The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 30-Aug-54-Le-Lion-d'Angers.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
Newspapers from the Maine-et-Loire reported among other observations of August 30, 1954, that in Le Lion-d'Angers, around 8:30 p.m., Mrs. Poirier, who lives near the church, was in her courtyard with a neighbor, Mr. Sanson, when they saw in the sky a bright light in the shape of a disc followed by a rather short tail.
The glow seemed to be coming from a great height and rapidly approaching the earth, then suddenly the tail disappeared, there was a change in light, and the disc "dipped vertically then disappeared."
Witnesses had estimated that the speed of the thing was much faster than that of a jet plane, but slower than that of a shooting star.
They had heard no noise, and noted that the "direction of the phenomenon (or the craft) was traveling from south to north."
Aimé Michel indicated in his 1958 book on the French saucer wave of 1954, that on September 1, 1954, at the time when the witnesses in Angers at 8:20 pm saw an object fly away to the North, people of Lion d'Angers, on the National Road 162, 22 km north of Angers, see it too.
They also said that it quickly crossed the sky going north where it disappeared in about a minute.
He added that their description was concordant with that of the witnesses in Angers: a brown red circular object with green reflections, silent.
[Ref. lco1:] NEWSPAPER "LE COURRIER DE L'OUEST":
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As we reported yesterday, the residents of Angers finally had their flying saucer. But the Lionese have had theirs, too, undoubdedly the same one. On Monday, at about 08:20 p.m., Mrs Poirier, who lives near the church, was in her courtyard with a neighbour, Mr. Sanson, when they saw in the sky a brilliant light in the shape of a disc followed by a rather short tail.
This light seemed to come from a great height and to be approaching the earth rapidly. Suddenly the tail disappeared, the brightness changed, and the disc dropped vertically and disappeared.
The speed seemed to the witnesses to be much greater than that of a jet airplane, but slower than a shooting star.
No sound was heard. The phenomenon (or craft) was travelling from south to north.
[Ref. lsn11:] NEWSPAPER "LE SEGREEN":
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Monday evening, around 8:30 p.m., Mrs. Poirier, who lives near the Church, and her neighbor, Mr. Samson, saw a bright disc-shaped glow in the sky, followed by a fairly short luminous tail.
Its speed was great and the direction of the phenomenon was south north.
[Ref. cia1:] CIA:
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INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROACASTS
| COUNTRY: | Non-Orbit | DATE OF INFORMATION: | 1954 | |
| SUBJET: | Military - Unidentified flying objects | |||
| HOW PUBLISHED: | Dail[y] newspaper | DATE DIST.: | 29 oct 1954 | |
| WHERE PUBLISHED: | As indicated | NO. OF PAGES: | 5 | |
| DATE PUBLISHED: | 31 Jul - 20 Sep 1954 | |||
| LANGUAGES: | Various | SUPPLEMENT TO REPORT NO.: | ||
| [Blackened out] | [Blackened out] | THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION | ||
| SOURCE: | As indicated |
SIGHTINGS OF UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS,
31 JULY - 20 SEPTEMBER 1954
WESTERN EUROPE
[... (Reports from other countries) ...]
France
"FLYING DISK" SIGHTED IN WESTERN FRANCE -- Algiers, Alger Republicain, 4 Sep 54
A disk-shaped object was (no date given) observed by various persons simultaneously at about 2020 hours, flying over Angers and Lion-d'Angers, both in La Maine-et-Loire Department, and over Chateau-Gontiers, Mayenne Department. The object was generally described as being brown and emitting a short trail of and odd hue of green. According to Claire Cordier, a nurse in Angers, the object gave off a soft drone, and its glow was reminiscent of the light in neon tubes. The phenomenon was visible for several minutes.
[... (Next reports)]
[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
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September 1° [1954]
08:20 p.m.: Angers/Le Lion-d'Angers (Maine-et-Loire)
[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:
Aimé Michel indicates that on September 1, 1954, at the time when the witnesses in Angers at 8:20 pm saw an object fly away to the North, people of Lion d'Angers, on the National Road 162, 22 km north of Angers, see it too.
