The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 6-Oct-54-Bruay-la-Buissière.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
A funny article in the local issue of Bruay of the regional newspaper La Voix du Nord for October 7, 1954, allows to understand that the day before, October 6, 1954, around 10 a.m., several people had seen an object pass in the sky. A man questioned, Mr. Decouvelare, had said:
"That's right, we saw a weird object this morning in the sky. It might have been 10 o'clock. It had a round shape, silvery in color. We followed it with our eyes for a minute, then it sank into the clouds. No, it didn't make any noise."
"It was not going fast. It seemed carried by the winds, from the direction of Bethune towards Divion."
"As for saying it was a flying saucer, that's another matter."
[Ref. vdn1:] NEWSPAPER "LA VOIX DU NORD":
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At the start of the morning on Wednesday, a friend told us (ironically) his annoyance at not having seen a flying saucer yet.
To reassure him, we answered him in the same tone, offhand:
"Do not worry, we will soon see some under the sky of Bruay. In fact, they are discreetly made in Beuvry."
Because, finally, it was abnormal that people saw these strange machines in all directions, and that in Bruay nobody witnessed it.
We too wanted to hear a compelling story from a Bruaysian. We didn't care that the saucer was shaped like a cigar. The main thing was to find a serious witness.
And we found one. The big deal!
It was approximately 2 p.m. when a person working in an establishment in the rue Victor-Hugo put us on the trail.
An hour and a half later, we were at the places indicated by our correspondent. It wasn't more than a kilometer away. That is to say all our eagerness and our... skepticism.
"Get in touch, we had been advised, with the Café Macke, place Marmottan, you will be informed."
There, Mr. Macke taught us, with a fine smile, that indeed his young maid, Miss Yvette Dutailly, saw in the morning, a curious object in the sky. Neighbors did too.
Our report was full of promises. In the absence of Mlle Dutailly, we spontaneously went to M. Decouvelaere, trader. He was just ready to go. Good thing we got there on time.
- "So? .. Did you see one?"
- "One what?"
- "A saucer, of course!"
- "Come on, tell us! What was it like? Normally it should be round. But that doesn't matter... What color?... In what direction was it heading?... Didn't you see Martians?
We couldn't wait to know all this.
Mr. Decouvelaere and his wife, who attended the interview, have (unfortunately) both feet on the ground.
"That's right, we saw a weird object this morning in the sky. It might have been 10 o'clock. It had a round shape, silvery in color. We followed it with our eyes for a minute, then it sank into the clouds. No, it didn't make any noise."
"It was not going fast. It seemed carried by the winds, from the direction of Bethune towards Divion."
"As for saying it was a flying saucer, that's another matter."
We were disappointed. Our report deflated like a balloon. Too bad. Next time...
Next time, and we are informing all our volunteer correspondents, come to us only under the following conditions:
The saucer will have to sparkle. Let itr land near you. Let one of the occupants speak to you intelligible, in Martian, of course!
Ah, but!..
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From October 5, 1954, the press widely reported the affair of the retiree from Beuvry-les-Béthune who built Chinese lanterns - mini hot air balloons in paper - in very large numbers and launched them in the region. He had been doing this for decades, for fun and not as a "flying saucers" hoax.
This is why the newspaper ([vdn1]) alluded to "saucers" that are "discreetly made in Beuvry."
The tone of their article shows that "saucers" were not taken seriously here; one can however think that there was the observation they treated so lightly did occur.
It turns out that Bruay-la-Buissière is 10 kilometers in straight line to the east-south-west of Beuvry-les-Béthune; it is therefore entirely possible that the interviewed witnesses, who did not claim that what they had seen was a flying saucer, did indeed see a Chinese lantern launched in Beuvry-les-Béthune.
Didn't Mr. Decouelare say: "It seemed carried by the winds, from the direction of Bethune towards Divion"?
The map shows pretty well that everything matches:
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(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Bruay-la-Buissière, Nord, Café Macke, place Marmottan, Yvette Dutailly, morning, Decouvelaere, object, shopkeeper, round, silver, duration, silent, slow, wind, Béthune, Beuvry, Divion, chinese lantern
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
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| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | October 21, 2021 | First published. |
