The 1954 French flap:

VI - EARLY OBSERVATION

This series of troubling observations dates from the autumn of 1954.

It consists of correspondence, extracted from the archives of Marc THIROUIN, addressed to him on 22-11-54 and 7-12-54.

The events took place over a period of several months in the department of Haute-Garonne, in the vicinity of St-Jory - Michelin map n° 82 - Sheet 7-8.

These observations are in some respects fairly similar to those from Aveyron, published in nos. 107 - 108 - 109 of the review L.D.L.N. as well as in the collective work of L.D.L.N., "Mystérieuses Soucoupes Volantes". They concern luminous balls to which the witness attributes intelligent behavior.

We have preserved the text of the letters in their entirety, leaving the witness's reflections and deductions as they appear, so as not to distort his thinking.

However, it should be noted that some of them are influenced by the reading of Jimmy Guieu's book "Les soucoupes volantes viennent d'un autre monde".

Finally, one should not forget that the events occurred during the 1954 wave, therefore at a time when flying saucers were front-page news across the press. Here then are the raw facts as they were described by the witness.

We will give neither the name nor the address of the latter, but anyone interested in this case may get in touch with our Association or with Mr. F. Lagarde, 9 rue Camille Desmoulins in TERBES, to whom we have communicated this file.

After 21 years, a thorough investigation would be necessary if the witness is still alive.

D. DUQUESNOY

1st letter - 22.11.54 -

"Gentlemen,

Having read the book "Les soucoupes volantes viennent d'un autre monde", I am giving you some information about an abnormal phenomenon that is occurring in the area. It is neither a joke, nor a hallucination, nor a novel, although it has all the appearances of one; three other people were also witnesses to the same phenomenon. Given its importance, I decided to write to you. If I do not hear from you promptly, I will inform you of other abnormal things I have seen.

Here is the incident: about a month ago, around 7 p.m., I saw, some 200 metres from the house, near a small path that leads to a river, a white light of medium size, at about 1.20 m above the ground, standing motionless, seeming to peer at something. I watched attentively, considering the matter abnormal."

I ran to get the binoculars, but when I came back, the object was gone. I saw a faint glow in the direction of the river, and then nothing more. Another day, the same light appeared to the east of the house, about 80 meters away in a field. I observed it. Since a light was on outside, perhaps it noticed me, because it turned off immediately - no doubt not wanting to be seen. I kept looking to the left and right, but saw nothing. Then, instinctively turning south, I saw it again - this time about 50 meters away at the edge of the path. I quickly grabbed the binoculars, but it was too late - it suddenly went dark. Another evening, around 8 p.m., I heard the dog from the nearby château, about 300 meters away, barking furiously. Suddenly, silence. Ten minutes later, I spotted the same light hovering nearby before it extinguished itself within seconds.

These phenomena continued for about a week. Then three weeks went by without anything unusual happening.

But on Tuesday, November 15, that white light reappeared in the same place as before - among the brush along the hollow path leading to the river. Curiously, at times one could also see a glowing tube, dimly lit and about the height of an average person. It would flicker on and off. I can't say for sure whether it was two different lights or one light appearing in two different forms: the glowing tube - could it be a small craft? The white light - could it be a being piloting that craft who, noticing my interest, comes each night to watch me, study me closely using instruments unknown to me?

Mystery! But if it really is a human being, I get the impression he's clever: he turns off the light when he sees a bicycle headlight or hears voices - frightened, perhaps, as well. He only dared come close to the house once.

All this is just speculation based on the behavior of this light. It's been there every evening for a week now, in the same spot, as if watching for something - though there's nothing special to observe, just fields. One doesn't know what to make of this phenomenon. I don't know how long it will last. It's a mystery worth investigating..."

The response was given by Marc Thirouin.

Second letter - December 7, 1954

"Gentlemen,

Having received your letter of December 1st, I will inform you as soon as anything unusual happens again; for now, the phenomenon has disappeared since November 26.

