The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 6-sep-54-Origny-en-Thiérache.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The national newspaper Le Parisien Libéré for September 14, 1954 reported that on September 7, 1954, around 00:30, Robert Chovel, his wife and son-in-law were driving towards their home, returning from the Hirson movie theater, department of the Aisne, when they saw a luminous disk, red-orange, flying over the railroad tracks. The "disc" stopped suddenly, across the track, 300-400 meters above the ground. It seemed to "have a small luminous tail forming an integral part of the object."
When the travelers reached the Buire Bridge, they saw what they thought was a "flying saucer" gaining altitude. As soon as the headlights of the car lit it, the object started flying at high speed to La Herie, 3 or 4 kilometers away, and disappeared.
France-Dimanche for September 17, 1954, told that Mr. Chovel was the director of a basketry factory, and his father-in-law was a Mr. "Séraulig[?]". The orange craft, lighting up the treetops, is said to have been above the S.N.C.F. learning school, then turned red and disappeared "at fantastic speed."
Another newspaper reported that Mr. Chovel is an industrialist, and that he said, "We suddenly found ourselves in front of a huge orange disk that seemed suspended a few hundred meters above the trees." Another newspaper presents him on September 24, 1954 as a resident of Origny-en-Thiérache who "declares today that he also saw, the other night, an orange disc which moved a hundred meters in the above the trees, at a dizzying pace."
In his 1958 book, Aimé Michel reported these words of Robert Chovel:
"On the evening of September 6, we had all three been driving to go to the movies at Hirson. We were returning in Origny when, at about 00:30, while arriving at the top of the coast of the Fort, on main road 363, we saw a sort of luminous disc which dazed towards the west while skirting the railway. I initially believed that it was the moon, but I quickly noted that its movement was obviously a real movement, for it changed direction suddenly, went up, and remained motionless at an apparent altitude of 300 to 400 meters. We could then examine it with leisure. It was an orange red disc, featured, on the side opposed to its direction of displacement, with a kind of luminous brush."
"Arrived at the height of the bridge of Buire, we saw it taking altitude once again and hover again. While operating, I was then able to direct my headlights on it. It departed again at once at a vertiginous speed in the direction of La Hérie, still towards the West, and disappeared behind a height. Instead of stopping in Origny, we decided to go up to the top of the hill of the Chaudron in the hope to re-examine it on the other pouring. But we saw only one red gleam which disappeared in direction from Vervins, in the south-west. All that occurred in what it is necessary in time to make approximately fifteen kilometers by car."
The same year in an article for the U.S. magazine Fate, Aimé Michel reported the same, adding:
By disregarding the essential points of their descriptions (movements of the object when their car was standing still, luminous plume, etc.) one could even say that these three persons mistook the moon for a flying saucer. The moon was in the fifth day.
In 1979, the "skeptical" ufologists Gérard Barthel and Jacques Brucker reported that when the Dewilde case appeared in the press, Mr. Chovel tried to get in touch with Marius Dewilde, as he was convinced to have seen the same object. Dewilde had agreed to receive him only after Mr. Chovel had slipped under his door a sketch of that saucer. Mr. Chovel stated that Marius Dewilde told him that he had boarded the saucer.
[Ref. fde1:] NEWSPAPER "FRANCE DIMANCHE":
In Origny (Aisne), Mr. Chovel, director of a basket-making factory, his wife and M. Seraulig [?], his father-in-law, saw at night an orange craft, illuminating the tops of trees, above the learning school of the S.N.C.F. The craft becomes red and disappears at a fantastic speed.
[Ref. cpe1:] NEWSPAPER "LA CROIX DE PICARDIE":
|
The flying saucers multiply at a dizzying rate. Indeed, witnesses to the evolutions of these mysterious craft have been legion in France for some time.
It is first Mr. Marius Dewilde who said he saw a saucer on September 10, at 10 p.m., posed on a railway track near Valenciennes. When he approached the apparatus, two strange and stocky men, whose size did not exceed one meter, moved quickly towards the craft. A few moments later, a square of intense light appeared on the sides of the saucer. The witness was dazzled, and when he opened his eyes, everything was gone.
