The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 3-nov-54-Saint-Silvain-Bellegarde.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
At the beginning of November 1954, in Saint-Silvain-Bellegarde, in a place called "at Aufaure's" in the Creuse department, Mr. Camille Carton had seen from the window of his bedroom, in the night, a large yellowish glow in a nearby meadow.
He got up and thought he saw an elongated shape "like a calf lying in a meadow corner". He turned on the outside lighting, came out, went to the fence of the meadow, but did not see anything anymore, so he went back to bed.
That same night, his son, who lived about 50 meters away, had heard crackling sounds outside, but did not get out of bed.
The case was published in the Press at the time, and Mr. Carton reported it to the Gendarmerie.
In the 1970s, ufologist Jean Giraud met this witness and was frustrated that the latter was unable to give a better description than that of an "elongated form the size of a calf" although he had observed it well. He added that the witness had at first thought this indescribable form was one of his sick and lying calves, thus "elongated" on the ground.
In 2010, the newspaper La Montagne gave the date as November 3, 1954, the hour as half past midnight, the first name of the witness as Emile instead of Camille, and said that it was the barking of his dog, outside, which woke him up, made him leave his bed and open the window. The mass lying in the neighboring meadow would have been about two meters in size, it floated and illuminated the meadow with a yellow light. When he came out in the cold night to see better, the craft was gone.
[Ref. gab1:] "G.A.B.R.I.E.L." UFOLOGY GROUP:
Everything, indeed, suggests that the "Flying Saucers" are only the pale reflection of a reality "other and inaccessible". So much so that some witnesses are even unable to find words to describe what they saw. During an investigation with Mr. Camille Carton, who had witnessed a landing in November 1954 in Saint-Sylvain de Bellegarde [sic] (Creuse), the witness said he saw on the ground an "elongated" shape of the size of a calf. We asked him for details: Was this form regular, flat, rounded, pointed at the extremities? ... He was unable to answer us. Although having perfectly seen this form, it was only able to say that it was lying (and it was not by default of memory but indeed by lack of comprehension of this form whose only characteristic "lengthened" had been retained). Characteristic that itself may be false and conditioned by the fact that the witness had first begun to take this indescribable form for one of his calves sick and lying (thus "elongated") on the ground.
[Ref. ioi1:] MAGAZINE "INFO-OVNI":
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028 ../11/1954 - 0:3O° - St-SYLVAIN-BELLEGARDE
(At AUFAURE'a) Witness Mr. CARTON C.
From his bedroom window the witness saw a large yellowish glow in a nearby meadow. He stood up and thought he saw an elongated shape "like a calf lying in a meadow corner". After lighting outside and going out to the fence of the meadow, he saw nothing.
That same night, his son who lived 50 meters away approximately heard crackling but did not get up.
At the time the Wintess reported it to the Gendarmerie.
(Enq. GENDARMERIE Bellegarde JUNE 7 1976)
(LA MONTAGNE - LE COURRIER Thur 4 NOV. 1954
- ECHO DU CENTRE -
(COURRIER FRANÇAIS) - 13 NOV. 1954
(Inv. GIRAUD)
[Ref. fru1:] MICHEL FIGUET AND JEAN-LOUIS RUCHON:
The two authors indicate that in November 1954 at midnight thirty minutes, in Saint-Silvain-Bellegarde in the department of Creuse, Mr. C. Carton, looking outside of his bedroom window observed a large yellowish gleam in a meadow near to his home.
He got out of bed and believed to see a lengthened shape like a "lying calf." He came then out of his home and moved towards the barrier of the meadow, but there wasn't anything to see anymore so he went back to bed.
During the same night, his son who lives within 50 meters of his place, heard static noises, but did not get out of bed.
The witness reported to the Gendarmerie.
The authors indicate as sources a Gendarmerie report of 1976, articles in the newspapers "La Montagne", "Le Courrier", "L'Echo du Centre" for November 4, 1954, from "Le Courrier Français" for November 13, 1954, an investigation report by ufologist Jean Giraud of the group LDLN 03100 of Montluçon.
