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The 1954 French flap:

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November 13, 1954, Berck, Pas-de-Calais:

Reference for this case: 13-nov-54-Berck.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

In 1966, the French ufologist Jacques Vallée published a listing of UFO sighting, in which appeared that on December 13, 1954, at 05:00, at the Berck airport in France, there was a sighting.

In 1969, Vallée published another version: it was on November 13, at 03:30, and that near the Berck airport, a craft looking like a round hut flew away at about 300 meters form the witnesses who heard no noise.

In the next version, there are no more witnesses in the plural but a witness called Mr. Davril. And as source, Vallée said it was "Personal"; which only means he has some source in his personal file.

Later, numerous ufology sources copied Vallée's third version, without any other information.

Reports:

[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:

417 -001.79741 50.42700 13 12 1954 05 00 1 *BERCK-AEROD. F 0011 4E

[Ref. jve4:] JACQUES VALLEE:

Nr 181, November 13. Near the local airport of Berck (France), a craft in the shape of a round hut flew away, about 300 meters from the witnesses, who heard no noise.

[Ref. jve1:] JACQUES VALLEE:

336

Nov. 13 1954, 03h30. Berck (France)

0330

Berck (France), Near the local airport, Mr. Davril saw a craft like a round hut 300 m away. It took off without noise. (Personal)

[Ref. jve2:] JACQUES VALLEE:

13 novembre 1954, 03:30, Berck (France):

Near the local airport, Mr. Davril saw a craft like a round hut 300 m away. It took off without noise. (Personal).

[Ref. fle1:] FERNAND LAGARDE:

This ufologist listed in a table a case in Berck in the department 62, with a source indication of Flying Saucer Review #181. [FSR did not use that type of numering].

[Ref. jve9:] JACQUES VALLEE:

Scan.

336) November 13, 1954, 03:30, Berck (France):

Near the local airport, Mr. Davril saw a craft resembling a round hut, 300 m away. It took off quietly (personal).

The catalog from which this entry comes is preceded by this warning, in a previous issue, by Jacques Vallée:

We do not believe that we have to apologize for the inclusion of testimonies which may justifiably appear incredible or grotesque. We do not claim that there exists in this Catalog a single observation of a physical event of an unknown nature.

We are not publishing a table of experimental results obtained in the laboratory, but only a general guide to facilitate the study of the abundant literature which has accumulated on an astonishing topic.

It would therefore be dishonest and a serious misunderstanding of our design, to treat all the cases of this catalog as if they had the same level of validity, or to affirm that the presence of this or that particular case reinforces or destroys by itself the degree of confidence that one can place in another case. WE CANNOT ACCEPT LIABILITY FOR ERRORS FROM THOSE WHO IGNORE THIS WARNING.

[Ref. ldl3] "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":

In a list of cases of the 1954 French flap that were estimated to need an investigation or a counter-investigation, the magazine noted:

"336. 13-11-54 Breck [sic]"

[Ref. prn1:] PETER ROGERSON - "INTCAT":

Scan.

518 13 November 1954 0330

BERCK (FRANCE) Near the local airport, Mr Davril saw a craft like a round hut 300m away. It took off almost without noise. (M336)

[Ref. gni1:] GNEOVNI:

Scan.

11/13/I954 - BERCK 62 type I

Near the local airport, Mr. Davril saw a craft resembling a round hut, 300 meters away. This craft took off silently.

(Chronique of J. Vallée page 319)

[Ref. bbr1:] GERARD BARTHEL AND JACQUES BRUCKER:

The two authors refer to the Vallée catalogue and provide the same summary.

[Ref. fru1:] MICHEL FIGUET AND JEAN-LOUIS RUCHON:

The two authors refer to the Vallée catalogue and provide the same summary.

[Ref. jbu1:] JEROME BEAU:

Jérôme Beau indicates that on November 13, 1954 at 03:30 in Berck, France, close to the local airport, Mr. Davril sees a machine resembling a round hut, 300 m away. It takes off without noise.

[Ref. mft1:] MICHEL FIGUET:

This ufologist noted:

CASE Nr CLASSIFICATION DATE HOUR PLACE ZIP CODE CREDIBILITY SOURCE
278 CEl 13 11 1954 03.20 Berck 62600 D2 RS, CV br 336 OVNI

Note: the case cannot be a CE1 since the definition of Close Encounters (CE) says the distance was less than 50 meters, it was apparently 300 meters here.

[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":

4390: 1954/11/13 03:30 5 1:36:00 E 50:26:00 N 3333 WEU FRN PDC 7:8

nr AIRPORT/BERCK,FR:LANDED 'ROUND HUT' CRAFT TAKES OFF SILENTLY.