In Onnaing, 70 kilometers away, a young man, Mr. Auverlot and a pensioner, Mr. Hublard, revealed to have seen on the same day, at the same time, a red glow moving in the sky. As for Mr. Emile Renard, he claims to have seen a saucer which had landed in a field near Acheux-en-Amiénois. The craft hovered slightly above the ground, and when he wanted to approach it, the craft took off and disappeared.
Better still, Mr. Mazaud, farmer of Mourieras (Corrèze), reportedly met an unknown individual, wearing a helmet, on a path, who shook his hand and kissed him, saying unintelligible words. The stranger then climbed into an unlit cigar-shaped craft, four meters long, which, taking off vertically, set off in a westward direction, making no more noise than a bee.
In Origny-en-Thiérache and in the region of Château-Thierry (Aisne), residents claim to have seen a meteor about the size of a motorcycle wheel. Its passage through the Marne valley was accompanied by a blast heard from several localities.
[Ref. rdr1:] "RADAR" MAGAZINE:
Also, near Hirson, Mr. Robert Chovel and his family saw, in the middle of the night, a luminous disk that looks like the saucer of Amiens.
[Ref. cia1:] CIA:
|
|
|
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROACASTS
| COUNTRY: | Non-Orbit | DATE OF INFORMATION: | 1954 | |
| SUBJET: | Military - Unidentified flying objects | |||
| HOW PUBLISHED: | Dail[y] newspaper | DATE DIST.: | 29 oct 1954 | |
| WHERE PUBLISHED: | As indicated | NO. OF PAGES: | 5 | |
| DATE PUBLISHED: | 31 Jul - 20 Sep 1954 | |||
| LANGUAGES: | Various | SUPPLEMENT TO REPORT NO.: | ||
| [Blackened out] | [Blackened out] | THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION | ||
| SOURCE: | As indicated |
SIGHTINGS OF UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS,
31 JULY - 20 SEPTEMBER 1954
WESTERN EUROPE
[... (Reports from other countries) ...]
France
[... (Previous reports)]
"FLYING DISK" SIGHTED IN AISNE DEPARTMENT -- Paris, Le Parisien Libéré, 14 Sep 54
At about 0030 hours on 7 September, Robert Chovel and his wife and father in law were driving home from the theater in Hirson, Aisne Department, when they saw a luminous, red-orange "disk" flying above the railway track. The "disk" stopped suddenly across the road, 300-400 meters from the ground. It
- 2 -
seemed to have on its upper side a small luminous tail forming an integral part of the object.
When the travelers reached the bridge at Buire, they saw what they believed to be a "flying saucer" increasing its altitude; as soon as the car lights beamed on it, the object started flying at great speed towards La Herie, 3-4 kilometers away, and disappeared.
[... (Next reports)]
[Ref. ppe1:] NEWSPAPER "PARIS-PRESSE":
|
Cigars, orange balls, green discs, phosphorescent globes: since Sunday, it's been a continuous parade of flying saucers of all models. You can see them everywhere: in the East, in the West, in Lorraine, in the Parisian suburbs, in England. Actress Michèle Morgan believes she saw two of them the other night above the Invalides.
Do they take off from Mars or do they come out fully armed with the imagination of spectators obsessed with tales of anticipation and the revelations of "skeptical" journalists? We still don't know. But we hesitate to qualify as jokers those who report these "apparitions" when among them are - this is the case near Châteauroux - two gendarmes in uniform and in the exercise of their functions.
The two gendarmes, MM. Courtaud and Peninon, were on patrol the other night in Montierchaume, when they saw a luminous machine immobilized in the sky, then two others of greenish color, at an altitude of about 1,500 meters.
A country keeper, M. Louis Moll, from Obersdorf [sic] (Moselle) also assures us that he saw Sunday in the sky "a weird thing" that arose near the village of Tromborn.
