The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: Summer-54-Mallièvre.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In the "Reactions" section of the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit #364 of May 2002, a reader of this magazine, subscriber for 22 years, Jacques Drochon, told about his three sightings he had never previously disclosed, one of which left him "without understanding" as to the attitude he had.
The first occurred in the summer of 1954, he certain of that because it was the year they lived in Mallièvre in the Vendée department. He was 5-year-old and it is a memory that remained in his mind and that he thinks was a trigger for his interest in UFOs as a teenager.
He accompanied his mother, who was washing her linen in the Sèvre Nantaise, a river that runs through the town. He remembers very well that day, the weather was beautiful, cloudless. He paddled in the water to spin a small toy mill between two stones as children did at this age, when his eyes were drawn up without him knowing why.
Just above his head at his vertical, there was a silent gray metallic disk that did not move, and was probably several hundred meters high, and about half the size of the moon.
He called his mother to show her his discovery, she looked about ten seconds and replied that it was probably a balloon or an airship and went back to her washing without giving any importance to it.
Mr. Drochon explained that he must have been frustrated by the answer since he never forgot the case, but when he spoke about it again when he was a teenager, his mother did not remember it anymore. He says he "always knew it was not an airship" and that the main image that remains in his mind is that of this motionless disc above their heads.
[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
A reader of the magazine who subscribed for 22 years, Jacques Drochon, told about three observations which he had never revealed before, on of which leaves him "without understanding " as for the attitude he had.
The first is in the summer of 1954, he is certain of the date because it is the year when they lived in Mallièvre in the Vendée. He was 5 years old and it is a memory which remains in his mind and which he thinks is a factor that prompted his interest in UFOs when he was in his teens.
He accompanied his mother who washed her linen in Sèvre Nantaise, a river which crosses the borough. He remembers that day very well, the weather was beautiful, without cloud. He splashed in the water to play a small mill between two stones as kids that age do, then his glance was attracted abovehead though he does not know why.
Just above his head at its vertical, there was a silent gray metal disc which did not move, and which was probably at several hundreds of meters, of a size which was half of that of the moon.
He called his mother to show him his discovery, she looked at it about ten seconds and answered that it was probably a balloon or a blimp and she went back to her washing without attaching the least importance to it.
The reader says that he must have been frustrated with the answer since he never forgot, when he talked to his mother again about it as a teenager, she did not remember it anymore. The reader says that he "always knew it was not a dirigible" and that the main image he remembers is that of this motionless disc above their heads.
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The description makes me think of a balloon; an airship seeming unlikely because, to my knowledge, there were no longer any airship in France in 1954.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Mallièvre, Vendée, Jacques Drochon, child, round, high, motionless, silent, metallic, balloon, blimp
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 8, 2010 | First published, [ldl1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | July 3, 2019 | Addition of the Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet. Probable balloon." |
