The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 29-Sep-54-Montagney.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper L'Est Républicain for October 2, 1954 reported that their correspondent in Rougemont, towards Rigney, informed them that a resident of Montagney who was returning from Rougemont on October 27, 1954, in the evening, was very surprised to discover in the sky a huge glow coming from a sphere about the size of the full moon.
He had speeded up, returned to the village and alerted his neighbors. The luminous object, although smaller than before, was still clearly visible, and six people were able to watch it moving east to west.
The newspaper makes the connection with the other sighting they reported, the one in Rigney, because the direction matched.
The observation will be mentioned by the pioneering ufologist Aimé Michel in his 1958 book, then by others.
In 1991, US ufologist Loren Gross wrote that according to the newspapaper France-Soir for October 2, 1954, it occurred on September 29, 1954, at 8 p.m., and it was a "huge, bright object that rivaled the full moon in size" lighting up the countryside around the village of Montagney; it "soared east to west much slower than a meteor because a resident of the village that witnessed the appearance was able to alert others to the phenomenon, and more importantly, the brillant object flew out of sight under the clouds."
[Ref. ler1:] NEWSPAPER "L'EST REPUBLICAIN":
|
Besancon (from our newsroom). -- "Until now, I was skeptical but now I am not skeptical anymore" told us yesterday evening, while speaking about the flying saucers, a person completely worthy of faith since he is a teacher, Mr. Gazon, of the Saint-Etienne school, street Ponchaux, in Besançon.
Wednesday, at approximately 8 p.m., Mr. Gazon was going back home in the Haute-Saône, in Filain. He used the road while passing by Marchaux and Rigney. He came to exceed the train station of this city and he climbed, at the wheel of his 4CV [popular compact car], the small hill near the big farm of la Roche, when he saw emerging on his left an object which had the oblong form that one allots to the flying saucers or the cigars, according to the image one employs to talk about them when one sees them.
"It was certainly not an aerolite, told us Mr. Gazon, for those fall generally in rain. This object moved on the contrary horizontally at a very high speed from the left to the right.
It was impossible for me to evaluate neither its approximate size, nor the distance to which it was from me. In the eye, it made me the effect of an object which would have been about fifty centimetres long; i.e. rather large. It was accompanied by a phosphorescent gleam of bluish colour."
Mr. Gazon was so much impressed that he stopped his car and went down for better noting the phenomenon. But when he was on the ground, he did not see anything any more and especially he did not hear any noise.
He announced to us, in addition, that a few kilometers before he had noticed in the sky several rather vague luminous phenomena comparable to flashes.
He finished his report by giving us this appreciation which implies that he is not a person likely to invent stories nor to believe in confusing things: "If you want my opinion on all these stories of saucers and cigars, I would say to you that I do not believe that all this comes from another planet. From now on, I believe in the existence of the flying saucers, but I do not believe in the Martians."
In addition, our correspondent of Rougemont, agglomeration located in the direction of Rigney, passed the following information to us: A resident of Montagney, coming back from Rougemont, Wednesday evening, was very surprised to discover in the sky an immense gleam coming from a sphere of approximately the size of the moon when it is full.
Going faster, he returned to the village and alerted his neighbors. This luminous object, though smaller than previously, was still quite visible. Six people managed to look at it. The saucer, if it were really one, moved from East to West.
Let us notice that this direction coincides with that indicated by Mr. Gazon.
[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:
Aimé Michel noted a number of sightings on September 29, 1954, and says there was one in Montagney.
He indicates that at 8 p.m., a resident of this small village 32 km in straight line from Besançon in the Doubs department, returning from Rougemont a few kilometers to the east, was surprised to see the night lighting up suddenly.
He looked up and saw in the sky going rather slowly from east to west a huge bright object the size of the full moon. He alerted other villagers who came out and saw the celestial object go away under the clouds to the west to disappear over the horizon.
Michel indicates his source is the Charles Garreau file.
[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
September 29 [, 1954]
[... Other cases...]
08:00 p.m.: Montagney(2km WSW Rougemont)/Rigney (Doubs):elong.obj.
[... Other cases...]