- The craft, he said, looked a bit like a small bus. It then took on the appearance of an orange ball.
It is also a phosphorescent ball, but red this times and followed by a luminous trail, that a butcher of Saint-Fargeau, Mr. Rabot, saw yesterday evening around 8 a.m. near Ponthierry, a few kilometers from Melun.
Mr. Rabot thought he was seeing things and fled to find his neighbor, Mr. Binet, who came out with his wife. Both saw the saucer like him, as it continued to move for a few minutes.
In the Hérault, it is a flying cigar "towing" a fiery red gobe, that three residents of Lodève saw the other evening.
It was also seen yesterday, in the Vendée, by about thirty people, in Sigournais and Saint-Prouant. It was purple blue and shaped like a carrot... "topped of a sort of disc".
An industrialist of Origny-en-Tiérache (Aisne), Mr. Chovel, said today that he also saw, the other night, an orange disc which moved a hundred meters above the trees, at a dizzying pace.
There will soon be a cigars and saucers traffic jam in the sky. Meanwhile, traffic was interrupted yesterday for an hour in Blackpool (England) by onlookers who contemplated a "round white object" swaying in the sky... and which, according to the authorities of the nearby aerodrome, may just be a simple weather balloon.
[Ref. lfe1:] "LA FRONTIERE" NEWSPAPER:
|
The flying saucers - perhaps even more than the difficult European problem that so many illustrious men are trying to solve - fascinate public opinion. This week again, here and there - in Rome, to be sure - really ordinary apparatuses passed through the sky and it becomes impossible not to believe what thousands of Italians could see, up to and including our Robert Romain of Maubeuge...
Closer to here in recent times, a "saucer" crossed the sky of the Thiérache. And one of our regular readers tells us that the following fact is written by our colleagues of la "La Gazette de la Thiérache":
"Last Sunday, at the exit of Hirson's movie theater, Mr. Chovel son, basket maker in Origny-en-Thiérache, returned to his home with his family and was suddenly intrigued by a light coming from the sky and moving slowly. Having stopped, Mr. Chavel examined the phenomenon, this gleam being approximately above the fort of Hirson. He had the idea to put his headlights on the craft, and immediately the latter started to move. Continuing "his investigation" Mr. Chavel, while continuing his journey, climbed well above Origny, but after a while, he saw only a vague red glow, moving away towards the Ardennes."
Definitely we live in weird times!
[Ref. nsl1:] "NEWARK STAR-LEDGER" NEWSPAPER:
The article underneath has been published in the daily newspaper The Newark Star-Ledger, New York, USA, on September 24, 1954.
|
THE RAGE IN FRANCE
To be anybody at all in France these days you practically have to have seen a flying saucer, preferably one of the iridescent ones that change color like a juke box.
Being able to down gallons of champagne, or owning a slightly rundown château or even attending an opening at a theater hardly counts.
Flying saucers, and now flying cigars, are "sighted" practically daily by witnesses who are upstanding citizens, model of probity and sobriety and pillars of the community.
Latest to report the phenomena was movie star Michèle Morgan who said she sighted a luminous disc hovering over the dome of Les Invalides, where Napoleon is buried.
"An old man near me also saw it," Miss Morgan said. "But he ran away."
Rainbow flying saucers are the rage in central France where draughtsman Jean Besse said he watched one Friday night through powerful binoculars. He said it changed color three times in a few seconds.
At Le Puy, west of here, hotel owner Marcel Maillet said he saw an iridescent saucer changing color like a juke box.
Louis Moll, a railway crossing guard at Oberdorff said he saw a saucer "land" last Sunday.
"It was about 7:15 P.M.," he said. "My eyes were blinded by a great luminous mass which seemed to touch the ground near the village of Tromborn. As it neared the earth, the color changed in what looked to me like Neon tubes. It was the shape of a small bus.
"IT TOUCHED the ground for about 40 seconds ...
Finally it flew off, straight up in the air, lighted by an orange glow which changed to red. I heard nothing."
