The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 3-Oct-54-Raphèle-lès-Arles.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper Le Provençal reported on page 1 on October 6, 1954, via their press correspondent in Nîmes, an observation near Raphèle in the Bouches-du-Rhône, at about 9 p.m. "Sunday", thus on October 3, 1954, on the National Road 113, from many cars coming from Marseille returning via Arles towards Nîmes.
In one of the cars, were Mr. Loubet, a tradesman in Nimes, accompanied by several relatives and friends, among whom, Miss H. F., 17, a student. She was the first to see two glowing dots whirling forward, while the car was in the vicinity of Raphele.
For about two minutes the two "craft" slowly lowered to the ground. Arrived a few meters from the plain, they went back to the zenith, taking a dazzling hue, and disappeared. A few minutes later, the same thing happened again.
The newspaper quoted "one of the passengers in the car" as saying:
"These machines changed shape as they moved, sometimes discs, sometimes cigars, but it is possible that it was their position that caused an optical illusion. On arriving at the top of their race, they emitted before disappearing, a big luminous glow."
The newspaper added that several motorists had stopped their vehicles at the same place as Mr. Loubet, and had witnessed the same phenomenon.
In 1979, in their book "La Grande Peur Martienne" ("The Great Martian Scare"), the "skeptical" ufologists Gérard Barthel and Jacques Brucker claimed that they had "strived" to question Mr. Loubet, whom did not have many memories, who had not been impressed by this, and told them that it was a luminous phenomenon slightly ovoid, like an orange glow in the sky, a single glow that moved horizontally.
Subsequently, very succinct summaries mentioning "two witnesses" only appeared in the UFO literature.
[Ref. lpl1:] NEWSPAPER "LE PROVENCAL":
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Nimes (C.P.).
It was approximately 21 hours, Sunday evening. On national road 113, many cars, coming from Marseilles, were returning through Arles towards Nimes. In one of them were seated Mr. Loubet, tradesman in Nimes, accompanied by several parents and friends, among whom, Miss H. F., 17 years, coed. It is her who saw the first two reddish points which advanced whirling, whereas the car was in the surroundings of Raphèle (Bouches-du-Rhône). During approximately two minutes the two machines descended slowly towards the ground. Arrived at a few meters of the plain, they went up towards the zenith, while becoming of a dazzling color, and disappeared. A few minutes later, the same phenomenon occurred again.
"These craft, told us one of the passengers of the car, changed shape as they evolved, sometimes discs, sometimes cigars, but it is possible that it was their position which caused an optical illusion. While arriving at the top of their course, they emitted before disappearing a large luminous glare."
Several motorists stopped their vehicles at the same point than Mr. Loubet and could attend the same phenomenon.
[Ref. bbr1:] GERARD BARTHEL AND JACQUES BRUCKER:
The two authors quote an article of the newspaper "Le Provençal" for October 6, 1954, adding in title "Raphèle-les-Arles, 9 p.m.":
"On RN 113 [National Road 113] many cars, coming from the Fair of Marseilles returned through Arles towards Nimes. In one of them were seated Mr. Loubet, tradesman in Nimes, accompanied by several parents and friends, among whom Miss H.F., aged 17, coed. The latter was the first to see two reddish points which advanced while whirling, whereas the car was in the surroundings of Raphele (Bouches-du-Rhône), during 2 mn approximately the two machines dropped slowly towards the ground."
"Arrived at a few meters of the plain, they went up towards the zenith, while taking a dazzling color, and disappeared."
"A few minutes later the same phenomenon happened again."
"These machines, one of the passengers of the car told us, changed shape as they evolved, sometimes discs, sometimes cigars, but it is possible that it is their position which caused an optical illusion. While arriving at the top of their course, they emitted a large luminous glare before disappearing. Several motorists stopped their vehicles at the same point than Mr. Loubet and could watch the same phenomenon."
They add that this case in Raphèle deserves an in-depth investigation.
They say that they made efforts to question Mr. Loubet, and that he did not have a lot of memories and that it had not made an impression on him, and that it was a luminous phenomenon, of a slightly ovoid shape like an orange gleam in the sky, a single gleam which moved horizontally.
[Ref. fru1:] MICHEL FIGUET AND JEAN-LOUIS RUCHON:
The two authors indicate that on October 3, 1954 at 09:00, in Raphèle in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, two motorists of Nimes witnessed the evolutions of two crafts which had sometimes the shape of a disc, sometimes that of a cigar.
They indicate as source the newspaper "Le Provençal" for October 6, 1954.
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3944: 1954/10/03 21:00 1 4:43:00 E 43:38:40 N 3333 WEU FRN BDR 8:7
RAPHELE-les-ARLES,FR:N113:2/CAR:2 SAUCERs MNVR:SEEN AS DISK,THEN AS CIGAR..
Ref# 30 FIGEUT[sic]&RUCHON: OVNI: Le 1er Dossier Page No. 115 : TOWN &CITY
[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
Godelieve van Overmeire indicates that in 1954, on October 3, in France, in Raphèle (Bouches-du-Rhône), around 21 hours two motorists follow the evolutions of two machines having sometimes the shape of a disc, sometimes that of a cigar.
The source is noted M. Figuet / J.L. Ruchon: "Ovni, Premier dossier complet..." Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979.
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Bouches du Rhone in Raphèle on October 3, 1954 to 21:00 hours, two motorists from Nîmes follow the evolutions of two machines having sometimes the shape of a disc, sometimes that of a cigar.
Luc Chastan indicates that the source is "Ovni, Premier dossier complet... by Figuet M./ Ruchon J.L. ** Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979".
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Unidentified.
I do not know whether Barthel and Brucker can be trusted on this case; sometimes, they clearly made up their "investigations", sometimes, they did reaveal the explanation of a case.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Raphèle-lès-Arles, Raphèle, Bouches-du-Rhône, road, machine, craft, disc, cigar, night, Loubet, reddish, night, car, road, multiple, manoeuvers, disc, cigar, dazzling, glare
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | February 26, 2006 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 9, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [goe1], [lcn1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | December 17, 2019 | Additions [lhh1], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