I'll tell you everything I've seen since October 7, 1954. Here is the first incident:

On Thursday, October 7, 1954, at 7 p.m., I saw to the south a green light (about the size of a medium star), at a fairly low altitude, seeming to skim over the plane trees along the national road, heading northward.

Curious and intrigued - thinking this might be one of those flying saucers (this was the time when such craft were reported all over France) - I ran to get the binoculars.

As I observed it, I saw that this object had greater speed and lightness than an airplane. As it moved forward, it gradually gained altitude, and at one point, it suddenly accelerated (which planes do not do), continuing its course toward the northwest. It then returned to its regular speed, its color fading to white as it progressed, until it became a tiny white dot that disappeared into the clouds.

I looked around from side to side, and after about ten minutes, this green light reappeared - again to the south, approximately in the same place as before, following the same trajectory as the first time (I can't say whether it was the same one that had turned back or a similar object). It headed northwest but, having traveled a shorter distance than previously, suddenly stopped and then reversed direction, heading back south (I had the impression that it pivoted rapidly).

Suddenly, it changed color - from green to bright red - and appeared larger than before, resembling a disc with an apparent diameter of around 10 cm. It continued its path until a small wooded area completely obscured it. I went onto the path, to the left, trying to see it again, scanning the sky with my binoculars, but it had disappeared. My eyes then stopped on what I thought was an average-sized white star.

To my astonishment, as I watched, that "star" turned orange, then a bright pink - clearly not a star as I had first thought, but some mysterious object. It remained motionless for about fifteen seconds, then made a rapid dive and vanished on the horizon. I saw nothing more.

The next day, around 8 p.m., still intrigued by the previous night's phenomenon and hoping to see something again, I looked in the same direction with binoculars.

About ten minutes later, the green light appeared, emerging from behind a line of trees - but at a considerable distance (around 4 to 5 kilometers away). After covering some ground toward the west, it retraced its path at fairly high speed (it seemed not to have turned, or else pivoted suddenly, which clearly distinguished it from an airplane).

Curiously, each time it reached the end of its westward path - never exceeding a certain boundary - a flash of brilliant white light appeared, forming luminous ramps. At that moment, I realized it must be a craft with a long body. The flash then faded, leaving only the single green light as it returned. This maneuver repeated about fifteen times over the span of an hour.

During the intervals when the object was no longer making this back-and-forth movement, I noticed - slightly to the left - two other luminous spheres, one green and the other red. They appeared two or three times, fairly low on the horizon, seeming to chase each other. They performed a diving motion and disappeared suddenly. It was probably the same object switching on another light. It was likely flying over the Blagnac airfield, since that's the direction it seemed to be heading.

I had been observing all these things with the binoculars for about an hour and a half; I was resolved to go home, finally... I waited another ten minutes; I was right to stay a bit longer that evening, which gave me the chance to see another phenomenon; I had not at all expected it.

After 5 minutes, I saw (still to the south, at quite a distance) a large red ball (apparent diameter about 15 cm) suddenly rise on the horizon, as if violently ejected from the ground; it veered eastward and gradually gained altitude. Another ball, greenish in color, then appeared behind it (at that moment the sight was that of two luminous discs, of different colors, with an apparent diameter of 10 cm, separated by an interval, moving together).

Strangely, as soon as the one behind lit up, the other went out, and vice versa, seeming to emit a signal at short intervals and at a regular rhythm; this display lasted about ten minutes, then only the front red disc remained, which then went out and was immediately replaced by a white light (like a large star) blinding in intensity, which, too, seemed to transmit a signal like the other two.

I asked myself: what can they be doing? I had the impression of being faced with a strange machine. What is this craft? Who was on board? What were they doing? So many questions I asked that remained unanswered.

I was absorbed in these thoughts; the night was mild that evening, a moonbeam filtering slightly through the clouds, illuminating the landscape with a light that made the scene seem more fantastic, almost unreal.

The craft had turned slightly toward the northeast, approaching (if it had been an airplane, at that distance I would have heard a hum; but nothing, not the slightest noise), and it veered again toward the east, gaining altitude while continuously and regularly emitting that sort of signal.