At Origny - en Tierache, Robert Chovet, his wife and brother-in-law were driving along tuesday night when, he said, they practically ran down a flying saucer.
"It hovered several meters in front of us," he said. "An enormous orange disc at just about tree level. It was immobile for several seconds and then awooshed straight upward with dizzy speed."
[Ref. tsr1:] "THE AUCKLAND STAR" NEWSPAPER:
|
PARIS, Friday. -- A Rural Guard, M. Louis Moll, said yesterday he had seen a "flying bus" bedecked with "neon lights" descend from the night sky and land near the Lorraine village of Tromborn.
"A great light came down out of the sky. It had the form of a little bus and seemed to have neon tubes around it. There seemed to be little black objects moving around in the lighted machine. After 40 seconds it took off vertically and disappeared trailing orange jets. During all the time I heard no sound."
Another report in the recent series of stories of strange sights in the sky over France came from the town of Origny en Thierache in the north.
M. Robert Chovel, an industrialist, said he and two of his relatives "suddenly found ourselves looking at an enormous orange disc which seemed suspended a few hundred mètres above the trees."
He said it remained still for a time "then disappeared."
At Chateauroux two policemen said they saw a luminous machine hovering at an altitude of about 5000 feet then two other machines of a greenish color at a greater height.
In the Southern Department of Herault several witnesses reported seeing what appeared to be a "flying cigar" towing a fiery red ball at a high speed.
Michelle Morgan the actress claimed she saw two flying saucers over Les Invalides, in the centre or Paris.
A French Deputy has submitted a written question to the Secretary of State for Air asking whether the aerial phenomena are being studied so that the public can be told "what is going on". -- N.Z. P.A. - Reuter.
[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
|
September 7 [1954]
00:30 a.m.: Origny (Aisne): disc + luminous tail at the back
[Ref. aml2:] AIME MICHEL:
Suppose we were to decide on the hypothesis that the machine did exist; we must point out also that on the night preceding the meeting of Mr. Renard and Mr. Degillerboz, three persons from Arigny [sic, should be Origny], about 50 kilometers to the east, also made a strange observation. There were Robert Chovel, his wife and father-in-law. Here is their story:
"The night of September 6 we all three had gone by car to the movie in Hirson (10 kilometers east of Origny and about 70 kilometers from Contay). We were on our way back to Origny when upon arriving at the summit of Fort Hill at about 12:30 we saw a sort of luminous disc which was going toward the west following the railroad tracks. I thought at first it was the moon but I soon saw that its movement was very real because it suddenly changed direction, climbed and stayed immobile at an apparent altitude of 300 to 400 meters. We were then able to examine it at our leisure. It was a red-orange disc, adorned with a sort of luminous plume on the opposite side of its flight direction.
"When we arrived at the height of the Bridge of Buire we saw it again. Again it went up and came to a stop. By maneuvering I was able to pinpoint my headlights on it at which time it flew off at a tremendous speed in the direction of La Herie to the west. It disappeared behind the clouds very soon.
"Instead of stopping at Origny we decided to go up to the summit of Chaudron Hill in hopes of seeing it from the other side. But we saw only a red glimmer which was disappearing in the direction of Vervins to the south-west. All this took place in the length of time it takes to do about 15 kilometers by car.
Obviously there is no proof that these three last witnesses saw the same object as the two men from Acheux-in-Amienois. By disregarding the essential points of their descriptions (movements of the object when their car was standing still, luminous plume, etc.) one could even say that these three persons mistook the moon for a flying saucer. The moon was in the fifth day.
On the other hand we must take note that this observation took place only a few hours before the phenomena at Contay, in the same region. Moreover, the witnesses of Origny saw the object disappear towards the west and Contay and Foucaucourt are west of Origny.
