The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 3-Oct-54-Anduze.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper Le Provençal, of Marseilles, reported on October 5, 1954, that "one of these mysterious machines" was sighted on Sunday evening, so on the 3rd of October 1954, around 8 p.m., at dusk, over the Pointe St. Felix, in Anduze, behind which it seemed to land.
The main witness was Mr. Edmond Nicetta, brother of the well-known foot runner, fishmonger, rue Benoit-Malon. He was on the terrace of the house of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Brodarier, in the company of this relative, Mrs. Nicetta and Mr. Marcel Alméa, when their attention was attracted by a voluminous circular mass that seemed to rotate. same, with alternating blue and red gleams.
The craft was then almost motionless over the Pointe Saint-Félix; but it soon descended with a slow swinging motion, like a falling dead leaf, and soon disappeared behind the pointe, which is a high hill.
The sighting had lasted several minutes.
Mr. Nicetta had the impression that the *mysterious craft" had waited for the complete fall of the night to land in open country. He took a long time then to try to see the saucer again when it would leave, but to no avail.
He however had been able to observe it long enough to be certain that it was neither a known aircraft, nor a star or a meteor, nor an optical illusion.
[Ref. lpl1:] JOURNAL "LE PROVENCAL":
|
FOUR PEOPLE FOLLOWED WITH THEIR EYES THE MYSTERIEUX CRAFT
Nîmes (C.P.).
A new worthy of faith testimony comes to be added to the Gard file on "flying saucers". One of these mysterious machines was seen Sunday evening, around 8 p.m., at the fall of night above the Saint-Felix point, in Anduze, behind which it seemed to land.
It is our fellow-citizen Mr. Edmond Nicetta, brother of the famous foot runner, fishmonger, street Benoit-Malon, who was the principal witness of the fact. He was on the terrace of the house of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Brodarier, in company of this relationship, Mrs. Nicetta and Mr. Marcel Alméa, when their attention was drawn by a bulky circular mass which seemed to rotate, presenting gleams alternatively blue and red.
The craft was then approximately motionless above the Saint-Félix point; but it soon started to go down with a slow rocking movement, like a falling leaf, and disappeared soon behind the point, which is a high hill. The appearance had lasted several minutes.
Mr. Nicetta had the impression that the mysterious machine had waited the complete fall of the night to land in open country. He took care lengthily then to try to re-examine the saucer at its departure, but in vain.
He was able nevertheless to observe it long enough to be certain that it was not any known apparatus, neither a star neither a meteor nor an optical illusion.
[Ref. jve8:] JACQUES AND JANNINE VALLEE:
The testimony of Mr. Nicetta Edmond, and several other persons from Anduze (Gard), October 2 or 3, 1954, gives an example of type III observation A. According to these witnesses, a "voluminous movement appearing to turn on itself, and presenting alternately red and blue gleams "was seen motionless in the sky, then descended with a swaying motion.
[Ref. jve1:] JACQUES VALLEE:
Jacques Vallée reports that on October the 2nd or the 3rd of 1954, in Anduze in the department of the Gard, Mr. Nicetta Edmond and several other people saw a "large circular mass appearing to rotate and presenting gleams alternatively red and blue," motionless in the sky. It then descended with a rocking movement.
[Ref. lgs1:] LOREN GROSS:
"Voluminous circular mass." October 2nd.
At Anduze, France, on October 2nd, a M. Nicetta Edmond spotted what he said was a "voluminous circular mass" in the sky. This "mass" seemed to be moving, evidently revolving, since red and blue lights being emitted from the mass were only visible at regular intervals.
While under observation the mysterious mass lost altitude, rocking back and forth as it descended. Several others besides M. Edmond viewed the phenomenon. 13.
