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October 8, 1954, Poulhan, Finistère:

Reference for this case: 8-Oct-54-Poulhan.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

The observation of October 8, 1954, in Poulan was mixed with that of the day before at sea near Poulhan, by the press and then by ufology sources.

In fact, in a press source probably local but unspecified, found in the archive of the ufology group GEPSI, titled "A flying saucer at the port of Poulan", we learn that "Friday morning" - so on October 8, 1954 - around 5:50, before sunrise, Mr. François Cariou, 52, a traveling fish merchant in Poulhan, was about to take his car out of the garage for his daily tour.

He then "suddenly saw" in the sky a bright glow surrounded, it seemed to him, of a dense smoke. He first thought of a haystack fire in the village of Kerrerou, distant in straight line of about 500 meters. He rushed to his kitchen to alert his wife and two daughters who were having breakfast before preparing the fish for sale.

All four then found that the glow, at first motionless, was coming straight towards them at a height of about ten meters. It had the appearance of a sphere, reflecting an orange color and moving fast.

Frightened, they hurried back to their kitchen where they locked themselves in a double lock.

Reports:

[Ref. jps1:] NEWSPAPER "LE JOURNAL DU PAS-DE-CALAIS ET DE LA SOMME":

Scan.

And here is the flying cigar which
shuts down auto engines

Le Mans. -- Mr. Alexandre Tremblaix, milk collector, said that the truck he was driving had suddenly stopped for an unknown reason, on a small departmental road in Saint-Jean-d'Asse, and that his headlights went off.

He got out of his cabin, and saw passing over him a red and blue luminous flying cigar about a meter long. The craft disappeared on the horizon a few minutes later, the engine of the truck started to run again and the headlights came on.

Mulhouse. -- Mr. René Ott, 35, from Jettingen, an S.N.C.F. employee, said he saw in a field on his way to work, an aluminum-colored semi-spherical dome, lit inside, which was about three meters from the road and one meter from the ground.

Frightened Mr. Ott fled. He had, however, he said, time to notice that a door opened in the craft. The latter moved above him for a distance of 800 meters before disappearing. The gendarmes did not find any trace.

Quimper. -- Mr. François Cariou, itinerant fish merchant in Plozevet (Finistère), his wife and two daughters saw, in the sky, a bright gleam which seemed surrounded by dense smoke, this glow, at first motionless, moved towards them, at an altitude of about ten meters, it looked like an orange sphere.

Frightened, the Cariou family returned to the house.

Several fishermen who were about to set sail at the same time confirmed these statements.

Châteauroux. - Mr. Alfred Rabanne, 62, resident of Chasseneuil, who had stopped at the side of the road, heard a whistling sound; looking up, he saw a gray machine stationary about 100 meters above the ground. The craft left at a very high speed, leaving a sort of fog behind it.

Also, Mr. Julien Soulas, 23 years old, from the same town, saw on his way back from the village of Ligeaud, a luminous craft of pale orange red color moving in a North-South direction.

[Ref. ner1:] NEWSPAPER "NORD-ECLAIR":

Scan.

THE "SAUCERS"
continue their sarabande in the sky of France

No "Martian" put his nose in the window of his craft yesterday to greet passersby. But other witnesses add to the long list of those who have had the chance to see with their eyes "luminous" and mysterious "objects" in our sky.

Mr. Alfred Rabany, a resident of Chasseneuil, in the Indre, while he was on the road, heard a whistling sound. He looked up and saw a gray object immobilized about 100 meters above the ground. The craft left at high speed, leaving a sort of fog behind it.

Also, Mr. Julien Soulas, 25, from the same town, saw an orange-colored luminous object moving in a north-south direction.

- Mr. François Cariou, itinerant fish merchant in Plozévet (Finistère), his wife and two daughters saw a bright glow in the sky which seemed to be surrounded by dense smoke. This glow, at first motionless, came towards them, at an altitude of about ten meters; it looked like an orange sphere. Frightened, the Cariou family returned to the house.

Several fishermen who were preparing to go to sea at the same time confirmed these statements.

- René Ott, 35, from Jettingen (Haut-Rhin), employee of the S.N.C.F., said he had seen in a field a aluminum-colored semi-spherical dome, lit inside, which was about three meters from the road and one meter from the ground. Frightened, Mr. Ott fled. However, he said he had time to notice that a door opened in the craft.

