The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: Summer-54-Saint-Priest-Taurion.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In 1980, ufologist Gilles Magne published his report on an observation in France, in the department of the Haute-Vienne on the community of St Priest-Taurion at the locality Croze, in the west of the village of Basse-Gorce. The witness was Mrs. Marie-Louise M., born in 1897 and deceased in 1977.
According to the report, in the summer of 1954, under a nice weather, clear sky, good luminosity, between 12:30 and 13:00, she made her daily walk which was necessary following a hemiplegy attack that stroke her 3 years earlier. The partial paralysis on her right side left her all the same able to move and make daily walks of 4 to 5 kilometers.
She was on a dirt track at less than 500 meters of her house, on the plate of the Croze smallholding, at the level of an edge, in view of the crossing of the ways of Mazeau and Croze, when she suddenly saw a flattened half-spherical object, very shining, posed in the limit of an alley of spruces and a meadow.
Very astonished by what she saw, she described upon arrival home to her mother that it was a thing of flattened form, but round, "lenticular", and very brilliant, but which nevertheless had a red dominant color with orange and yellow, colors being spread out in juxtaposed stripes. She repeated this description often to Gilles Magne thereafter.
The object did not touch the ground but rested there by the intermediary of a kind of tripod. It could have been 1 meter to 1 meter 50 above the ground, near the firt branches of the fir trees, its size being comparable with that of a large car. It was to about fifty meters distant from Marie-Louise M.
She observed two beings busy collecting something on the surrounding meadow.
Amazed, she did not move from the edge of the way and it does not seem that the entities noticed her.
Questioned more in detail on these "beings", she always told that they were very small, of 1 meter or less, with a very bulky head and of gray metal color. The investigator could not determine if they were helmeted or not.
After a few minutes, the beings went under the UFO, carrying vegetal elements probably. The craft rose without noise, gently, and while shaking until arrived at the top of the spruces, to then leave very fast.
She did not have the curiosity to approach the landing spot and no detail was collected about it.
[Ref. gme1:] GILLES MAGNE:
DATA:
Department: Haute-Vienne
Community: St Priest-Taurion
Location: La Croze, west of the village of Basse-Gorce
Witness: Mrs M... Marie-Louise, born in 1897, deceased in 1977
Year: 1954, during the summer
Weather conditions: nice weather, bright sky, good luminosity
Time of the sighting: between 12:30 P.M. and 13:00 P.M.
Distance on the ground, between the witness and the UFO: about 50 meters
NARRATIVE OF THE OBSERVATION:
The witness indulged in his daily walk made necessary after an hemiplegy attack of which she had been the victim 3 years earlier; this partial paralysis of the right side left her all the same the possibilities of motion and of making daily walks from 4 to 5 kilometers.
The day of the observation, the witness was towards 12h30 in a dirt track at less than 500 m of the house, on the plate of the small farm of la Croze.
Suddenly whereas she was at the level of an edge, in view of the crossing of the pathways of Mazeau and Croze, the witness saw a very shiny flattened hemispheric object posed in the limit of an alley of spruces and a meadow (red cross on IGN 1/25 000th map; in orange the meadow; in green, the wood). Very astonished by what she had seen, the witness made a description on his arrival at the house to her mother whom I was to make her repeat often thereafter. This thing was of a flattened shape, but round, "lenticular", and very brilliant, but one saw all the same a red dominant color with orange and yellow also, juxtaposed, the colors being spread out in strips.
The object did not touch the ground on which it rested by the intermediary of a kind of tripod. It could be of 1 m to 1.50 high, at the level of the fir trees, near their branches. Size comparable with that of a large car.
The witness was to observe two beings occupied to collect something around in the meadow... Mrs. M., amazed, did not move from the edge of the pathway; it does not seem that the entities noticed her. Questioned more in detail on these "beings" the witness always told than they were very small, 1 m or more or less one meter, with a very bulky head (perhaps helmeted? We never had this precision) and of metal gray color.
At the end of a few minutes, the occupants penetrated under the UFO, carrying probably vegetable elements. The machine rose without noise, gently, and while trembling, to the summit of the spruces. There it very quickly took off and disappeared very quickly...
The observant did not have the curiosity to approach the landing strip and we do not have any collected detail on this subject.
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The place where the UFO was is marked with the white square. |
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Another view of the location from a larger distance. |
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Map of the location. |
The case made the cover of LDLN with this sketch:
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[Ref. mft1:] MICHEL FIGUET:
This ufologist noted:
| CASE Nr | CLASSIFICATION | DATE | HOUR | PLACE | ZIP CODE | CREDIBILITY SOURCE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | CE3 | Summer 1954 | 12.45 | La Basse Gorce | 87 | NI [= not identified], F.G., LDLN 196 |
[Ref. jsr1:] JEAN SIDER:
The ufologist and author Jean Sider provides his synthesis of the case based on investigation by G. Magne.
