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AUGUST 7, 1954, ST-BERNARD LACOLLE, QUEBEC, CANADA, GABRIEL COUPAL, HENRI COUPAL, MRS. COUPAL:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

In St-Bernard Lacolle, near Hemmingford, Quebec, Canada, on August 7, 1954, at 07:30 p.m., Gabriel Coupal, 13, probably with his brother Henri, were riding a horse in a field when they saw a 9-foot luminous ball land 150 feet away; after landing it turned black.

A door opened, and "a man with big round eyes", 7 feet tall, came out, dressed in skintight black "rubber" except for the head, and carrying a "machine gun." There is also mention of a "buzz like a bee."

The man approached and the boys ran their horse for the house, while the UFO rose, passed near them, and landed again near the horse barn. It was apparently observed at least one hour and was now, under the moonlight, looking like a soap bubble with a black "cable" underneath at the end of which a square thing hanging." Three men were seen walking around it.

Mrs Coupal telephoned Hemmingford to get another witness, but when three people arrived the object took off, glowing orange. It had been present for an hour or more. Where it had rested was found a 30-foot circle of flattened grass.

Although the occurrence was mentioned in the press several times and the witnesses interviewed on tape, not much of it has survived in the ufology literature, only fragmentary summaries seeming to have survived.

Basic information table:

Narratives:

[Ref. cf1:] "LE CANADA FRANCAIS" NEWSPAPER:

Note: the article also has a brief segment about Wilbert Smith, the entire text can be read here.

[Ref. bb1:] UNIDENTIFIED USAF CLIPPING:

The following is from an non-referenced article from a non-sourced UFO bulletin, and stored in the US Air Force Project Blue Book UFO research archive:

[Ref. hw1:] HAROLD T. WILKINS:

The English ufologist indicates that on August 10, 1954, close to Hemmingford in Quebec, children named Coupal were in a field at 09:30 p.m. when they were followed to their farm home by a bright light.

The father and the older son went to the field, and saw an orange-hued object rise and speed off towards the west.

Grass flattened on fourty feet was found.

Harold wilkins indicates that his source is The Gleaner, Huntington, Quebec.

[Ref. jv1:] JACQUES VALLEE:

Jacques Vallée indicates in his UFO landings catalogue that on August 10, 1954 at 09:30 p.m. in Hemmingford, Canada, the Coupal children said that a brightly lighted object followed them to the farm. Mr. Coupal and his oldest son went to the field where the children had been playing and saw an orange object rise and speed off to the west. Grass was flattened over 15 m, with two tracks about 5 meters long.

Jacques Vallée indicates as source: "Wilkins U 237".

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in Hemmingford, Quebec, Canada, on August 7, 1954, at 07:30 p.m., Gabriel Coupal, 13, saw a 9-foot luminous ball land 150 feet away; after landing it turned black.

A door opened, and "a big tall man with big round eyes" came out, dressed all in skintight black rubber except for his head, and carrying a "machine gun." There was a "buzz like a bee."

The man approached and the boys ran their horse for the house.

The UFO rose, passed close by them, and landed again near the horse barn. It "had a black cable with a square thing hanging." In the moonlight, it looked "like a soap bubble," and three men were seen walking around it.

Mrs Coupal telephoned Hemmingford to get another witness, but when three people arrived the object took off, glowing orange. It had been present for an hour or more. Where it had rested was found a 30-foot circle of flattened grass.

Albert Rosales indicates that the source is Dr Adolph Dittmar, CSI.

[Ref. jb1:] JEROME BEAU:

Jérôme Beau indicates that that on August 10, 1954 at 09:30 p.m. in Hemmingford, in the Province of Quebec, Canada, the Coupal children said that a brightly lighted object followed them to the farm. Mr. Coupal and his oldest son went to the field where the children had been playing and saw an orange object rise and speed off to the west. Grass was flattened over 15 m, with two tracks about 5 meters long.

Jérôme Beau indicates that his source is "Wilkins U. 237".

[Ref. dj1:] DONALD JOHNSON:

Donald Johnson indicates that on August 10, 1954 at 09:30 p.m., Gabriel Coupal, 13, and his younger siblings said they saw a brightly lighted object follow them to their farm in Hemmingford, Quebec, Canada. It landed, a figure exited and appeared to engage in some repair activity.