- Mr. Alexandre Tremblaix, milk collector, said that the truck he was driving had suddenly stopped, for an unknown reason, on a small departmental road near Saint-Jean-d'Asse, near Le Mans and that his headlights had gone out. He got out of his cabin and saw a glowing red and blue flying cigar pass over him, about a meter long; which disappeared on the horizon a few minutes later. The truck's engine started to function again and the headlights came back on.

- M. Maurice Crestey, of Octeville (Manche), and several of his neighbors saw in the sky, at a fairly high altitude, a luminous sphere which, after having stopped above Cherbourg, disappeared towards the south.

[Ref. lln1:] NEWSPAPER "LE LORRAIN":

Scan.

THE "FLYING SAUCERS"

Pose many puzzles

NOW, CARS STOP

PARIS. - The "flying saucers" continue.

They are reported everywhere. And now, they are mingling to stop the engines.

In Le Mans a milk collector, Mr. Alexandre Tremblais, who was riding his truck on the small road near Saint-Jean-d'Assé (the Sarthe), suddenly noticed that the engine of his vehicle stopped and that the headlights extinguished.

M. Tremblais got out of his truck to see a red and blue luminous cigar, one meter long, disappearing on the horizon. A few minutes later, the engine started again and the headlights functioned again.

In Nancy, a true skeptic, Mr. Georges Bou, a 30-year-old driver at Sarrebruk [sic, Sarrebourg], was traveling on National Road 3 between Morsbach and Forbach when he saw a thick wide shadow blocking the road. He stopped, got out of his cabin, thinking of an accident. But he realized that he was stopped by a saucer. It was nine meters in diameter and about four meters high. It was illuminated by several light beams directed towards the ground.

The driver approached the strange device. Suddenly, the latter took off vertically, marked a pause at ten meters, then moved away very quickly.

The gendarmerie Captain Bohler went to the scene today with Mr. Bou. But he could not find any traces.

In the Island of Ré, Mr. Simonnetti said he saw a luminous sphere about 12 meters in diameter, which oscillated about fifty meters from the ground.

The sphere, he said, became red, turned blue and rose very quickly vertically.

Two other residents and two Parisians on vacation have confirmed.

At Duclair (Seine-Inf.), Mr. Landrin, a water attendant who was walking with his wife, was blinded by a light beam. When he opened his eyes, he said, he saw a ball disappear a few minutes later.

- Near Reims, a mechanic of the Panhard factories, Mr. Joseph Roy, 30, saw near the Isles-sur-Suippe a cigar posed on the ground, resembling according to his description to that of Marignane. Witnesses around have confirmed.

At la Montagne-de-Béruges (the Vienne), a farmer, Mr. Edouard Thébault, observed in his field an enormous luminous machine.

A few minutes later the craft was extinguished and a huge headlight swept the road, and when the witness returned with his father he had fetched, everything had disappeared.

- Several fishermen and the whole family of a fish dealer saw in the sky, in Plozevet (Finistère), a bright glow surrounded by dense smoke. This gleam, at first motionless, came towards them at an altitude of about ten meters. It had the appearance of an orange sphere.

- A whistling machine, gray in color, stood for a moment about 100 meters from Chassevreuil (Indre). The craft went off at a brisk pace, leaving behind it like a fog.

In the same commune, a young man saw a luminous red-orange machine that moved in a north-south direction.

- An aluminum half-spherical dome, illuminated inside, which was about three meters from the road and one meter from the ground, was seen in Jettingen (Haut-Rhin) by Mr. René Ott, an employee of the S.N.C.F. [national railyway company]. Frightened, Mr. Ott fled. He had, however, had the time to notice that a door was opening in the apparatus. The latter moved above him for a distance of 800 meters before disappearing. The gendarmes found no trace.

- A silent machine, moving like a spinning top, was seen in Calais, above the municipal theater, by a peacekeeper, a hairdresser, a taxi driver and a butcher. It moved away towards the sea.

- A flying saucer rising noiselessly vertically was seen at Vigneux (Seine-et-Oise) by Mr. Marais yesterday at 9 p.m.. It was luminous and had portholes.

THE EXPLODED SAUCER OF SAINT-VALERY-SUR-SOMME WAS ONLY A SOUNDING-BALLOON OF THE R.A.F.

ABBEVILLE. "Another false saucer!" The mysterious craft which broke out in the Picardy sky, and whose debris was scattered in a pasture at Boismont, near Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, was but a balloon.

The inhabitants of the region, fearing the famous "paralyzing" green ray, dared not approach the debris. Only Mr. Raymond Boucher, a sugar worker, had the courage to come and contemplate the saucer. It was more simply a balloon used by the meteorological services of the Royal Air Force which, by touching the ground, had burst noisily.