[Ref. mft1:] MICHEL FIGUET:
This ufologist noted:
| CASE Nr | CLASSIFICATION | DATE | HOUR | PLACE | ZIP CODE | CREDIBILITY SOURCE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 270 | CE1 | .. 11 1954 | 00.30 | Saint-Silvain-Bellegarde | 23190 C4 | NI-RS, OVNI : p. 204 |
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
4324: 1954/11/00 00:30 2 2:18:00 E 45:58:00 N 3313 WEU FRN CRS 6:6
St-SILVAIN-BELGARDE[sic],23,FR:YLW GLOW:ELONGATED SCR 'LIKE A CALFSKIN COUCH'
RefN° 30 FIGEUT[sic]&RUCHON: OVNI: Le 1er Dossier Page No. 204 : RESIDENT'L
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Creuse in St Silvain Bellegarde in November 1954 at 00:30 "The witness from the window of his bedroom observes a great yellowish gleam in a meadow close to his home. He stands up and believes to see a lengthened shape like a 'lying calf'. He gets out of his home then and moves towards the barrier of the meadow, but does not see anything anymore and returns to bed. During the same night hiss son who lives within 50 meters of his home hears crackling sounds, but does not stand up."
The source is noted "Ovni, Premier dossier complet... by Figuet M./ Ruchon J.L. ** Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979".
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that in November 1954 at 00:30 in St-Silvain-Belgarde [sic], France, "Yellow glow, elongated disc, color like 'calfskin couch.'" And: "An unidentified object was sighted, but with appearance and behavior that most likely would have a conventional explanation. One yellow elliptical was observed in a residential area for two minutes."
The source is noted Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002.
[Ref. tso1:] "LA MONTAGNE" NEWSPAPER'S WEBSITE:
[... Other case ... ]
November 3, 1954, Saint-Silvain-Bellegarde (the Creuse)... It is midnight and a half when the sleep of Emile, farmer, is suddenly disturbed. In fact the ceaseless barking of his dog outside wake him up. The man leaves his bed and opens the window. In the nearby meadow, a lengthened mass, of approximately two meters, floats and lights the meadow of a yellow light. The farmer goes outside in the cold night for better seeing... But the machine disappeared.
The following day, he tells it to his son who lives in a farm fifty meters further. Surprise: his night was also disturbed... by strange crackling noises, outside.
[... Other case ... ]
[Ref. prn2:] PETER ROGERSON - "INTCAT":
November 1954. 0030hrs.
SAINTE SYLVAINE-BELLEGARDE [sic] (CREUSE : FRANCE)
From his bedroom window Emile (or C) Carton saw a great yellow light in the neighbouring pasture, then what looked like a calf lying on the ground. He went to the pasture fence but saw nothing. His son who lived 50m away heard crackling but did not get up to investigate.
Alain Gamard citing OVNI-INFO 1 p9 citing La Montagne + Le Courrier + Echo du Centre all 4 November 1954. + Courrier Francais 13 November 1954. + Police enquiries in 1976
Gross 1954. citing La Montagne op cit
Note: "Gross 1954" is supposed to indicate my page on this case. No link was proveded and its content is not really reflected.
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As it stands, this case remains very frustrating to me. I get the impression that the ufologists have only very poorly documented this, since we learn that the thing "floated" only by the Press in 2010. Yet this is crucial information, without which one would think that the elongated shape resembling a calf would be ... a calf, quite simply. Nothing clear was said either about the light; the ufological sources seem to suggest that the witness saw the yellow light from his bed, and then saw the form in the field, while the 2010 newspaper seems to indicate that he had not seen any light from his bed; that it was the barking of his dog that made him go out, and that the light was actually emitted by the elongated shape.
These elements are certainly clearer in the Press articles of the time, unfortunately I do not have any of them so far.
So I leave this case as "unidentified" for the moment, and with this impression of mishandled data.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Saint-Silvain-Bellegarde, Creuse, Emile Carton, night, gleam, yellow, shape, noise, official, investigation, window, meadow
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | May 5, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 11, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | March 8, 2010 | Addition [lcn1], [uda1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | October 22, 2011 | Addition [tso1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | December 7, 2018 | Additions [gab1], [ioi1], [mft1], [lhh1], [prn2]. Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
