The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: Aug-54-Reims.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In his 1974 book "La Nouvelle Vague des Soucoupes Volantes", the famous French TV anchor and UFO buff Jean-Claude Bourret reported on the case of August 1954 near Reims in his book, providing the witness' story as:
"I was driving by car, on the RN 307 road, at the exit of Reims, in the direction of Masagran. Alone at the steering wheel, I suddenly got a ray of light in the windshield, of similar color of electric blue than the light of a movies projector. Of course it struck me so much that I nearly went onto a tree, because the event occurred in a turn. I specify that at the exit of Reims, I had crossed a military convoy. My first thought thus was to think of a helicopter which could have flown above my vehicle. The first beam emerged horizontally, so I received it in the windshield, almost in the eyes."
"I resumed driving a little while, then I stopped to see what was going on. While starting to drive again, my car was taken in a new ray of light, vertical this time. I underwent, all things considered, a "stage projector," like an artist on a stage. This pencil of light was coherent. I want to say by that, that its edges were parallel. One thought later of a laser beam. Three times in a row, this beam started again. Each time I started again, it happened again. Each time I stopped, and that stopped. I ended up parking my car on the side of the road, thinking: I want to make this out. I thus stopped, I went out and I lit a cigarette. At this time there, on the side of the road, I saw an object, luminescent. It was not a disc, but a geometrical crown, i.e. a luminous band ranging between two circles, the center being dark. The luminosity was rather weak; it reminded me a bit a luminous dial, that of a clock for example."
"I observed this object, which strongly intrigued me of course. At the end of a few minutes, I again received a beam of light of the same color as the preceding time, but which came from the edge of the crown. It was directed towards me. It thus arrived obliquely towards the ground. After a few minutes of waiting, the disc changed color, becoming orange red. At this time, I heard a noise that one can compare with that of an electric motor. But I must specify, an electric motor which would get loose a little bit and which would take again then a mode slower. Then, I saw quantities of sparks or multicolored sparks appearing under the object. Little time after, the noise of the engine disappeared and the machine started. I will never forget the starting, because the object, from its fixed position, sent suddenly at a vertiginous speed. Without apparent and gradual acceleration. The machine left a red trail behind. It quickly dissipated. Small sparks then fell which did not reach the ground. I went to see in the field close to the road. I found no trace, neither of an object which would have landed, nor of any burn."
Jean-Claude Bourret specified that the diameter of the machine seems to have been estimated as forty meters and that it was at a hundred meters of the witness.
He added that the observation lasted about an hour, and except the reported specific noise, the majority of the latter was in silence. When he was back in his family, the witness was in a state of marked excitation.
[Ref. jbt1:] JEAN-CLAUDE BOURRET:
The famous TV journalist Jean-Claude Bourret reported on the case of August 1954 near Reims in his book, providing the witness' story as:
"I was driving by car, on the RN 307 road, at the exit of Reims, in the direction of Masagran. Alone at the steering wheel, I suddenly got a ray of light in the windshield, of similar color of electric blue than the light of a movies projector. Of course it struck me so much that I nearly went onto a tree, because the event occurred in a turn. I specify that at the exit of Reims, I had crossed a military convoy. My first thought thus was to think of a helicopter which could have flown above my vehicle. The first beam emerged horizontally, so I received it in the windshield, almost in the eyes."
"I resumed driving a little while, then I stopped to see what was going on. While starting to drive again, my car was taken in a new ray of light, vertical this time. I underwent, all things considered, a "stage projector," like an artist on a stage. This pencil of light was coherent. I want to say by that, that its edges were parallel. One thought later of a laser beam. Three times in a row, this beam started again. Each time I started again, it happened again. Each time I stopped, and that stopped. I ended up parking my car on the side of the road, thinking: I want to make this out. I thus stopped, I went out and I lit a cigarette. At this time there, on the side of the road, I saw an object, luminescent. It was not a disc, but a geometrical crown, i.e. a luminous band ranging between two circles, the center being dark. The luminosity was rather weak; it reminded me a bit a luminous dial, that of a clock for example."
