The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 8-Oct-54-Sainte-Ménehould.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper Dimanche-Eclair of Nancy, reported on page 5 on October 10, 1954, through their press correspondent in Sainte-Ménehould, that "Friday evening" - so October 8, 1954 - at about 8 p.m., Mr. Léger, a carpenter at the Dubois Company in Sainte-Ménehould, and living at La Grange au Bois, two kilometers from the town, came by bicycle as usual for the rehearsal of bugles of "L'Aiglonne" society, when suddenly, between Crêvecoeur and La Grange-aux-Bois, he saw on the road a strange craft, shaped like a cigar, which seemed to be about six meters long.
The inside of the craft seemed lit by a pink glow.
Astonished, he nevertheless continued on his way, but on his approach and in the darkness, the "mysterious craft" began to move, rose in the air at a dizzying speed and disappeared.
Arriving at the rehearsal completely upset by this odd encounter, Mr. Léger told the story to his friends from "L'Aiglonne".
In 1997, Jean Sider had one more source, the newspaper Le Républicain Lorrain, of Metz, for October 12, 1954, on page 6. There we learn that the witness was "André Légée", 18-year-old, and that it was his parents who lived in La-Grange-aux-Bois, on the national road.
He reportedly told to this newspaper:
"I was riding my bicycle towards Sainte-Menehoulde. Arrived at the height of the remains of an old barrack of the military hospital, I saw, immobilized in the middle of the roadway, a dark mass having a light pinkish gleam in his center. Believing that I dealt with a broken down truck, I slowed down, then continued to ride and I distinctly saw in front of me a mass of approximately 1m30 height in the middle of the road, and of three meters in diameter approximately. The machine rose at once in the air while producing a whistle like that of a swarm of bees."
[Ref. der1:] "DIMANCHE-ECLAIR" NEWSPAPER:
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SAINTE - MENEHOULD (from our correspondant). - Friday evening, at about 8 P.M., Mr. Léger, carpenter with the Dubois company, from Sainte-Ménehould, and living with at La Grange-aux-Bois, two kilometers distant of the city, came at bicycle as usual to the bugles rehearsal from the company "L'Aiglonne", when suddenly, between Crévecoeur and La Grange-aux-Bois, he saw on the road a strange machine, in the shape of a cigar, which appeared to be approximately six meters long.
The interior of the machine seemed enlightened by a pinkish hue.
Astonished by this appearance, Mr. Leger nevertheless continued his way but, at its approach and in the darkness, the mysterious machine started off, rose in the airs at a tremedous speed and disappeared.
While arriving at the rehearsal and totally upset by this odd encounter, Mr. Leger informed his friends of "L'Aiglonne" of his legitimate fright.
[Ref. lcx1:] NEWSPAPER "LA CROIX":
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Mr. Jean Marty, 42, mechanic, resident of Léguevin, declared that he had seen, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, land in the middle of a field, an orange disc measuring 6 to 7 meters of diameter and 2.50 m. high.
Mr. Marty was working around 10:30 p.m. in his workshop, located on the road to Toulouse, in front of a field, 1.5 km away from Lèguevin. Looking up he saw the luminous object. Intrigued, he got out, crossed the road, and headed for the disc, which rose into the air, silently, vertically and disappeared at a prodigious speed. Mr. Marty then went to the middle of the field to check the place where the craft had landed. He did not notice any trace but found there, lying on the grass, two sheets of glossy paper, white, covered with block letters.
The pages, commercial size type, were not soiled, nor damp, nor wrinkled, but absolutely crisp, as if they had just been torn from a new brochure. Mr. Marty handed them over to the gendarmerie. They were examined by a former soldier who spent many years in Indochina and who lives in retirement in Lèguevin, Mr. Maggy. He stated that it was a text in Kuoe-Nu, an Annamese dialect, and that this text dealt with issues of interest to Viet-Minh and Viet-Nam.
The text would be recent, but could only be imperfectly translated. It was specified that these were pages numbered 9-10 and 59-60 of a brochure reproducing in offset a typewritten document. The sheets were entrusted to the military authority. Previously, one was able to take pictures which will be entrusted to a translator.
The investigation opened by air security, following this discovery revealed that it was simply two sheets from a brochure published by the services of Prince Buu Loc and probably left in Léguevin by the Vietnamese who came to have a picnic.
Vietnamese students are in fact particularly numerous in Toulouse, and Léguevin, located about twenty kilometers away and near the wooded regions of the Gers, offers Toulouse residents a sought-after destination for a walk during the weekend.
The brochure in question dated January 12, and the information it contains, underlines the military authority, does not present any character likely to lead to new developments in this affair. In fact, it is about the entry of ships into Indochinese ports and the arrival of fish!
A small-sized diver, with a large head in relation to the body, two enormous eyes, such is the description just made by a Toulouse resident, Mr. Olivier, of a mysterious character, descended from a spherical craft that had just landed at 7:35 p.m. on a vacant lot.
