The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 14-Dec-54-Marseille.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
An article in the regional newspaper La Provence for December 15, 1954, talked of the observation of a "bolide", "or saucer?" in the Marseilles area.
A national power company counter-master, Mr. Mauro, who was passing on December 14, 1954 at 07:15 a.m. on the Longchamps Boulevard, had seen in the sky of Marseilles, an "inexplicable phenomenon". He said it was of a kind of "green sea-bottom" color, a ball followed by a short orange trail. As the sky was very clear despite the early hour, he was able to follow it with his eyes, but it "suddenly disappeared, without leaving a trace..."
This witness did not utter any conclusions, only wondering if it was a "bolide" or a "saucer", and whether he was the only one who saw it.
But several people had confirmed the observation to the newspaper. A lady on the upper platform of Notre-Dame de la Garde had clearly seen "this glow." Mr. André Boyer and his workmates, electricians at the Nestlé factory in Saint-Menet, had seen "the craft" cross the sky. And at Camp-Major, Mr. Gilbert Marius, waiting for the bus to go to work, had seen "a red-orange ball of fire that went faster than a plane but heading straight and not like a shooting star," and that "disappeared" rather quickly while taking a green hue."
Finally, another resident of Camp-Major, Mrs. Seire, who lives in the valley of Caussettes, confirmed that.
Two ufological databases of the Web in the 2000s briefly noted the sighting. One noted that it comes from the computer catalog by Jacques Vallée and that the explanation is very probably "conventional"; the other only gave the date and the city name.
[Ref. lpe1:] "LA PROVENCE" NEWSPAPER:
|
A foreman of E.D.F. [national power co], Mr. Mauro, who passed yesterday around 07:15 on the Longchamps boulevards, announced that he saw an unexplainable phenomenon in the sky of Marseille.
"I saw a kind of ball of deep marine green color, followed of a short orange trail. The sky was so clear, in spite of the early hour, that I could easily follow this ball, but it suddenly disappeared, without leaving the least trace..."
Mr. Mauro does not draw conclusions, he quite simply wonders if it was a meteor, a saucer and if he was the only one who observed the "object".
An affirmative answer can be given to him with regard to this last question since several people assure us of the existence of the strange object. Thus a lady who was on the higher platform of Our-Lady of the Guard saw the gleam in question clearly. It is the same for Mr. André Boyer and his work colleagues, electricians at the Nestlé plan, in Saint-Menet, who saw the machine crossing the sky.
Lastly, in Camp-Major, another witness, Mr. Gilbert Marius, awaited the bus to go to his work when he saw "a ball of orange red fire color which went more quickly than a plane but while moving straight and not like a shooting star". It disappeared rather quickly while taking a green color.
This account was confirmed by another living of Camp-Major, Mrs. Seire, who lives in the small valley of Caussettes.
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on December 14, 1954, at 07:15 in Marseille, France, "an unidentified object was seen, but with an aspect and a performance which most probably would have a conventional explanation. One object was observed."
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19541214 | 14.12.1954 | Marseille | France |
|
Probable meteor.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhone, Mauro, Longchamps, green, object, ball, trail, orange, morning, meteor, fireball, gleam, red, André Boyer, Gilbert Marius, Seire, Caussette, Camp-Major, Our-Lady of the Guard
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | February 26, 2006 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | December 26, 2008 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | November 2, 2016 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | November 27, 2018 | Addition of the Summary. |
