The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 3-Oct-54-Haubourdin.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper Nord-Eclair, of Roubaix, for October 6, 1954, reported several sightings in the region on October 3, 1954, one of them around 8 p.m.: "a group of inhabitants of 'P'tit Belgique' could, in this populous district, witness the moves of a mysterious luminous craft which moved in the sky."
In 1978 already, then again around 2017, "skeptical" ufologist Dominique Caudron, based in the Nord, cataloged sightings in the Nord region for October 3, 1954, neglected by ufologists, including many that were previously unpublished, and mostly explainable by a red moon whose appearance was altered by clouds.
One of these observations was reported in the regional newspaper Nord Eclair, for October 6, 1954:
At an unspecified hour, at a place called "P'tit Belgique", in Haubourdin in the Nord departmet, a group of residents observed the moves of a mysterious luminous object in the sky.
[Ref. ner1:] NEWSPAPER "NORD-ECLAIR":
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This time, we get it! The canton of Haubourdin can record in its annals the appearance of its first saucer... and a Sunday saucer moreover.
It is not a hallucination, because it has been seen, more or less distant, by dozens of pairs of eyes.
Let's get to the facts.
Sunday evening, several municipalities in the region, which do not have much opportunity to be talked about, were brought to the attention of the press by the appearance of saucers.
In Lille, a large group of walkers could attend, at the Canteleu bridge, the exhibitions of a flying machine successively taking the shape of a sphere, magnifying visibly, to split into two cigars, and return to its original shape.
The most astonished of the inhabitants of the canton of Haubourdin was, without question, Mr. Ferdinand Millecamps, 21, mason, living at 22, rue Victor Loridon. Passing Sunday, around 8 p.m., on the Sequedin bridge, he saw, some five hundred meters from him, a large luminous object placed on the rails, between Hallennes and Sequedin. The object rose vertically, and Mr. Millecamps came to tell Haubourdin people of the event. Residents of Sequedin confirmed Mr. Millecamps' statements.
At around the same time, a group of inhabitants of "P'tit Belgique" could, in this populous district, witness the evolutions of a mysterious luminous craft moving in the sky.
The facts are there. More than one resident promised to explore the sky in the evening to witness an identical fact. The future chronicle of "Flying saucers" may bring us other revelations at short notice.
The good town of Marcq was beginning to look poor among the communes which had the honor of receiving the visit of the Martians. Since the saucers crisscross the skies of France, they seemed completely unaware of the existence of Marc-en-Baroeul!
Let the Marcq residents console themselves, the honor is safe, because the city has finally seen its flying saucer. It appeared in the sky on Sunday, around 8 p.m., seeming to come from the direction of the Citadel of Lille.
Mr. Lucien Lemaire, head of department at Marcq's town hall, was at the time on rue des Lilas, in the company of other people. He saw very clearly the round-shaped object, which emitted orange gleams. At some time a second disc detached from the first, lit up and then resumed its place.
[Ref. dcn1:] DOMINIQUE CAUDRON:
TIMELINE OF A FANTASTIC SUNDAY
The weekend of October 2-3 appears on all charts as the maximum-maximum of the 1954 wave. Various newspapers and magazines that I have been able to check for this period give us an almost complete overview, in any case very broadly representative of the regional observations that were reported in the press for Sunday October 3rd. I have included the observations of the Somme which seemed to me inseparable from those of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and which appear moreover in the chapter entitled "Zigzag on the mining country" of the book by A. Michel: "Mysterieux Objets Célestes." I count, as one case, each observation made by an independent group of witnesses. The astonishing number of observations reported below, once again shows the interest of thoroughly digging into the newspapers archives.
OCTOBER 3, 1954:
[...other cases...]
43) idem [=hour not specified]- "P'tit Êelgique"- HAUBOURDIN -59-: A group of resident observed the moves of a mysterious luminous object in the sky. (N.E., 10/6, p.10)
[...other cases...]
[...]
We know that that evening, at 9:30 p.m., the crescent Moon was setting in the southwest and that according to case 9 it was distorted by low clouds...
Disaster! This bundle of suspicions throws a total discredit on this magnificent series of observations, one of the most beautiful that we have ever found yet. We will have to verify certain data, the direction of certain sightings, the weather conditions, but already the doubt is too great for us to be able to classify these sightings as UFOs.
[...]
In his article, Dominique Caudron listed 46 cases for October 3, 1954 in the north of France; he explained that this corresponds to hundreds of witnesses who do not know each other within an hour and a half time interval, which gives an impression of a "real phenomenon".
He noted that the times do not always match, that there are gaps of up to 40 minutes for the same case depending to its different versions.
He noted that "all these cases are a bit similar", listing the part of the cases where the phenomenon splits in two, or where is said that a disc detached to go to the ground, and recalls that one of the witnesses, Mr. Bonte, explained that the moon was barred by a stratus.
He noted that in 5 of the cases the object is described as a crescent, in others it is a disc, a dome, a collar, in others it is compared to the moon. In 7 cases, the object is said to follow a moving car, but stops when the car stops.
He indicated that in 13 of the cases there was an indication of direction, always the southwest, where the moon was.
He indicated that in 7 cases the object was lowering on the horizon, and that the moon was indeed setting.
He noted that some cases may be explained by the hot air balloons of the retiree from Beuvry-les-Béthune.
[Ref. dcn3:] DOMINIQUE CAUDRON:
Dominique Caudron drew up an inventory of observations in the Nord on October 3, 1954, containing 51 reports, including this one:
[...]
Chronology of the observations of October 3.
We give here only a summary of what was published in the press of the time, for the nord region, regardless of what the ufologists could later say. We have numbered all these observations, the first of which have nothing to do with the setting of the moon, in order to be able to study them globally in a table. Some are already the subject of a special file.
[... other cases...]
43) Hour not specified, "P'tit Belgique", HAUBOURDIN (59)
- A group of residents attended the moves of a mysterious luminous object in the sky.
(Nord Eclair 6/10 page 10)
[... other cases...]
All this is only a compilation of the information given by all newspapers of the time, including local editions, and of which ufologists only used a part.
We will see that the analysis of this information makes it possible to eliminate the hypothesis of a flying saucer, in favor of those of multiple observations of the moon, whose image was reddened and deformed by clouds, which also gave it a illusory apparent movement.
[Ref. dcn4:] DOMINIQUE CAUDRON:
[... other cases...]
43) Hour not specified, "P'tit Belgique", HAUBOURDIN (59)
Insufficient information.
[... other cases...]
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Totally insufficient information.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Haubourdin, Nord, object, luminous, multiple
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 6, 2019 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | July 6, 2022 | Addition [dcn1]. In the Summary, "Around 2017" changed to "in 1978 already, then again around 2017". |