[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:
Aimé Michel reports that on September 6, 1954, in Origny in Aisne, three people, Mr. Robert Chovel, his wife and his father-in-law were witnesses of a phenomenon which Mr. Chovel with described as follows:
"On the evening of September 6, we had all three been driving to go to the movies at Hirson. We were returning in Origny when, at about 00:30, while arriving at the top of the coast of the Fort, on main road 363, we saw a sort of luminous disc which dazed towards the west while skirting the railway. I initially believed that it was the moon, but I quickly noted that its movement was obviously a real movement, for it changed direction suddenly, went up, and remained motionless at an apparent altitude of 300 to 400 meters. We could then examine it with leisure. It was an orange red disc, featured, on the side opposed to its direction of displacement, with a kind of luminous brush."
"Arrived at the height of the bridge of Buire, we saw it taking altitude once again and hover again. While operating, I was then able to direct my headlights on it. It departed again at once at a vertiginous speed in the direction of La Hérie, still towards the West, and disappeared behind a height. Instead of stopping in Origny, we decided to go up to the top of the hill of the Chaudron in the hope to re-examine it on the other pouring. But we saw only one red gleam which disappeared in direction from Vervins, in the south-west. All that occurred in what it is necessary in time to make approximately fifteen kilometers by car."
[Ref. rhl1:] RICHARD HALL:
September 7, 1954, Origny, France.
Hovering luminous disc fled when lights were shone at it. [II]
[Ref. rhl2:] RICHARD HALL:
(b)9-7-54 Origny, France
Luminous disc
Motorists
Disc maneuvered up and down, hovering; as it hovered, motorists turned headlights on it. UFO took off at high speed and dwindled into distant speck.
[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:
| 118 | -004.09230 | 49.91940 | 13 | 09 | 1954 | 00 | 30 | 1 | HIRSON GARE TRIAGE | F | 301 | A |
[Ref. obr1:] OTTO BINDER:
September 7, 1954, Origny, France. Seeing a disc maneuvering up and down, then hovering low over the ground, a motorist turned his headlights on it, whereupon the UFO took off at terrific velocity.
[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
Within the frame of an article of a UFO sighting in Hirson in 1973, the editors of the magazine remind that in 1954, at the southern exit of Hirson, on national road 363, three witnesses in a car had lengthily observed a red-orange disc, according to the book "A propos des SV" by Aimé Michel, Planète publisher, page 50.
[Ref. gab1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "G.A.B.R.I.E.L.":
At night, it was very often motorists who had the opportunity to witness the appearance of one of these craft. Some showed understandable panic, while others, more in control of themselves, were able to try an experiment: they flashed their headlights! This gesture may seem vain, yet it is currently one of the rare attempts to communicate with the "Flying Saucers". The most amazing thing is that most of these attempts were answered!
09/079/1954 Origny (Aisne)
Around 12:30 a.m., while returning from the cinema, Mr. R. Chovel, his wife and his father-in-law observed a red-orange disc which came to rest at an altitude of 300 or 400m. While manoeuvring, the witness was able to shine his headlights on it. The craft restarted immediately at a dizzying pace. (A.Michel)
[Ref. bbr1:] JACQUES BARTHEL AND GERARD BRUCKER:
The authors indicate that four days before the Dewilde case in Quarouble, Mr. Chovel, resident of Origny en Tiérache, had made a statement at the Gendarmerie following the strange observation which he had made on the national road RN 363. When the Dewilde case appeared in the Press, Mr. Chovel had tried to contact Marius Dewilde, persuaded to have seen the same object. Dewilde had agreed to meet him only when Mr. Chovel had slipped under his door a sketch of the said saucer. Mr. Chovel ensures that Marius Dewilde had told him to have boarded the saucer.
[Ref. fru1:] MICHEL FIGUET AND JEAN-LOUIS RUCHON:
The two ufologists and authors indicate that on September 7, 1954, at 00:30 hours, in Origny in Thiérache in the Aisne, "a luminous disc skirts the railway." The authors wonder whether that could have been a train.