I felt as if I were living a dream as I watched this machine climb slowly and silently; yet it was not a hallucination but reality; never had I seen anything more extraordinary; I would have stayed all night watching this phenomenon.

The mysterious craft continued its ascent; where was it going? Perhaps to some distant planet unknown to us? Mystery! I followed it with the binoculars until it was no more than a tiny white point that vanished into space.

(I observed this phenomenon for about 1 hour and was the sole witness, but for another event I observed for 1 hour there was one other person.)

I found the situation abnormal, as I had not seen this kind of activity in the area in previous days.

At 3 p.m., intrigued and curious about what I had seen, I decided to go take a closer look.

I took my bicycle and binoculars and followed the road that leads to Saint-Sauveur, a nearby village east of Saint-Jory. Indeed, I saw the triangular object swaying near the hillside, but it was too far - about 2 kilometers - to make out clearly, even with binoculars. I arrived at a place where the road inclined slightly, and I thought I'd get a better view from the top.

Suddenly, about 500 meters away near the mid-slope of Bouloc, a luminous sphere appeared (apparent diameter: 30 cm), glowing yellow-green near a wooded area. I stopped to watch. Then a second, a third, a fourth, and a fifth light appeared. I was increasingly astonished, having no idea what they could be.

All the lights were the same size. They suddenly stopped in a strange manner, flickering on and off, blinking, and then began to move. The way they moved - closely following one another - made me think someone must have been guiding them. They slowly moved across the fields toward the village of Bouloc.

I got back on my bike and went to intercept them. When I reached a place where two roads crossed, I stopped. I had them in front of me, about 1,200 meters away, at the top of the hill, not far from some houses.

The whole village was asleep. The night was calm. At that moment, no one suspected that strange craft, piloted by mysterious beings, were roaming near their homes. What were these machines? What were they doing? Where did they come from? Where were they going? Who were these beings? What could possibly interest them here? No one knew.

I continued on my way and, looking toward Villeneuve, I saw a luminous sphere (apparent diameter: 20 cm) glowing orange at a fairly low altitude, just above a line of trees, rising and falling slowly as if trying to land, before disappearing into the distance.

At the bottom of the hill, through the trees of a park to the right of the road, I spotted two more yellowish, flickering luminous spheres about 1 kilometer away in the fields. I noticed they were stationary and thought the whole situation was utterly strange.

I continued riding and started climbing the hill again. As I progressed, a kind of anxiety gripped me - every little sound made me jump. I was heading into the unknown.

After covering some distance, I stopped again. I had only about 70 meters left to climb to reach a flat spot halfway up the hill where I could see them (I couldn't see them from where I was, as the gradual slope hid them from view).

I thought to myself: "Who knows if these beings don't have devices that can detect my footsteps and see me if I get too close? Or maybe, at the moment I least expect it, they'll immobilize me with a beam?"

I had no idea who these beings were - nor if they might have hostile intentions upon seeing me spying on them.

Then I became afraid! You really have to be in that kind of situation to feel such intense emotions. I was alone, at night, defenseless, in a deserted place. What to do? Alert the neighbors? That wasn't easy - there were hardly any houses in the area. Even if there were, might someone have sent dogs or fired a shotgun? Someone from the village? That was even more difficult. I would've had to pass quite close to those craft, and in that case, I would've been detected.

I thought deeply about it. Finally, reluctantly, I decided to turn back, unable to learn more and having just narrowly escaped an adventure that might have ended badly if I had continued with my plan.

On the way back, I made one last stop. The five lights were still there (at the top of the hill), blinking enigmatically, shining strangely in the night. I stood there, lost in thought.

Suddenly, I was stunned! About 30 meters away, a dull green glow of medium size, with an undefined shape - something like a lantern - appeared. It came out of a cornfield on the left side of the road. It was extraordinary! It came directly toward me, very slowly, as if it were searching for something. After a few seconds, it went dark, then lit up again 7 or 8 seconds later.

I was paralyzed with fear when I saw that it had come closer by about 4 or 5 meters. I couldn't make out what it was, only this eerie green light moving mysteriously toward me.

