiously, seized with terror. As for Mme Leboeuf, also terrified, she hid behind a hedge.
It was then that she saw a disc rising from the maize field that bordered the path, whistling emanating from it. Shortly after, the witness and the peasants went to the field, where, according to them, there was clearly a circular trace about 3 meters in diameter, with ears of maize lying down and broken branches on the edge.
Other residents of Chabeuil also said they saw a flying saucer that day flying over the countryside.
[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:
According to the ufologist Aimé Michel, M. Georges Chappuis, resident of 36 rue Jouffroy, in Paris, stated about an observation on September 27, 1954 at about 10 P.M., that
"the object came from the East. It stopped a short moment above Sacré-Coeur, then went on again extremely fast in the north-north-west direction."
Aimé Michel notes that because of the address of the witness, he may have thought that the object stopped above Sacré-Coeur on the hill of Montmartre whereas the object may have really stopped above the Buttes-Chaumont hill: these are on the same sight line but hidden by the hill of Sacré-Coeur.
[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:
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September 27, 1954]
[... Other cases...]
10:00 p.m.: Paris 19th(Buttes-Chaumont): lumin. disc
[... Other cases...]
[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:
| 150 | -002.39121 | 48.37000 | 27 | 09 | 1954 | 19 | 57 | 101 | PARIS-EST | F | 3012 | C** | 137 |
[Ref. gep1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "GEPO":
| 09/27/54 | (20) | Paris - Sacré Coeur F | NE/SW | 1C0XC2 |
[Ref. lgs1] LOREN GROSS:
Paris. September 27.
[... other cases over Paris...]
Viewing the sky from 36 Rue Jouffray, M. George Chappuis stated: "The object came from the east. It stopped for an instant above the Sacre Coeur, then went off at high speed in a north-northwest directbn." 143.
The source "143" is given as: "Michel, Aime. Flying saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery. p.86."
[Ref. lgs2:] LOREN GROSS:
This US ufologist said nothing of the case but reproduced the article of Le Parisien ([lpn1]).
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates in his database that in Paris on September 27, 1954 at 22:00 hours "Several witnesses undoubtedly reported the same object" and "Street David-d'Angers around 22 hours, a witness made a small tour with his wife saw a luminous machine similar to a disc lit with neon which arrived in the sky from the East at sharp pace. The witness reports that the luminous disc arrived above Butte-Chaumont where it suddenly stopped during five or six seconds, after that it set out again in the direction of the North."
"Still at about 10 p.m., another witness, residing avenue Secrétan, sees arriving in the sky a luminous disc, which stops a few seconds on Buttes-Chaumont, then goes at a sharp pace in the direction of the North-West. Finally a last witness residing street Jouffroy observed around 22 hours, that an object arrived of the East. It stopped a short moment above the Sacred Coeur, then set out again at full speed in the north-north-west direction."
The source is indicated as: "M.O.C. by Michel Aimé ** Arthaud 1958".
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on September 29, 1954, in Paris, France, there were "Sightings from various sites." And: "An unidentified object was sighted, but with appearance and behavior that most likely would have a conventional explanation. One object was observed by numerous witnesses."
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)".
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":
This database recorded this case 5 times:
| 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 | Sacre Coeur | France | 21.30 | ||||||
| 19540927 | 27.09.1954 | Sacre Coeur | France | 21.00 | NL | |||||
| 19540927 | 27.09.1954 | Sacre Coeur | France | 22.00 | NL | |||||
| 19540929 | 29.09.1954 | Paris | France | 22.25 | ||||||
| 19540929 | 29.09.1954 | Paris | France |
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We have reports from three independent apparently people in Paris:
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("Montmartre" is at the same position than the "Sacré-Coeur").
The distance between Mr. Thibaut and Mr. Ilias home is 1.17 km in a straight line. Mr. Chapty is 5.10 km from Mr. Thibaut.
Unfortunately we do not know exactly where Mr. Ilias was, because he was doing "a little tour". The positions of the other two witnesses are not certain either, maybe they were at home, maybe not.
One can only say that there is no apparent contradiction as to the position they attributed to the "disk".
I obviously thought of a meteor; but I have big doubts:
- Three witnesses, and not one of them mentions any trail.
- Three witnesses and all speak of a stop. I know there may be an illusion of a stop when one follows a meteor with one's eyes, but it depends a lot on the viewing angle. This happens when the meteor seems to "rise" when coming from behind the horizon, and then seems to "accelerate" when approaching.
Here we have Mr. Chapty well in the West of the Buttes-Chaumont, seeing the "disc" arrive from the East of Paris, seeing it stop in the direction of the Sacré-Coeur, which is almost that of Buttes-Chaumont where both other witnesses see it and one of them says it stops; then, says Mr. Chapty, it goes to the north-northwest. He thus has the trajectory of the "disc" parading before his eyes from his right to his left, with perhaps a turn, an angle of view certainly different from that of the two other witnesses. This does not seem to me at all conducive to an illusion of stopping.
This is all very puzzling. But alas, no investigation, no total duration, no elevation angle...
So, if a trivial explanation is needed at all costs, it would be a meteor; but I am hardly convinced.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Paris, Georges Chappuis, Buttes-Chaumont, Sacré-Coeur, Montmartre, object, stop, fast
[----] 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 1, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Addition [lcn1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | June 18, 2010 | Additions [jve5], [uda1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | February 9, 2017 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | July 29, 2019 | Additions [lpn1], [lgs2], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | April 30, 2020 | Additions [ppe1]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | January 7, 2021 | Addition [bre1]. |
| 1.6 | Patrick Gross | November 25, 2021 | Addition [gqy1]. |
| 1.7 | Patrick Gross | April 9, 2022 | Additions [gep1], [lgs1]. |
| 1.8 | Patrick Gross | July 13, 2022 | Addition [aml3]. |