[Ref. lfg1:] LAWRENCE FAWCETT AND BARRY GREENWOOD:
The authors say that the CIA collected many sightings through normal intelligence channels, something which they had supposedly fought to block with the Robertson Panel inquiry, and it included this one:
"FLYING DISK" SIGHTED IN AISNE DEPARTMENT -- Paris, Le Parisien Libéré, 14 Sep 54
At about 0030 hours on 7 September, Robert Chovel and his wife and father in law were driving home from the theater in Hirson, Aisne Department, when they saw a luminous, red-orange "disk" flying above the railway track. The "disk" stopped suddenly across the road, 300-400 meters from the ground. It seemed to have on its upper side a small luminous tail forming an integral part of the object.
When the travelers reached the bridge at Buire, they saw what they believed to be a "flying saucer" increasing its altitude; as soon as the car lights beamed on it, the object started flying at great speed towards La Herie, 3-4 kilometers away, and disappeared.
[Ref. lgs1:] LOREN GROSS:
|
"We were able to examine it at our leisure."
A major French case now appears in the UFO record. Others will follow with increasing frequency as the European flap builds to a frenzy. The principals in this case were three citizens of the town of Arigny [sic], M. and Mme Robert Chovel and their father-in-law. They testified:
"The night of September 7 we all three had gone by car to the movie in Hirson. We were on our way back to Origny when upon arriving at the summit of Fort Hill at about 12:30 we saw a sort of luminous disc which was going toward the west following the railroad tracks. I thought at first it was the moon but I soon saw that its movement was very real because it suddenly changed direction, climbed and stayed immobile at an apparent altitude of 300 to 400 meters. We were then able to examine it at our leisure.
"It was a red-orange disc, adorned with a sort of luminous plume on the opposite side of its flight direction.
"When we arrived at the height of the Bridge of Buire we saw it again. Again it went up and came to a stop. By maneuvering I was able to pin point my headlight on it at which time it threw off at a tremendous speed in the direction of La Herie to the west. It disappeared behind the clouds very soon.
"Instead of stopping at Origny we decided to go up to the summit of Chaudron Hill in hopes of seeing it from the other side. But we saw only a red glimmer was disappearing in the direction of Vervins, to the southwest. All this took place in the length of time it takes to do 15 kilometers by car." 37.
[Ref. emt2:] ERIC MAILLOT:
|
19540906 30 LU M? 02 HIRSON,->ORIGNY N363, Côte du CHAUDRON49.55N/4.04E
3 2 1 0 1 D LN1 1:,13/
RONDd ROUGEORANGE EMET TRAINEE LUX? SUIT T-PENSElune. VIRE? MONTE? SEFIXE ALTImoy400. T-APPELphares=>PH S'ELOIGNEprof T.RAPIDE -> W DISPARAIT DERRIERErelief.T-APPROCHE céhiculö CLARTErouge =S.W
*LUNEpq 7J,couche 23HL30 Dimanche+ERREUR date/heure? EMT. REFUSE par A. Michel.
APSV p50*;
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3760: 1954/09/07 00:30 20 4:03:20 E 49:54:00 N 3333 WEU FRN ASN 6:9
BUIRE,FR:3/N363:SCR OVR RR TRACKS:>>SSW WHEN CAR HEADLITES HIT IT:/r148p272
Ref#242 HALL,Richard:The UFO EVIDENCE /NICAP Page No. 11 : ROAD+RAILS
[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
The Belgian ufologist indicates that in 1954, on September 7 in France in Origny "At 00:30 Robert Chovel, his wife and his father-in-law returned by car to Origny. Arrived at the top of the hill of the Fort on main road 363, they see a kind of luminous disc which slips by towards the west while skirting the railway. It suddenly changed direction, went up, remained motionless at 300 or 400m of altitude: it was red orange, provided on the side opposed to the vehicle's displacement, of a kind of luminous brush. At the point of Buire it took altitude again and was immobilized. By maneuvering the witness managed to direct his headlights at it, it went again at once at a vertiginous speed towards the west. All that occurred in the time necessary to drive about fifteen kilometers."
The sources are indicated as "Aimé Michel: "M.O.C." - Seghers pub. - p. 52".
[Ref. nip1:] NICAP WEBSITE, CHRONOLOGY:
September 7, 1954 -- Origny, France.