"I observed this object, which strongly intrigued me of course. At the end of a few minutes, I again received a beam of light of the same color as the preceding time, but which came from the edge of the crown. It was directed towards me. It thus arrived obliquely towards the ground. After a few minutes of waiting, the disc changed color, becoming orange red. At this time, I heard a noise that one can compare with that of an electric motor. But I must specify, an electric motor which would get loose a little bit and which would take again then a mode slower. Then, I saw quantities of sparks or multicolored sparks appearing under the object. Little time after, the noise of the engine disappeared and the machine started. I will never forget the starting, because the object, from its fixed position, sent suddenly at a vertiginous speed. Without apparent and gradual acceleration. The machine left a red trail behind. It quickly dissipated. Small sparks then fell which did not reach the ground. I went to see in the field close to the road. I found no trace, neither of an object which would have landed, nor of any burn."
Jean-Claude Bourret specifies that the diameter of the machine seems to have been estimated as forty meters and that it was at a hundred meters of the witness.
He adds that the observation lasted about an hour, and except the reported specific noise, the majority of the latter was in silence. When he was back in his family, the witness was in a state of marked excitation.
[Ref. mft1:] MICHEL FIGUET:
This ufologist noted:
| CASE Nr | CLASSIFICATION | DATE | HOUR | PLACE | ZIP CODE | CREDIBILITY SOURCE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | CE3 | .. O8 1954 | hns | N.307 près de Reims | 5 1 1 00 A3 | RS [= sparse information], F.G. |
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Marne in Reims in August 1954 at an unknown hour, I was driving by car, on the RN 307 road, at the exit of Reims, in the direction of Masagran. Alone at the steering wheel, I suddenly got a ray of light in the windshield, of similar color of electric blue than the light of a movies projector. Of course it struck me so much that I nearly went onto a tree, because the event occurred in a turn. I specify that at the exit of Reims, I had crossed a military convoy. My first thought thus was to think of a helicopter which could have flown above my vehicle. The first beam emerged horizontally, so I received it in the windshield, almost in the eyes."
"The source of light appears on a higher height compared to the road, seeming to exclude the headlights of a vehicle coming from the opposite direction."
"I resumed driving a little while, then I stopped to see what was going on. While starting to drive again, my car was taken in a new ray of light, vertical this time. I underwent, all things considered, a "stage projector," like an artist on a stage. This pencil of light was coherent. I want to say by that, that its edges were parallel. One thought later of a laser beam. Three times in a row, this beam started again. Each time I started again, it happened again. Each time I stopped, and that stopped. I ended up parking my car on the side of the road, thinking: I want to make this out. I thus stopped, I went out and I lit a cigarette. At this time there, on the side of the road, I saw an object, luminescent. It was not a disc, but a geometrical crown, i.e. a luminous band ranging between two circles, the center being dark. The luminosity was rather weak; it reminded me a bit a luminous dial, that of a clock for example."
"The diameter of the craft seems to be possibly estimated as forty meters. It moves at a hundred meters."
"I observed this object, which strongly intrigued me of course. At the end of a few minutes, I again received a beam of light of the same color as the preceding time, but which came from the edge of the crown. It was directed towards me. It thus arrived obliquely towards the ground. After a few minutes of waiting, the disc changed color, becoming orange red. At this time, I heard a noise that one can compare with that of an electric motor. But I must specify, an electric motor which would get loose a little bit and which would take again then a mode slower. Then, I saw quantities of sparks or multicolored sparks appearing under the object. Little time after, the noise of the engine disappeared and the machine started. I will never forget the starting, because the object, from its fixed position, sent suddenly at a vertiginous speed. Without apparent and gradual acceleration. The machine left a red trail behind. It quickly dissipated. Small sparks then fell which did not reach the ground. I went to see in the field close to the road. I found no trace, neither of an object which would have landed, nor of any burn."
"The whole of the observation lasted about an hour, and except the reported specific noise, the majority of the latter was in silence. Back at his family's the witness is in a marked state of excitation."
The source is indicated as "La Nouvelle Vague des soucoupes volantes par Bourret Jean Claude ** Ed France Empire 1974".
[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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540800 | 00.08.1954 | Reims | France |
|
There is no escape here: either the story is invented, or this person encountered an extraterrestrial craft.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Reims, Marne, ray, blue, sound, engine, silence, ring, beam, orange, red, landing, sparks, fast, car, road, duration, luminous, circular, disc, band
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | April 24, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 5, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Addition [lcn1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | November 20, 2016 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | December 24, 2019 | Additions [mft1], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