He indicates that in the summer of 1954 at an unknown date, at approximately 00:30 p.m. in Saint-Priest-Taurion, La Basse Gorce, in the Haute-Vienne, Marie-Louise M. who asked for anonymity, aged 57 at the time of the sighting, was walking. At a crossroads, she sees a shining, hemispherical, flattened object, posed on a kind of tripod at the edge of a close wood. She also notices two beings of less than one meter in height, busy gathering something around on the meadow. They had a very bulky head and a body of metal gray color.
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3679: 1954/08/00 12:30 1 1:24:00 E 45:53:00 N 3213 WEU FRN HVN 8:6
W/La BASSE-GORCE,FR:LENS-SCR/TRIPOD:2 OIDs GATHER SOMETHING/FIELD:/r217p160
Ref#194 LUMIERES dans la NUIT.(LDLN France) Issue No. 196 : FARMLANDS
[Ref. ars1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
Albert Rosales indicates that in La Basse Gorce, France, in November 1954 near midnight, a woman saw a flattened lenticular shaped object that had landed on a field on a tripod-like landing gear.
The craft carried shiny juxtaposed bands of yellow, red and orange colors. Two short beings were occupied in gathering items from the ground around the object. After a few minutes the beings penetrated under the UFO, which took off gently while trembling without any noise, it disappeared quickly into the distance.
Albert Rosales indicates Michel Figuet as source.
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that in August 1954 at 12:30 in the west of La Basse-Gorce, France, "Lens-shaped disc on tripod landing gear. two humanoids gather something from field."
And: "Close encounter with an unidentified craft and its occupants. One disc was observed on a farm for over one minute. Two dwarves were seen."
The sources are indicated as "Lumieres dans la Nuit, Lumieres dans la Nuit; Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002."
[Ref. jgz1:] JULIEN GONZALEZ:
The author indicates that there was a close encounter of the third kind in the Summer of 1954 at approximately 12:30 between Saint-Priest-Taurion and La Basse Gorce, in the Haute-Vienne.
Marie-Louise M., who wanted to remain anonymous, 57 years old at the time, was walking when at a crossroads, she saw a shining flattened hemispherical object, posed on a kind of tripod, at the edge of a nearby wood.
She also noticed two beings less than one meter in height, occupied to gather something around on the meadow.
They had a very bulky head and their body was of gray metal color.
The sources are indicated as Lumières dans la Nuit #196, page 26 (investigation of G. Magne).
[Ref. prn2:] PETER ROGERSON - "INTCAT":
Summer 1954. 1245hrs.
CROZE ST PRIEST-TAURION (HAUTE-VIENNE : FRANCE)
Marie-Louise M (57) was out walking for her health on this fine sunny day on a dirt track less that 500m from her house, in sight of the Mazeau-Croze crossroads, when, on the boundary of a meadow and an avenue of trees, she saw a strange object. It resembled a flatted disc, giving off a brilliant, predominantly red, light, with orange and yellow stripes. The object, which was 50m away and the size of a large car, was on a sort of tripod that lifted 1-1.5m above the ground, close to the lower branches. She then saw two grey beings, about 1m tall, l with large heads, apparently collecting something in the meadow. The beings were then seen under the object, which then rose slowly and silently with a trembling motion to tree top height, whereupon it sped away.
Patrick Gross URECAT citing investigation by Giles [sic] Mange [sic] published in 1980
Guy Magne in Lumieres dans le [sic] Nuit 196 p26 citing his own investigation
Evaluation - It is not at all clear when Mange spoke to the witness (a relative?) who died in 1977, it would be interesting to know if this was before or after the Valensole incident.
Note: The source reference "Patrick Gross URECAT" is my file as it appears in my CE3 catalogue URECAT; the file content is the same as this page of my France 1954 catalogue.
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The formulation of the report does not make it possible to know whether the occupants were entirely of metal gray color or whether only their heads were.
I do not see the least ordinary cause which could explain the reported occurrence. The craft, seen at 50 meters only, does not resemble any terrestrial aircraft, does not maneuver like any terrestrial aircraft, and no terrestrial aircraft is occupied by people of one meter or less, who would emerge to pick up plants in such an ordinary place. The testimony is however apparently late and has only one witness; one can note all the same that this lady clearly did not seek personal publicity.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Saint-Priest-Taurion, Haute-Vienne, La Croze, Basse-Gorce, disc, lenticular, shiny, red, orange, yellow, strips, tripod, height, collect, gathering, samples, occupants, small, grey, large, head, landing, fast
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | August 27, 2004 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | October 21, 2006 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Looked for new information, none found. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | March 20, 2010 | Addition [uda1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | October 19, 2016 | Addition [jgz1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | May 18, 2019 | Additions [mft1], [lhh1], [prn2]. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