I was deeply shaken. I didn't insist any further. I got on my bicycle (as I rode off, I quickly turned around and took a quick glance back); it had moved even closer and was now only 4 or 5 meters from where I had stopped. I headed back toward Saint-Jory.

(It's a shame I was the only witness to this phenomenon.)

Here are some phenomena I observed over a period from October 25 to November 25, 1954, on different evenings: A group of objects (7 or 8) appeared in the direction of Brugnières, a neighboring village southeast of Saint-Jory. In the distance, they looked like tiny stars, seemingly chasing each other while zigzagging suddenly and then shooting upward like rockets at incredible speed (far faster than a jet plane). I watched them for about an hour with binoculars, then lost interest.

In that same direction, slightly to the left, I suddenly saw two luminous discs at medium altitude - one red, the other green. They looked like the ones mentioned in the first incident and seemed to have been abruptly ejected from the ground. The two discs followed each other in unison at moderate speed and headed toward Toulouse.

Again in that direction, a luminous sphere appeared (apparent diameter 12 cm), relatively low on the horizon, rising slowly. With each flicker, it emitted a different color: red, green, orange, white. The moonlight was beautiful, with not a single cloud in the sky - it was breathtaking. You could clearly see the color changes with the naked eye.

To the south, another luminous sphere appeared (apparent diameter 10 cm), also at a fairly low altitude, glowing orange and heading north. After covering some distance, it reversed course, stopped for about 10 seconds, then resumed movement, lowered its altitude, zigzagged downward, and sped off toward Toulouse.

(I was the only witness to these phenomena.)

Here is the third incident:

On Saturday, October 23, 1954, on the occasion of an indoor dance taking place in St-Sauveur, a nearby village, two friends and I decided to go check it out; we left around 8 p.m.

It was during the time when those mysterious lights were seen along the hillside at Bouloc, one week after their initial appearance. I noticed that, on that day, those kinds of lights were more scarce - I no longer saw the activity of the previous days. (Maybe they had gone elsewhere; I don't know.)

About an hour after the dance had begun, I suddenly saw, at about 150 meters, a luminous sphere (apparent diameter 40 cm) of a slightly reddish color, rushing forward, gliding along the hillside (I regretted at that moment not having binoculars).

It looked as if the light was curious about what was going on there, unaccustomed in the preceding days to see such brightness and all these people, seemingly drawn by the sound of music. The surrounding area was flooded with light, the doors and windows of the dance hall remained open, and it probably could see the people dancing, coming in and out, and walking around.

All this seemed to fascinate it intensely, though it also appeared cautious and suspicious, not daring to come too close - undoubtedly not wanting to be seen. After traveling a certain distance, it stopped.

It was about 100 meters away, glowing in a strange manner; it seemed to beam or pierce (but didn't light up anything in front of it), like the headlights of a car. You couldn't distinguish anything in front or to either side of it; everything around it looked darker by contrast. I was standing in the doorway, my eyes fixed on it. I was indifferent to the atmosphere inside.

Outside, people were chatting about this and that, unaware of anything, not suspecting that a strange visitor - perhaps from a distant planet - was watching their every move. Maybe it was witnessing an unexpected scene - people and things very different from those of its world! (All of this is just the impression I had based on its behavior.)

After staying in the same place for about 30 minutes, it veered to the right, as if trying to see what was happening on the other side of the dance, and stopped again, maintaining the same distance. Seeing that it didn't dare get any closer, I tried an experiment: I moved to the right, up the slope. I was fully lit, motionless, facing it, observing. It must have seen me, because after about 20 seconds, realizing I kept staring at it... something extraordinary happened... it went out. I saw nothing more. (I was the only witness of this phenomenon - I'll explain the reason later.)

When I read the book Flying Saucers from Outer Space, I was surprised to see that the characteristics of these craft - silence, immobility, color changes, zigzag descent, sudden acceleration, vertical takeoff at dizzying speeds - were the very same as those I had noted earlier on these objects; I had observed them for a long time and carefully through binoculars.

Here are some observations I made regarding that mysterious green glow, which, based on the way it moved, could only have been from a human being with the light on their head (perhaps some kind of advanced eye or device used for navigation).