Ref# 8 VALLEE,Jacques: PASSPORT TO MAGONIA. Case No. 336 : TOWN &CITY

[Ref. jdt1:] JEAN-PIERRE D'HONDT:

This ufologist indicates that on November 13, 1954, in Berck, in the Pas-de-Calais, at 03:30, close to the local airport, the witness, Mr. Davril, saw a machine resembling a round hut, 300 meters away; which took off without noise.

The source is indicated as "LDLN contact lecteurs #102 bis January 1970 page 5".

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:

Luc Chastan indicates that in the Pas de Calais in Berk, on November 13, 1954 at 03:20 hours, "a witness close to the airport observes an object resembling a round hut 300 meter from there which flies away. No noise heard."

Luc Chastan indicates as source "Ovni, Premier dossier complet... by Figuet M./ Ruchon J.L. ** Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979".

[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on 13 November 1954 at 03:30 in Berck, France, a craft like a round hut 300 meters away was seen. Near the local airport, Mr. Davril saw a craft like a round hut 300 meters away. It took off without noise.

The website comments: "An object was sighted that had an appearance and performance beyond the capability of known earthly aircraft. One ball was observed by one male witness at an airport for over 60 minutes."

The sources are indicated as Bowen, Charles, The Humanoids: FSR Special Edition No. 1, FSR, London, 1966; Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Vallee, Jacques, A Century of Landings (N = 923), (in JVallee04), Chicago, 1969; Schoenherr, Luis, Computerized Catalog (N = 3173); Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002.

[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on 13 December 1954 at 03:30, in Berck, France "an object was sighted that had an appearance and performance beyond the capability of known earthly aircraft. One object was observed by one witness at an airport."

The sources are indicated as Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Vallee, Jacques, Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma, Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1966; Vallee, Jacques, Preliminary Catalog (N = 500), (in JVallee01).

[Ref. tai1:] "THINK ABOUT IT" WEBSITE:

Date: November 13 1954

Location: Berck France

Time: 0330

Near the local airport, Mr. Davril saw a craft like a round hut 300 m away. It took off without noise.

Source: Magonia 336

[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":

This database recorded the same case 6 times, twice with a wrong month:

Case Nr. New case Nr. Investigator Date of observation Zip Place of observation Country of observation Hour of observation Classification Comments Identification
19541213 13.12.1954 Berck France 05.00
19541213 13.12.1954 Berck France CE II
19541113 13.11.1954 Berck France NL
19541113 13.11.1954 Berck France CE I
19541113 13.11.1954 Berck France CE I
19541113 13.11.1954 Berck France CE I

[Cette base de données enregistait ce cas six fois au lieu d'une.]

[Ref. prn2:] PETER ROGERSON - "INTCAT":

November 13 1954. 0330 BERCK (PAD DE CALAIS [sic]: FRANCE)

Near the local airport Mr Davril saw an object like a round hut 300m ay. It flew off without noise (Vallee Case 336)

Evaluation - Helicopter ?

Explanations:

Map.

A hut-shaped "object" near an airfield can obviously be a helicopter, or an airplane; from a distance of 300 meters - and perhaps it was more than that - it can seem silent, especially since nothing is known about the ambient noises and the direction of the wind.

There are 750 meters between the nearest edge of the runway of the local airfield, and the dwellings of that time closest to the airfield.

Keywords:

(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)

Berck, Pas-de-Calais, airport, airfield, Davril, craft, round, hut, silent, silence, landing

Sources:

[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.

Document history:

Version: Created/Changed by: Date: Change Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross April 18, 2003 First published.
1.0 Patrick Gross December 21, 2008 Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [jdt1], [lcn1], [uda1], [uda2].
1.1 Patrick Gross July 1, 2010 Addition [jve5].
1.2 Patrick Gross November 2, 2016 Addition [ubk1].
1.4 Patrick Gross January 11, 2017 Addition [tai1].
1.5 Patrick Gross November 27, 2018 Additions [fle1], [mft1], [lhh1], [prn2]. Addition of the Summary.
1.6 Patrick Gross January 21, 2020 Additions [jve9], [gni1]. Summary rewritten, was "In 1967, the French ufologist Jacques Vallée cited a case in Berck, France, without giving any indication of source. He said that near the airport of Berck, at 03:30, Mr. Davril saw a craft looking like a round hut, 300 meters away, which took off noiselessly. In another version, he spoke of 'witnesses' in the plural." Explanation changed, was "Not looked for yet. Helicopter?"
1.7 Patrick Gross November 10, 2021 Addition [prn1].

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This page was last updated on November 10, 2021.