Mr. Olivier, owner of the Javel Neto establishments, rue des Fontaines, in Toulouse, was accompanied by an employee, Mr. Pérano, and a young boy about 15-year-old. All three saw the luminous craft of spherical shape and reddish color land, then saw the character coming towards them whose diving-suit, according to witnesses, shone like glass.
"I did not believe it, adds Mr. Pérano, but I saw it as I see you. It comes as a shock."
In a very short time, about a minute, the diver regained the luminous sphere which flew vertically silently and disappeared in the sky at a prodigious speed, leaving a fire trail.
An employee of the station of Montluçon, Mr. Langère, allegedly made contact Sunday evening with a mystery individual coming out of a torpedo-shaped craft.
Mr. Langère left his job and crossed the S.N.C.F. railway when he saw a metal craft posed at a short distance from a gasoil tank, intended to supply railcars. Next to the craft was a man all covered in hair, unless he was wearing a very long-haired coat. M. Laugère, surprised, asks him what he was doing. The stranger answered him in unintelligible terms, but the railwayman seemed to distinguish the words "gasoil."
Mr. Langère asked him nothing more and went to alert his comrades.
Going to a music rehearsal, in Sainte-Menehould (Marne), young André Léger, 18, saw on the road a dark mass resting on skis which took off as he approached, making a humming sound.
The "flying cigar" was about 1.30 m high and 3 meters in diameter.
This vision left a strong impression on the young man.
[Ref. jsr1:] JEAN SIDER:
Jean Sider notes that on October 8, 1954 at 08:00 p.m. in La Grange Aux Bois, Sainte-Menehould, in the Marne, a young man of 18 years old, André Légée, working as a carpenter with the Dubois company of Saint-Ménehould and whose parents live in La Grange Aux Bois, national road, had a sighting which he describes as follows:
"I was riding my bicycle towards Sainte-Menehoulde. Arrived at the height of the remains of an old barrack of the military hospital, I saw, immobilized in the middle of the roadway, a dark mass having a light pinkish gleam in his center. Believing that I dealt with a broken down truck, I slowed down, then continued to ride and I distinctly saw in front of me a mass of approximately 1m30 height in the middle of the road, and of three meters in diameter approximately. The machine rose at once in the air while producing a whistle like that of a swarm of bees."
Jean Sider indicates as sources the newspaper Le Lorrain Republican, of Metz, for October 12, 1954 on page 6, and Dimanche Eclair, of Nancy, for October 10, 1954 on page 5.
He notes that Dimanche-Eclair mentions a "Mr. Leger" without firstname instead of "Mr. Légée." He specifies that in LDLN #319, p.16, he had wrongly dated the case as being of October 11, 1954, and he corrects this.
[Ref. rlt1:] RENAUD LECLET - "LES MYSTERES DE L'EST":
Renaud Leclet lists cases having in his opinion "similarities with the helicopters" by the fact of a landing, including this one:
10/08/54 Sainte Ménéhould (51) at 08:00 p.m.: 3 m cigar on skis, posed on the ground, flyies off while whistrling like a bees noise.
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
4018: 1954/10/08 20:00 1 4:56:00 E 49:05:20 N 3333 WEU FRN MRN 6:6
La GRANGE-AUX-BOIS,FR:DRK 3M MASS W/HALO on ROAD:^ buzzing like bees:/LDLN#319
Ref#217 Jean SIDER: Le DOSSIER 1954 (2 vol.) Page No. 199 : ROAD+RAILS
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Marne in Ste Menehould on October 8, 1954 at 20:00 hours, the witness living with in La Grande aux Bois, two kilometers away of the city, came by bicycle as usual to the bugles rehearsal of the "Aiglonne" band, when suddenly, between Crévecoeur and Grange-aux-Bois, he saw on the road a strange apparatus, in the shape of a cigar, which appeared to be approximately six meters long. The interior of the machine seemed enlightened of a pinkish gleam. Astonished by this appearance, the witness nevertheless continued his way but, at its approach and in the darkness, the mysterious apparatus started, rose in the airs at a tremendous speed and disappeared. Arriving at the rehearsal the witness was obviously totally upset by this encounter.
Luc Chastan indicates that the source is my website at http://ufologie.net
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Possible helicopter.
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(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Sainte-Ménehould, Sainte-Ménehoulde, Crêvecoeur, La Grange-au-Bois, André Légée, Léger, road, object, machine, landing, interior, luminous, pink, cigar, fast, Marne
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | October 4, 2004 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 26, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [lcn1]. Correction: "Ménehoulde" actually spells "Ménehould". |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | August 15, 2019 | Additions [rlt1], [lhh1], Summary. Explanations changed, was "Nor looked for yet." |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | January 17, 2021 | Addition [lcx1]. |