Mr. Coupal and his oldest son went to the field where the children had been playing and saw an orange object rise from the ground and speed off to the west.

Grass was flattened down over a 15-meter area with two tracks about five meters long.

Donald Johnson indicates that the sources are Harold Wilkins, Flying Saucers Uncensored, page 237; the Huntingdon Gleaner for August 18, 1954; Fate, for March 1955, page 19; the Albany (NY) Times-Union for November 27, 1955.

In a different entry, he indicates that on August 7, 1954, at 07:30 p.m., Gabriel Coupal, 13, and another boy were out riding a horse when they saw a luminous, nine foot wide sphere land 150 feet away from them in Hemmingford, Quebec.

The sphere turned black after landing, a door opened, and "a big tall man with big round eyes" got out, dressed in a skintight black rubber diver suit that covered his entire body except the head. He carried what looked like a "machine gun" and there was a "buzz like a bee."

The man approached and the boys galloped their horse for the house, then the UFO rose, passed close by them, and landed again near the horse barn. It "had a black cable with a square thing hanging" from it. In the moonlight, this landed UFO looked "like a soap bubble," and three men were seen walking around it.

Mrs. Coupal phoned Hemmingford to get another witness, but when three more people arrived the object took off, glowing orange. It had been present for an hour or more, and there was a circle of flattened grass 30 feet in diameter where the object had rested.

Donald Johnson indicates that for the above, the sources are David F. Webb and Ted Bloecher, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports, case 1954-42, citing newspaper clipping from Dr. Adolph Dittmar, Civilian Saucer Intelligence for August 17, 1954.

Points to consider:

Isn't it most unfortunate that a case which seems to have been published in several press articles, in which a taped interview of the witnesses was made, in which there seemed to be several, possibly independent witnesses involved, with a UFO and occupants apparently at close sight and lengthily see, and apparently landing traces that could have been investigated, has become nothing more that a few bits of an obviously incomplete and meager report, that even appears contradictory at times?

All I can hope now is that some Quebec ufologist gets inspired by this file and checks out newspaper archive, finds the witnesses or the relatives or the residents of the place and keeps me informed.

List of issues:

Evaluation:

Extraterrestrial visitors. Insufficient information.

Sources references:

* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

• [cf1] * Article in the local newspaper Le Canada Français, St-Jean d'Iberville, Quebec, Canada, August 12, 1954.
• [---] ? Dr Adolph Dittmar, Civilian Saucer Investigation (CSI).
• [---] ? Article in the newspaper Huntingdon Gleaner, August 18, 1954.
• [---] ? Article in the magazine Fate, USA, page 19, March 1955.
• [---] ? Article in the newspaper Times-Union, Albany, New York, USA, November 27, 1955.
• [bb1] * Unidentified clipping of unidentified UFO bulletin, found in USAF's Project Blue Book archive.
• [hw1] ? "Flying Saucers Uncensored", book by Harold T. Wilkins, The Citadel Press publisher, U-K., 1955.
• [hw1] ? "Flying Saucers Uncensored", book by Harold T. Wilkins, Pyramid Books publisher, USA, page 237, 1967.
• [jv1] * "Passport To Magonia - On Ufos, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds", book by Jacques Vallée, Contemporary Books publisher, USA, 1969.
• [jv1] * "Chronique Des Apparitions Extra-terrestres", French translation of "Passport to Magonia", book by Jacques Vallée, Denoel publisher, France, 1972.
• [---] ? "HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports", case 1954-42, compiled by David F. Webb and Ted Bloecher, USA, circa 1977.
• [ar1] * "1954 Humanoid Reports", compiled by Albert Rosales, circa 2001, at www.ufoinfo.com/humanoid/humanoid1954.shtml
• [jb1] * "1954", web page by Jérôme Beau, circa 2005, France, at rr0.org/data/1954
• [dj1] * "Encounters with Aliens on this Day - August 10", web page compiled by Donald Johnson, circa 2005, at www.ufoinfo.com/onthisday/August10.html
• [dj1] * "Encounters with Aliens on this Day - August 7", web page compiled by Donald Johnson, circa 2005, at www.ufoinfo.com/onthisday/August7.html

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