[Ref. jsr1:] JEAN SIDER:
French ufologist and author Jean Sider learned in an article from the newspaper "Le Provençal", of Marseilles, for October 5, 1954, that on October 3 perhaps, in the evening, in Anduze in the department of the Gard, Mr. Edmond Nicetta, fishmonger residing street Benoît Malon in Anduze, was at his mother-in-law's, Mrs. Bordarier, in company of Mr. Marcel Aimès. He then saw a bulky circular mass appearing to rotate, and presenting gleams alternatively blue and red. The machine was motionless above the Point St Felix. It soon started to go down with a slow rocking movement, like a falling leaf, and disappeared behind the point Saint Felix. Mr. Nicetta had the impression that the machine had waited until twilight to land in open country. He observed it long enough to eliminate a known aircraft.
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3911: 1954/10/02 19:00 5 3:59:00 E 44:03:00 N 3322 WEU FRN GRD 6:7
ANDUZE,FR:LRG SLNT CIRC.MASS HVRS:ALTERNATES RED+BLU:ROCKS+^^/OPEN FLD:/r3p67
Ref#194 LUMIERES dans la NUIT.(LDLN France) Issue No. 319 : PASTURE
[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
Belgian ufologist Godelieve van Overmeire notes in her catalogue that in France, in 1954, October the 2nd or 3rd, in Anduze (Gard), the testimony of Mr. Nicetta Edmond and several other people, tells about a bulky circular mass appearing to rotate and presenting alternatively red and blue gleams, motionless in the sky, then descending with a swinging movement.
The source is indicated as Jacques Vallée and Jeanine Vallée in "Les phénomènes insolites de l’espace", hardcover edition LAFFONT 1978, p. 77.
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates in his database that in the Gard in Anduze on October 3, 1954 at an unknown hour in the evening, "the witness observes a bulky circular mass appearing to rotate and presenting alternatively blue and red gleams. The object was motionless above the St Felix point. It then moved, going down slowly like a dead leaf and disappeared behind the point."
The source is indicates as: "Lumières dans la Nuit".
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 2 October 1954 at 20:00 in Anduze, France, an "unidentified object was sighted, that had an unusual appearance or performance. One object was observed by six witnesses in a pasture for ten minutes." "At 8:00 p.m. in Poncey-sur-Lignon and the region of Cote-d'Or, France several persons observed a huge cigar-shaped luminous object fly silently to the east."
The sources are given as Michel, Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery, S. G. Phillips, New York, 1958; Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Vallee, Jacques, Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma, Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1966; Vallee, Jacques, Preliminary Catalog (N = 500), (in JVallee01); Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002.
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":
This database recorded the case 3 times instead of one:
| Case Nr. | New case Nr. | Investigator | Date of observation | Zip | Place of observation | Country of observation | Hour of observation | Classification | Comments | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19541002 | 02.10.1954 | Anduze | France | |||||||
| 19541002 | 02.10.1954 | Anduze | France | NL | ||||||
| 19541003 | 03.10.1954 | Anduze | France | 20.00 |
|
The Pointe (peak) of Saint-Félix de Pallières is located north of downtown Anduze; an exact direction cannot be determined because of the extent of Anduze and the lack of a precise street address of the observation place. The peak of this ridge is visually quite high:
|
We have Mars and the Moon in the South; they are not in the correct direction and do not match the description either; which is more like a star or the planet Venus.
Towards the North, we have the brilliant star Capella, at the azimuth 28° 20' and the elevation 7° 40', but like all the other stars that night, it does not "descend", it "goes up".
We are told that Mr. Nicetta thought about a star, among other things, but discarded it.
In the end, the observation that made me think of an astronomical misinterpretation leaves me with an "unidentified" of moderate strangeness.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Anduze, Gard, Edmond Nicetta, Brodardier, Marcel Alméa, fishmonger, hill, Saint-Felix, multiple, mass, large, rotation, gleams, red, blue, swinging, descent, Bordarier, Marcel Aimès, duration, falling leaf, circular, red, blue, gleam
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | October 1, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 27, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [goe1], [uda1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | December 12, 2016 | Additions [lgs1], [ubk1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | October 2, 2019 | Additions [jve8], [lhh1], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
