The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 8-Dec-54-Marsannay-La-Côte.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
An Anglophone catalogue of the web towards 2008 indicated that there was a UFO sighting by a single witness on December 8, 1954, between Marsannay-la-Côte and Velars-sur-Ouche, of one unidentified flying object whose aspect and behavior "most likely would have a conventional explanation."
"Jacques Vallée" is indicated as the source.
An also recent German catalogue does not give any information other than the date and the city, except that it was an observation of the "nocturnal light" type.
But later I found a copy of an article from some unknown French newspaper for December 10, 1954, telling that a young man, Mr. Hubert, residing at 58, rue Vannerie, in Dijon, night guard at the Esso Gas Station near Marsannay on the R.N. 74 in the night from Tuesday 7 to Wednesday 8 December 1954, at about 2 a.m., while he was in his normally illuminated office, perceived a gleam which, he said, had lighted the track of the station with a greenish light.
Intrigued, he went outside, and saw in the barely covered sky a strange flying "craft", elongated and also bright green". The "cigar" disappeared quickly in the direction of Perrigny-ateliers. The sighting had lasted only thirty seconds.
In 2018, thanks to a 1982 catalogue by the ufology group ADRUP, I identified the unknown newspaper as Le Bien Public of Dijon.
[Ref. bbr1:] GERARD BARTHEL AND JACQUES BRUCKER:
The two authors note this case of October 7, 1954:
"Perrigny - 21 - about 2 o'clock: witness untraceable after investigation. Green orangeish luminous phenomenon.
[Ref. lbp1:] NEWSPAPER "LE BIEN PUBLIC":
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Mr. Hubert, residing at 58, rue Vannerie, in Dijon, is a night guard at the Esso Gas Station, near Marsannay, on the R.N. 74. Mr. Hubert was in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the witness of a strange phenomenon.
At about two o'clock in the morning, while he was in his normally illuminated office, Mr. Hubert perceived a gleam which, he said, had lighted the track of the station with a greenish light. Intrigued, the young man went outside. In the barely covered sky flew a strange machine, elongated and also bright green. The cigar disappeared quickly in the direction of Perrigny-ateliers. The apparition had lasted only thirty seconds.
It is up to our readers to form an opinion.
[Ref. via1] "VIMANA 21" UFOLOGY BULLETIN:
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WHY 1954?
The French flap of 1954 is today more than controversial.
Thus, A.D.R.U.P. wanted to make a compilation of all the documents published in a Burgundy daily newspaper:
"Le Bien Public".
The interest of this catalogue is triple:
[... Other case...]
December 10: Here it is again! a blue-green cigar is seen above Perrigny - Côte d'Or -
[... Other case...]
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10: HERE IT IS AGAIN! A BLUE-GREEN CIGAR IS SEEN ABOVE PERRIGNY -
Mr. Hubert, residing at 88, rue Vannerie in Dijon, is a night watchman at the Esso petrol station, located near Marsannay, on the edge of the RN 74. He was, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, the witness of a strange phenomenon, around 2 a.m., while he was in his office, normally lit. Mr. Hubert perceived a gleam which, he says, "violently illuminated the runway of the station with a greenish light." Intrigued, the young man went out. In the sky barely covered, a strange machine was racing, elongated and also bright green. The cigar disappeared quickly towards Perrigny workshops. The apparition lasted only 30 seconds. We will let our readers make their own opinion.
[Ref. via2] "VIMANA 21" UFOLOGY BULLETIN:
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54 12 07 / PERRIGNY / 2: / NL / P /
The witness observed a greenish glow that violently illuminated the runway of the gas station of which he was the guardian. In the sky barely covered, springs a strange machine, elongated and also bright green.
(Source: Bien public, 12/10/54)
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 8 December 1954 between Marsannay-La-Cote and "Velars.Ouche", Marsannay-La-Cote, France, "An unidentified object was sighted, but with appearance and behavior that most likely would have a conventional explanation. One object was observed by one witness."
The source is indicated as "Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073)".
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":
| Case Nr. | New case Nr. | Investigator | Date of observation | Zip | Place of observation | Country of observation | Hour of observation | Classification | Comments | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19541208 | 08.12.1954 | Marsannay | France | NL |
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In the Dijon country, between Marsannay-la-Côte and Velars-sur-Ouche, the distance in straight line is of approximately 8 kilometers. The villages of Corcelles-les-Monts and Flavignerot are located there.
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[uda1] indicates Vallée is the source, but I did not find any trace of this observation in this author's books; I must miss one of his writings or listings.
[uda1] indicates a very probable commonplace explanation. This source does not indicate an hour but [ubk1] makes think that it occurred in the night.
When I found the newspaper source [lbp1], it became quite clear that this was probably a meteor.
In 1954, the R.N. 74 (National Road 74) was joining Paray-le-Monial to Sarreguemines and to Deux-Ponts, it was one of the longest national road in France, with more than 400 kilometers in length. It passed between Marsannay-la-Côte and Perrigny-lès-Dijon:
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The Esso gas station obviously no longer exists and several places might have been its location. So it is no longer possible to find a sure trajectory for the object. Nevertheless, the witness being on the R.N. 74 and the object going towards Perrigny-ateliers, it had to go from East to West rather than West to East.
I might also suggest that Velars-sur-Ouche, mentioned by [uda1] as part of the observation place name could be another sighting of the same phenomenon, or the direction of arrival of the phenomenon, in the West or North-Est. This would result in a trajectory approximately North-West to South-East.
Note that the "skeptical" ufologists Barthel and Brucker ([bbr1]) did what they reproach the ufologists they criticize: wrong date, error on the color, name of the witness they are looking for not indicated, city poorly specified and erroneous, no source reference, and lack of explanation altthough it was fairly obvious....
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Marsannay-la-Côte, Velars-sur-Ouche, Côte-d'Or, Hubert, green, cigar, craft, object, night, luminous, single
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 4, 2010 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | November 2, 2016 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | December 20, 2016 | Addition of the Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet". |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | January 3, 2017 | In the Summary, addition of the paragraphs at "But later..." In the Explanations, removal of "Totally insufficient information." |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | December 11, 2018 | [lbp1] as "unknown newspaper" completed and changed to [lbp1]. Additions [via1], [via2]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | November 28, 2021 | Addition [bbr1]. In the Explanations, addition of the paragraph "Note that the "skeptical" ufologists Barthel and Brucker..." |