They also said that it quickly crossed the sky going north where it disappeared in about a minute.
He adds that their description was concordant with that of the witnesses in Angers: a brown red circular object with green reflections, silent.
[Ref. lgs1:] LOREN GROSS:
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Reports on the rise in Europe.
Sept. 1 [1954]
[...]
UFO sails over the French countryside.
Earlier in the evening at 8:20 p.m. a bright light lit up the house of a Mlle. Claire Cordier, a French nurse who lived on Rue Bressigny in the town of Angers. Drawn to the window by the glare, Mlle. Corddier looked at the black sky and saw, moving north, a glowing brownish-red disc that emitted a greenish aureole.
Mlle. Cordier's neighbor, M. Andre Greffier, was also attracted to the luminous phenomenon and he went out into his garden to watch the UFO as it flew swiftly north, disappearing quickly over the northern horizon.
About a dozen miles north of Angers, citizens of Lion-d'Angers observed the same object pass over, taking about a minute to cross the heavens. Some 14 miles beyond Lion-d'Angers, the circular red-brown thing flashing green light was last seen still flying to the north. 9.
[...]
9. Michel, Aime. Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery. New York, N.Y.: Criterion books, 1958. p.33.
[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
The Belgian ufologist indicates in her catalogue that in 1953, on September 1, in France in Lion d'Angers and Château Gontier, people of Lion d'Angers, 22 kilometers more in the north on main road 162, started to see in their turn the object seen by Claire Cordier in Angers. "Their discription is identical (...) the last witnesses are reported in Château Gontier, in the Mayenne, at 45 km in the north of Angers."
The ufologist indicates that her source is: "Aimé MICHEL: 'Apropos des Soucoupes Volantes', PLANETE pub., 1966, p./45.
[Ref. jbu1:] JEROME BEAU:
01
[...]
20:20 An object in the shape of a disc is observed simultaneously by various people, flying above Angers and Lion d'Angers (the Maine-and-Loire) and above Chateau Gontier (Mayenne). The object is generally described as dark or emitting a trail of smoke of a strange blue or green. According to Claire Cordier, a nurse of Angers, the object released a gentle buzzing sound, and its gleam rreminded that of the neon tubes. The phenomenon remained visible during several minutes.
[...]
Jérôme Beau indique que la source est "Un 'disque volant' observé dans l'Ouest de la France", Alger Républicain, 4 septembre 1954.
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Mayenne in Château Gontier on September 1, 1954 at 08:20 p.m., several people observe a brown red disc with green reflections moving towards the north.
He indicates that his source is "M.O.C. by Michel Aimé ** Arthaud 1958".
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 1 September 1954 at 20:20 in "Lion.Angers, France", "Brownish-red colored disc, encircled by green flashes, rapid movement north. A flying disc was observed. Multiple independent witnesses. One brown disc was observed by two witnesses in a city for over one minute (Cordier). A purring sound was heard."
The sources are noted as: "Michel, Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery, S. G. Phillips, New York, 1958; Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002".
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":
| Case Nr. | New case Nr. | Investigator | Date of observation | Zip | Place of observation | Country of observation | Hour of observation | Classification | Comments | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540901 | 01.09.1954 | Lion Angers | France | 20.20 | NL | |||||
| 19540901 | 01.09.1954 | Lion Angers | France | 20.20 | NL |
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The meteor on August 30, 1954 at about 08:20 p.m.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Le Lion-d'Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Poirier, Sanson, light, brilliant, disc, trail, gleam, high, fast, silent, direction
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | December 28, 2004 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 19, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [goe1], [jbu1], [lcn1], [uda1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | April 20, 2018 | Addition [lgs1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | August 16, 2019 | Addition du Résumé. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | February 20, 2021 | Addition [gqy1]. |