Hovering luminous disc fled when lights were shone at it. [II]
[Ref. jbu1:] JEROME BEAU:
0:30: Robert Chovel, his wife and his stepfather return on their premises deom the theatre of Hirson (Aisne) when they see a luminous red-orange "disc" flying above the railway. The disc suddenly stops, in the middle of the road, at 300 or 400 m of the ground. It seems to have at its top a small luminous aileron constituting a part of the object. When the motorists reach the bridge of Boire, they see what they think is a "flying saucer" gaining altitude; as soon as the headlights of the car point at it, the object starts to fly at high speed towards La Hérie, 3 or 4 km from there, and disappears [a "flying disc" observed in the department of Aisne, Le Parisien Libéré, September 14, 1954].
[Ref. cnu1:] CNEGU - "LES MYSTERES DE L'EST":
|
L'Ardennais for October 3, 2004
[.. other cases...]
On September 6 at 0:30, on the road from Hirson to Origny-en-Thiérache (02), motorists see "a red disk" that goes along the railway and then disappears by crossing the road.
[.. other cases...]
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates in his database that in the Aisne in Origny en Thiérache on September 7, 1954, at 00:30 hours, "Three people (among them a couple) return on their premises when they see a luminous red-orange 'disc' flying above the railway. The disc stops suddenly, in the middle of the road, 300 or 400 m of the ground. It seems to have at its top a small luminous winglet constituting part of the object. When the motorists reach the bridge of Boire, they see what they think to be a "flying saucer" taking altitude; As soon as the headlights of the car point at it, the object starts to fly at high speed towards Hérie, 3 or 4 km from there, and disappears."
The sources are noted as "Ovni, Premier dossier complet... by Figuet M./ Ruchon J.L. ** Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979" and "RR0 ** http://www.rr0.org".
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 7 September 1954 at 00:30 in "Origny.Thierache, France", "Orange-red disc with luminous plume opposite side direction of movement above railroad tracks. Changed direction suddenly, rose, hovered, went west."
And: "A flying disc was observed. One orange disc was observed by three witnesses on a railroad (Chovel)."
The sources are indicated as "Michel, Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery, S. G. Phillips, New York, 1958; Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Binder, Otto, What We Really Know About Flying Saucers, Fawcett T1863, Greenwich, 1967; Hall, Richard H., The UFO Evidence, NICAP, Washington, 1964; Haines, Richard F., CE-5: Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind, Sourcebooks, Naperville, 1998, ISBN:1-57071-427-4; Hall, Richard H., UFO Reports from the Files of the CIA, Fund for UFO Research, Washington; Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002".
[Ref. uda2:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 13 September 1954 at 00:30 in "Hirson Gare Triage, France" "One object was observed."
The sources are noted as "Vallee, Jacques, Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma, Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1966; Vallee, Jacques, Preliminary Catalog (N = 500), (in JVallee01)".
[Ref. nip2:] NICAP WEBSITE:
Sept. 7, 1954; Origny, France
12:30 a.m. Robert Chovel and his wife and father-in-law were driving home from the theater in Hirson, Aisne Department when they saw a luminous, red-orange "disk" flying above the railroad tracks. The "disk" stopped suddenly across the road, 300-400 meters from the ground. It seemed to have on its upper side a small luminous tail, forming an integral part of the object. When the travelers reached the bridge at Buire, they saw what they believed to be a "flying saucer" increasing its altitude. As soon as the car lights beamed on it, the object started flying at great speed towards LaHerie 3-4 kilometers away and disappeared. (CIA information sheet. Headline: Flying Disk Sighted In Aisne Department; UFOE, II)
[Ref. nip1:] "THE NICAP WEBSITE":
(109) Sep. 7, 1954 - At 12:30 a.m. three members of the Chovel family saw an orange-red disc with a luminous plume coming from the opposite side of its direction of movement above some railroad tracks in Origny-en-Theirache, Aisne department, France. It changed direction suddenly, rose, then hovered, and finally flew off to the west. (Sources: Aime Michel, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery, p. 38; Michel Figuet & Jean-Louis Ruchon, OVNI: Le Premier Dossier Complet des Rencontres Rapprochees en France, p. 73).