[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:
| 161 | -006.30621 | 47.47950 | 29 | 09 | 1954 | 20 | 00 | 101 | MONTAGNEY | F | 1517 | C** | 154 |
[Ref. gep1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "GEPO":
| 09/29/54 | (20) | Montagnay [sic] (doubs) F | EO | 3039C2 (1) |
[Ref. lgs1:] LOREN GROSS:
|
Montagney, France. 8:00 p.m. September 29th.
A huge, bright object that rivaled the full moon in size lit up the countryside around the French village of Montagney at 8:00 p.m. The object soared east to west much slower than a meteor because a resident of the village that witnessed the appearance was able to alert others to the phenomenon, and more importantly, the brillant object flew out of sight under the clouds.
A motorist, Mr. Gazon, on Route N 486 to the southwest of Montagney, was driving passed the community of Rigney when he caught sight of the UFO. He said it was an oblong object on a horizontal course, giving off a green white light.
Elsewhere in the area, a motorcyclist speeding along Route N-470 near Painblanc observed the passage of a green-white body, apparently the same object.
Some 70 miles beyond Painblanc at Langeron another sighting was made. Riding a bicycle on Route N-151 a M. Raymond Deloire spotted an object in the sky approaching him from the west. It was a luminous, hemispherical shape, orange in color instead of green-white. It travelled silently.
Other French towns reporting UFOs on the 29th were: Landeda-L'Aber Wrac'h in the French department of Finistere in Brittany, and Cabestany in the French department of Pyrenees Orientas [sic] which is near Spain. 154.
[...]
154. Paris, France. France-Soir. 2 October 54
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3864: 1954/09/29 20:00 1 6:18:40 E 47:28:40 N 3333 WEU FRN DBS 5:5
MONTAGNEY,25,FR:MULTIPLE OBS:HUGE BRITE UFO LITES COUNTRYSIDE:E>>W:
Ref# 49 MICHEL,Aime: FS & STRAIGHT LINE TH: Page No. 96 : PASTURE
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Haute Saone in Montagney on September 29, 1954 at 20:00 hours "A resident returned from Rougemont when suddenly the night is illuminated. Looking up, he sees in the sky going from east to west at a slow pace, an enormous luminous object of the size of the full moon. He alerted the other villagers and all managed to see the object moving away under the clouds and disappearing at the horizon."
The source is indicated as "M.O.C. par Michel Aimé ** Arthaud 1958".
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":
This database recorded this case three times:
| Case Nr. | New case Nr. | Investigator | Date of observation | Zip | Place of observation | Country of observation | Hour of observation | Classification | Comments | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540929 | 29.09.1954 | Montagney | France | 20.00 | ||||||
| 19540929 | 29.09.1954 | Montagney | France | 20.00 | NL | |||||
| 19540929 | 29.09.1954 | Montagney | France | 20.00 | NL |
|
Maybe the September 29, 1954, meteor, about 08:30 p.m.
Update of April 7, 2022:
It appears, if the sources are reliable, that the observation is rather long - but the duration is not given, a meteor can be visible one or two minutes; and that the cited witness speaks of a size similar to that of the Moon.
But from Montagney on September 29, 1954 at 8:00 p.m., the moon was not visible because it set at 6:51 p.m. at 254° (West-South-West).
It was a new Moon with only 7% of its surface illuminated; therefore a thin crescent, more recognizable than a full moon - although misintrepretations of the crescent moon do occur.
Note that Mars at 8:00 p.m. was visible at 189°, elevation 16°40', and may have explained part of the sighting.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Montagney, Haute-Saône, Rougemont, night, luminous, enormous, multiple
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 27, 2010 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | May 25, 2010 | Addition [ler1]. Change of explanation from "Not looked for yet. Possible meteor" to "Probably the meteor of that day". |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | June 19, 2010 | Addition [jve5]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | September 30, 2014 | Addition [aml1]. Explanation changed from "Probably the meteor of that day" to "Maybe the September 29, 1954, meteor, about 08:30 p.m." |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | February 10, 2017 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | March 6, 2020 | Addition [lhh1]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | November 20, 2021 | Additions [gqy1], Summary. |
| 1.6 | Patrick Gross | April 7, 2022 | Additions [gep1], [lgs1]. In the Summary, addition of the information from [lgs1]. In the Explanations, addition of the "Update of April 7, 2022" part. |
