The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 6-Oct-54-Castres.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper Le Tarn Libre, of Albi, reported on page 1 on October 15, 1954, that one of their faithful readers had written to them, guaranteeing on his honor the accuracy of his report:
On Wednesday October 6, 1954, he was passing in Castres in the rue Marcel Briguiboul at 12:15 p.m., he was in his car with one of his friends next to him, whom he was driving back to his home.
Suddenly, he saw, quite low in the sky in his opinion, a shiny, metallic object, which passed very quickly.
It had been so sudden that he hadn't said anything to his friend.
A few minutes later, the friend turned to him and said in a joking tone: "I think I saw a flying saucer!" Upon questioning, the friend described the object to him in exactly the same manner.
The witness said that he could not describe the object better than as a large sphere, very shiny, of a very metallic gray, "a bit like this aluminum paint that is used on stovepipes." It had passed by very quickly, and neither he nor the friend heard any noise.
[Ref. ltl1:] NEWSPAPER "LE TARN LIBRE":
A saucer in Castres
One of our faithful readers writes the following lines to us, guaranteeing on its honor, the truthfulness of the fact that he reports: last Wednesday, October 6, I was passing by Castres in the Marcel Briguiboulstreet. It was 15 minutes after midday. I was in my car and I had beside me one of my friends whom I brought back to his residence. All of a sudden, I saw, rather low in the sky, it seemed to me, a brilliant, metallic object which passed very quickly. It was so sudden that I said nothing to my friend.
A few minutes afterwards, the latter turns to me and says, jokingly, "I believe that I saw a flying saucer!" - "what did you saw?", I told him. He described the object to me, exactly as I had seen it. I tell him: "I saw the same thing." - "Not possible, I believed I had an illusion."
I draw your attention to this fact: it was only a few minutes after that we communicated our impressions and they corresponded in all points. How was the object? I cannot compare better than to a large sphere, very brilliant, of a very metallic gray, a little as this aluminium painting which one puts on cookers' pipes. It passed very quickly, I thus cannot say more of it to you. I did not hear any noise and neither did my friend.
[Ref. dgz3:] DIDIER GOMEZ:
Didier Gomez listed this case by indicating that on October 6, 1954 at 12:15 p.m. in Castres in the Tarn, two witnesses saw a large gray sphere for 5 seconds.
[Ref. uma1:] "UFOMANIA" MAGAZINE:
The article by Le Tarn Libre [ltl1] was republished in an article about the 1954 flap in the Tarn in this ufology magazine.
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Two possibilities are in my mind: an extraterresria craft, or a low-flying helicopter whose noise would have been covered by the city noises and dampened by closed windows of the car.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Castres, Tarn, silencieux, anonyme, diurne, sphère, gris, métallique, aluminium, rapide
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | January 2, 2006 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 20, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version.. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | October 13, 2016 | Addition [uma1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | December 19, 2019 | Additions [dgz3], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