VIENNA. - Thousands of people saw yesterday a formation of flying saucers above Ried, flying from east to west.

THE OPINION OF A SCIENTIST

Asked about cars that stop, said:

- saucers or not saucers, it is necessary to consider as true the information that arrives at this moment. With regard to the sudden stop of engines at the passage of these craft, we must admit the presence and action of unknown rays. This does not mean that these rays have an extraterrestrial origin. Do you remember that famous Z ray, which was talked about so much before the last war? During the hostilities, the belligerents further perfected the process. I saw personally, some fifteen years ago, experiments in laboratories where electric rays ignited at distances of a few meters paper or other combustible materials.

[Ref. jve1:] JACQUES VALLEE:

204) October 7, 1954, early morning. Plozevet (France):

The crew of several fishing boats saw a luminous, orange-colored object over the coast, apparently surrounded by dense smoke. Villagers saw the same object and stated independently that it came within 10 m of the ground, then flew away to the southeast. (P. 42, M. 140).

[Ref. jve2:] JACQUES VALLEE:

October 7, 1954, early, Plozevet (France):

The crew of several fishing boats saw a luminous, orange-colored object over the coast, apparently surrounded by dense smoke. Villagers saw the same object and stated independently that it came within 10 m of the ground, then flew away to the southeast. (France-Soir, Oct. 9. 1954).

[Ref. gei1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "GEPSI":

scan

GEPSI

Groupe d'Etude des Phénomènes Spatiaux Inexpliqués [Unexplained Space Phenomena Study Group]

A.S.B.L.
1901 LAW - OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF OCTOBER 6, 1983
HEADQUARTERS [] RUE DE SIAM - 29200 BREST
OBJECT: STUDY OF THE UFO PHENOMENON BY ALL
LEGAL MEANS WHICH MAY PROVE NECESSARY
(INVESTIGATIONS AND COUNTER-INVESTIGATIONS
TO THE VARIOUS SOURCES, COLLECT AND ANA-
LYSIS OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, ETC.)

GENERAL CATALOGUE OF WITNESSES
FINISTERE

Type of testimony: NL [Nocturnal Light]

Date: October 7, [8], 1954

Time: 5:50

Location: PLOZEVET

Number of witnesses: 6

Investigation:

Identification:

Summary of the case A FLYING SAUCER AT THE HARBOR OF POULHAN

In its turn, the picturesque small harbor of Poulhan had the visit of the flying saucers.

Friday morning at about 5:00, before the start of the day, Mr. François Cariou, aged 52, traveling fish merchant in Poulhan, was on the point of getting his car out of the garage to make his working day round.

He suddenly saw a sharp gleam in the sky, which seemed surrounded by a dense smoke to him. He initially believed in a fire of a heap of straw at the village of Kerrerou, distant of 500 meters approximately in straight line. He then rushed in his kitchen to alert his wife and their two daughters, who had their breakfast before preparing fish for sale.

All four noted then that the gleam, initially motionless, advanced right towards them at a height a ten meters approximately. It had the appearance of a sphere, reflecting an orange color and moving fast.

Frightened, they returned precipitately in their kitchen where they locked up their door twice.

.../...

Explanations:

Map.

The GEPSI file seems to be the transcription of a newspaper article, but they do not give a source reference.

There is a problem with the date of the sighting. The text given by GEPSI says it was Friday morning. GEPSI dates the case of the 7th. But this Friday was the 8th.

Above: Poulhan is at about 2 km in straight line from Plozevet.

There was obviously a mixture, in the Press of the time, and therefore in the UFO literature: the case in the night of October 6 to 7, 1954 or "early morning" of October 7, 1954, said of "Plozevet" (the witnesses were actually fishermen at sea) and this one, of October 8, 1954, not October 7.

The Carious family sighting is unexplained to me; but the information is not that detailed and no obviously no investigation was conducted.

Keywords:

(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)

Poulhan, Plozevet, Finistère, harbor, morning, François Cariou, multiple, gleam, bright, light, fire, movement, low, sphere, fast, orange, frightened, smoke

Sources:

[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.

Document history:

Version: Created/Changed by: Date: Change Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross July 12, 2007 First published.
1.0 Patrick Gross January 26, 2009 Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version.
1.1 Patrick Gross August 14, 2019 Additions [lln1], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet."
1.2 Patrick Gross May 22, 2020 Addition [jps1].
1.3 Patrick Gross June 16, 2020 Addition [ner1].

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