Let's consider the situation: I was heading toward Bouloc on my bicycle. That glow could have been in the same spot on the way there, but it might not have noticed me - I was going very slowly, with my lights off, out of caution.

On the way back, moving at a fairly brisk pace, the person - possibly not far from the road - may have been alerted by a suspicious sound (the chain making a noticeable noise that could be heard quickly in a quiet area), and came out.

Indeed, I saw him appear almost as soon as I stopped at the road crossing.

He came straight toward me (even though I remained completely still and silent, intrigued by the five lights on the top of the hill and just holding my bicycle), possibly using some kind of sensitive equipment to detect where I was.

After a few seconds, realizing I was there, he turned off the light (not wanting to be seen), likely to better surprise me. But perhaps he became disoriented, because after 7 or 8 seconds, the light came back on again - which is not at all implausible.

In fact, as I turned around to head back to St-Jory, I saw that he was only four or five meters from the spot where I had been standing. He was clearly looking for something.

All of this is speculation based on observing the behavior of that glow - but perhaps my assumptions aren't far from the truth.

It made a deep impression on me to see that glow approaching, without being able to make out what it was, around 11 p.m., alone, in a deserted area. (It was not a hallucination.) I've passed through that road many times at the same hour, but never encountered anything unusual - except that day (the first time) when those luminous spheres were streaking across the hills of Bouloc and Castelnau.

Perhaps one of those small craft was hidden in that cornfield, and the green glow was likely its pilot, who - hearing a noise - came out to investigate, afraid of being watched and not wanting to be seen. Fortunately, I had three routes available to get away, including the road back to St-Jory. Otherwise, if I hadn't been able to escape or had been forced to retrace my steps, I don't know what I would have done. I would have had only one option: to hide somewhere and wait until daylight.

It might sound like a joke, but in reality, it was a strange experience that deserves serious reflection.

Here are some further explanations about those glowing spheres, which remained for about a week (from October 16 to 23, 1954) on the surrounding hills: during the day, nothing unusual could be seen; but each evening, at nightfall, the hillside became unusually active. These phenomena would appear as glowing orbs (there were about fifteen of them), moving along the slopes, darting in every direction...

They moved at high speed, descended abruptly, turned off, turned on again, came to a sudden stop, and then started moving once more - giving the impression they were trying to hide at times. From the way they behaved, these must have been extremely small craft (I can't claim to have seen flying saucers - unless they were miniature models) that skimmed just above the ground (perhaps barely two meters). During the day, they likely remained hidden in small wooded areas.

Every evening for a week, I observed them through binoculars for about an hour and a half, never tiring of watching - so incredible was the sight. Yet I couldn't make out their shape; one stood dumbfounded before such a spectacle, unable to grasp their movements or purpose in that place. We even showed them to a neighbor, who was amazed and couldn't make sense of these strange appearances. (It's possible these lights were more visible from a distance - appearing larger - than up close, and perhaps that's why the local people didn't notice anything.)

I would have contacted you immediately had I known your address at the time. These phenomena truly seemed extraordinary.

Landings of these kinds of luminous spheres happened more often than people might think, and during that time when such craft were flying over our country, one could have seen strange things at night while walking through the countryside. I myself noticed this on the night of October 16, 1954, simply by visiting two neighboring villages. But around 11 p.m., people usually don't go out - which is quite normal - and on top of that, one had to be paying close attention and carefully scanning all directions. That's why many of these phenomena went unnoticed.

Besides, many people don't believe in the mystery of flying saucers and have no interest in the topic. Others, frankly, don't even know what it is. That's why, in St-Sauveur, when I saw the phenomenon, I didn't say a word - not wanting to start an argument - not even to my two companions, who weren't very convinced whenever the subject came up. But I watched closely and carefully.

I had the opportunity to witness these phenomena, and I was deeply interested - I paid them very close attention. That may be why others didn't notice anything at all.

What I've just written may sound like a novel, but it is the truth. I have told you the facts as they happened and the impressions they left on me.