[Ref. tai1:] "THINK ABOUT IT" WEBSITE:
Date:
Location:
Time:
Summary: Sept. 7, 1954; Origny, France
12:30 a.m. Robert Chovel and his wife and father-in-law were driving home from the theater in Hirson, Aisne Department when they saw a luminous, red-orange “disk” flying above the railroad tracks. The “disk” stopped suddenly across the road, 300-400 meters from the ground. It seemed to have on its upper side a small luminous tail, forming an integral part of the object. When the travelers reached the bridge at Buire, they saw what they believed to be a “flying saucer” increasing its altitude. As soon as the car lights beamed on it, the object started flying at great speed towards LaHerie 3-4 kilometers away and disappeared. (CIA information sheet. Headline: Flying Disk Sighted In Aisne Department; UFOE, II)
Source:
[Ref. dcn1:] DOMINIQUE CAUDRON:
This ufologist of the Nord region indicates that the Radar magazine of September 26, 1954, wrote on page 3:
"Also, near Hirson, Mr. Robert Chovel and his family saw, in the middle of the night, a luminous disk that looks like the saucer of Amiens."
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":
This database recorded this same case several times instead of once:
| Case Nr. | New case Nr. | Investigator | Date of observation | Zip | Place of observation | Country of observation | Hour of observation | Classification | Comments | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540907 | 07.09.1954 | Origny Thierache | France | 00.30 | NL | |||||
| 19540907 | 07.09.1954 | Origny Thierache | France | NL | ||||||
| 19540907 | 07.09.1954 | Origny | France | Night | NL | |||||
| 19540907 | 07.09.1954 | Origny | France | NL | ||||||
| 19541007 | 07.10.1954 | Corigny | France | |||||||
| 19540906 | 06.09.1954 | Hirson | France | 00.30 | NL |
|
Not looked for yet. Possibly the moon.
Note about the possible explanation by the Moon:
On June 9, 2009, a reader emailed to me:
|
Hello Patrick, |
The attached Stellarium software screenshots:
|
|
|
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Origny-en-Thiérache, Aisne, Robert Chovel, road, car, disc, luminous, railway, train, manoeuvres, still, hovering, altitude, red, orange, close
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | May 12, 2003 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 11, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions: "Note about the possible explanation by the Moon", [rhl1], [lcn1], [uda1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | December 25, 2009 | Addition [lfg1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | January 5, 2010 | Addition [goe1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | February 10, 2010 | Addition [uda2], [nip2]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | June 17, 2010 | Addition [jve5]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | October 18, 2014 | Additions [nip1], [tai1]. |
| 1.6 | Patrick Gross | November 25, 2016 | Additions [lgs1], [ubk1]. |
| 1.7 | Patrick Gross | February 25, 2017 | Addition [tsr1]. |
| 1.8 | Patrick Gross | June 15, 2019 | Additions [lhh1], [cnu1]. |
| 1.9 | Patrick Gross | July 12, 2019 | Additions [dcn1], Summary. |
| 2.0 | Patrick Gross | January 8, 2020 | Additions [ppe1], [rhl2]. In the Summary, addition of the sentence "Another newspaper presents him on September 24, 1954..," |
| 2.1 | Patrick Gross | March 28, 2020 | Addition [lfe1]. |
| 2.2 | Patrick Gross | April 26, 2020 | Addition [cpe1]. |
| 2.3 | Patrick Gross | February 21, 2021 | Addition [gqy1]. |
| 2.4 | Patrick Gross | April 6, 2022 | Addition [emt2]. |
| 2.5 | Patrick Gross | July 3, 2022 | Additions [rdr1], [fde1], [aml2]. In the Summary, addition of the information from [fde1], [aml2]. |
| 2.6 | Patrick Gross | July 11, 2022 | Addition [gab1]. |
