The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 29-Oct-54-Epinal.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In 1984, François Diolez of the ufology group Cercles Vosgien Lumières Dans La Nuit compiled a catalog of the 1954 sightings in the Vosges.
There was a case noted in Epinal - Saint-Laurent on Friday October 29, 1954 at 5 p.m., reported in the newspaper La Liberté de l'Est on October 30, 1954:
"Yesterday at 5 p.m., two residents of Epinal saw a "little sun" follow a trajectory above the bell tower of Saint Laurent. Mr. Albert Pochon, shopkeeper who runs the store "Le Comptoir du Caoutchouc" and Ernest Frenot, employed in this trade, suddenly saw in the direction of Golbey but in the axis of the bell tower of Saint Laurent, a craft which they describe as a small very luminous sun of circular shape moving at very high speed which described an ellipsoidal trajectory around the steeple by presenting its widest face, like an airplane making a turn on the wing. The craft after having disappeared on the horizon in the direction of Golbey leaving behind it a luminous trail of white color which seemed to be born like the trace left by jet planes at the exact location of the upper and lower tangents of the disc. The traces only persisted in the sky for 4 minutes. The apparition had lasted 5 minutes. The small sun in question, which seemed to be at high altitude, appeared was in the form of a disc having 30 centimeters in diameter at this height.
[Ref. lbs1:] UFOLOGY BULLETIN "LA LIGNE BLEUE SURVOLEE?":
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26°) CASE Nr F/98/88541029 (01}
EPINAL / ST LAURENT - FRIDAY OCTOBER 29, 1954
Witnesses: Mr. Albert POCHON (trader}
Mr. Ernest FRENOT (commercial employee)
Sources: La Liberté de l'Est article of October 30, 1954
"Yesterday at 5 p.m., two residents of Epinal saw a "little sun" follow a trajectory above the bell tower of SAINT LAURENT. Mr. Albert POCHON, shopkeeper who runs the store "Le Comptoir du Caoutchouc" and Ernest FRENOT employed in this trade, suddenly saw in the direction of GOLBEY but in the axis of the bell tower of SAINT LAURENT, a craft which they describe as a small very luminous sun of circular shape moving at very high speed which described an ellipsoidal trajectory around the steeple by presenting its widest face, like an airplane making a turn on the wing. The craft after having disappeared on the horizon in the direction of GOLBEY leaving behind it a luminous trail of white color which seemed to be born like the trace left by jet planes at the exact location of the upper and lower tangents of the disc. The traces only persisted in the sky for 4 minutes. The apparition had lasted 5 minutes. The small sun in question, which seemed to be at high altitude, appeared was in the form of a disc having 30 centimeters in diameter at this height.
(Full article).
[Ref. lbs2:] UFOLOGY BULLETIN "LA LIGNE BLEUE SURVOLEE?":
| Num. | DATE | PLACE | TIME | SHORT DESCRIPTION | 1234 | SOURCES | EXPLANATIONS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/29/1954 | EPINAL-ST-LAURENT | 05:00 p.m. | "Little sun" observed moving in the sky. Very luminous, it leaves behind a luminous white trail that lasts for about 4 minutes. | ...X | Liberté de l'Est for 10/30/1954 |
[Ref. cnu1:] CNEGU:
The CNEGU indicates that their case F/98/88541 029 (01) occurred in Epinal / Saint Laurent on Friday October 29, 1954 at 5 p.m. local time, with witnesses Albert Pochon, trader, and Ernest Frenot, trade employee, and was reported in an article of La Liberté de l'Est for October 30, 1954:
"Yesterday at 5 p.m. two residents of Epinal saw a 'small sun' carrying out a trajectory above the bell-tower of Saint-Laurent. Mr. Albert POCHON, tradesman who holds the store 'le comptoir du Caoutchouc' and Ernest FRENOT employed with this trade, suddenly saw in direction of GOLBEY but in the axis of the bell-tower of SAINT-LAURENT, a machine which they describe as a small very luminous sun of circular form moving at very high speed which followed an ellipsoidal trajectory around the bell-tower by presenting its broadest face, like a plane carrying out a turn on the wing. The machine after having disappeared at the horizon in direction of GOLBEY leaving behind itself a luminous trail from white color which seemed to be such as the trace left by the jets at the exact place of the higher and lower tangents of the disc. The traces persisted in the sky only 4 minutes. The appearance had lasted 5 minutes. The small sun in question, which seemed at high altitude appeared in the shape of a disc having at this height 30 centimetres in diameter."
CNEGU specifies that it is the entire article.
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Possible jet plane.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Epinal, Vosges, disc, trail, duration, Albert Pochon, Ernest Frenot, multiple, luminous, fast, turn
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 9, 2010 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | October 30, 2011 | A search on the web and in my documentation did not reveal other sources. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | June 11, 2022 | Additions [lbs1], [lbs2], Summary. |
