The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: Jan-54-Xaffévillers.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In the 1980s, François Diolez, ufologist of the Cercle Vosgien Lumières Dans La Nuit, compiled a catalog of sightings from 1954 in the Vosges.
He indicated that the newspaper La Liberté de l'Est for January 11, 1954, published this:
Furthermore, Mr André FAURE from XAFFEVILLIERS told us that last week around 4:30 a.m., returning from work, he saw a very brief glow, like a flash of lightning, which lit up the sky above above the clouds. This phenomenon left him very perplexed and our correspondent wondered what could be its origin."
He noted that the article followed an article reporting a "slightly later" sighting of a round-shaped craft in Lunéville, that it was probably a natural phenomenon "but other observations in the East during this period", in Lunéville, Langres, Epinal); that moreover "a January article" proposed "a satellite re-entry into the atmosphere."
[Ref. lbs1:] UFOLOGY BULLETIN "LA LIGNE BLEUE SURVOLEE?":
|
1°) CASE Nr F/98/88540100 (01)
XAFFEVILLIERS - lST WEEK OF JANUARY 1954
About 04:30 a.m. local time.
Witness: M. André FAURE (XAFFEVILLIERS)
Sources: Article of Liberté de l'Est for January 11, 1954
"Furthermore, Mr André FAURE from XAFFEVILLIERS told us that last week around 4:30 a.m., returning from work, he saw a very brief glow, like a flash of lightning, which lit up the sky above above the clouds. This phenomenon left him very perplexed and our correspondent wondered what could be its origin."
(Entire article).
Note: The article follows an article reporting a slightly later observation of a round-shaped craft in LUNEVILLE (54).
Comments: Probability of a natural phenomenon but other observations in the East in this period {LUNEVILLE, LANGRES ... EPINAL). An article from January proposes a reentry of a satellite into the atmosphere [*].
Note [*]: there was no satellite before 1957.
[Ref. lbs2:] UFOLOGY BULLETIN "LA LIGNE BLEUE SURVOLEE?":
|
| Num. | DATE | PLACE | TIME | SHORT DESCRIPTION | 1234 | SOURCES | EXPLANATIONS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginning-01-1954 | XAFFEVILLIERS | 04:30 a.m. | A witness observes a very brief gleam, like a lightning flash, illuminating the sky above the clouds. | ....X | Liberté de l'Est for 01/11/1954 |
[Ref. fdz1:] FRANCOIS DIOLEZ:
F. Diolez of the French ufology group CNEGU set up a catalogue of cases in the Vosges, in November 1984, with the help of ufologist François Lagarde.
The catalogue indicates that in the first week of January 1954, at approximately 04:30, local time, an observation took place whose source is the newspaper La Liberté de l'Est for January 11, 1954, indicating:
"In addition Mr. André FAURE of XAFFEVILLERS taught us that last week towards 04:30 in the morning, coming back from his work, he saw a very short gleam, like a flash, which illuminated the sky above the clouds. This phenomenon left him very perplexed and our correspondent wondered what could be its cause."
The cataloguer comments on that this is the entire article which follows up on an article reporting a slightly posterior observation of an apparatus of round shape in Lunéville in the department 54.
The cataloguer comments on that there is the "probability of a natural phenomenon but other observations in the East during this time" in Lunéville, Langres and Epinal, and that an "article of January proposes a re-entry of a satellite in the in atmosphere."
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 2 January 1954 at 04:30 in Xaffevillers, France, "One object was observed by one witness for a few seconds."
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540102 | 02.01.1954 | Xaffevillers | France |
|
The date is not known, but the description and time reflect the very likely explanation:
Probably the meteor of January 9, 1954, at 07:48 a.m.
A "return of a satellite to the atmosphere" is excluded: the first satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched in 1957.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Xaffévillers, Vosges, André Faure, night, flash, lightning, short, gleam, cloud, unique
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | February 25, 2007 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 2, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Addition [uda1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | November 2, 2016 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | January 31, 2019 | Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet. Probable big shooting star or storm lightning." |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | June 6 2022 | Additions [lbs1], [lbs2], Summary. |
