The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 3-Oct-54-Aulnoye-Aymeries.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In 1978, the "skeptical" ufologist Dominique Caudron, based in the Nord, cataloged sightings in the North of France of October 3, 1954, including one around 8:45 p.m., in Aulnoy: a foreman of the LMA factories reportedly saw the same phenomenon as the one in in Leval.
Caudron indicated that the source was the newspaper Nord Matin in the Avesnes issue for October 8, 1954, on page 3.
Around 2017, "skeptical" Dominique Caudron went back to the sightings in the Nord region for October 3, 1954, neglected by ufologists, including many that were previously unpublished, and mostly explainable by a red moon whose appearance was altered by clouds.
One of these observations was reported in the regional newspaper Nord Matin, Avesnes issue for October 8, 1954:
At approximately 08:45 p.m., in Aulnoye, in the Nord department, a foreman of the LMA factory reportedly saw the same phenomenon that in Leval; which would thus be "a luminous crescent whose center projected a white glow."
Dominique Caudron explained these observations as misinterpretations of the Moon, the object being in the same direction than the Moon and behaving like the Moon.
In 2020, Dominique Caudron published the original article from Nord Matin; which, reporting on three observations of October 3, 1954, evoked one of them as follows:
"Also, a foreman of the L.M.A. factories, residing on rue des Fleurs, in Aulnoye, who wished to remain anonymous, saw from his home and at the same time as Mr. Bermeja, the craft above the Forges of Leval."
The newspaper told, about witnesses to the three sightings:
"These people whose honesty cannot be doubted, are formal in their declaration, they deny having been the object of hallucination.*
"Mr. Desuel, commissioner of police recorded their observations in a formal report."
[Ref. nmn1:] NEWSPAPER "NORD-MATIN":
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The flying saucers are still relevant.
Aulnoye was also waiting for a visit of one of these hitherto mysterious craft, it's done now.
Sunday 3, at 8:45 p.m., Mr. Fabien Bermeja, taxi driver, very balanced man, went to Origny-en-Thiérache with several people on board. At the entrance to the town of Leval, his attention was drawn to an immobile, crescent-shaped luminous dot, the center of which projected a white glow, above the Forges of Leval-Aulnoye.
Shortly after, continuing on their way, the motorist and the passengers noticed that the craft changing appearance, moved, to take the direction of Maroilles and lost sight of it. But, after crossing Leval, the craft reappeared in their view, to see it disappear again behind a lonely house on the road which leads to Taisnières-en-Thiérache.
The car's driver who was going to this locality, arrived at a place called "Fontinette" took the turn and again the same people saw a white glow behind the isolated house.
Also, a foreman of the L.M.A. factories, residing on rue des Fleurs, in Aulnoye, who wished to remain anonymous, saw from his home and at the same time as Mr. Bermeja, the craft above the Forges of Leval.
Furthermore, it is reported that Mr. Colleur, cattle dealer at La Porquerie, hamlet of Pont-sur-Sambre, also saw between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., a mysterious craft moving noiselessly over the Hambre farm.
These people whose honesty cannot be doubted, are formal in their declaration, they deny having been the object of hallucination.
Mr. Desuel, commissioner of police recorded their observations in a formal report.
[Ref. dcn1:] DOMINIQUE CAUDRON:
The weekend of October 2-3 appears on all graphs as the maximum-maximorum of the 1954 wave. Although the work of counting the press of the time is not yet finished, the 118 various issues of newspapers and magazines I have been able to analyze for this period gives us an almost complete overview, in any case very broadly representative of the regional observations which were reported in the press for Sunday, October 3. I included the observations of the Somme which seemed to me inseparable from those of Nord - Pas-de-Calais and which also appear in the chapter entitled "Zigzag on the mining country" of the book by A. Michel: "Mystérieux Objets Célestes."
I count, as one case, each observation made by an independent group of witnesses. The astonishing quantity of observations reported below, shows once again the interest of thoroughly searching the newspaper archives.
OCTOBER 3, 1954:
[... other cases...]
21) At about 08:45 p.m., AULNOY _59_ A foreman of the LMA factories reportedly saw the same phenomenon as in Leval. (NM[Nord Matin]_Avesnes, p.3, 8/10)
[... other cases...]
Dominique Caudron explains that for this case as for others in the region at the time, it was a misinterpretation caused by a setting crescent moon barred by a cloud.
In his article, Dominique Caudron listed 46 cases for October 3, 1954 in the north of France; he explained that this corresponds to hundreds of witnesses who do not know each other within an hour and a half time interval, which gives an impression of a "real phenomenon".
He noted that the times do not always match, that there are gaps of up to 40 minutes for the same case depending to its different versions.
He noted that "all these cases are a bit similar", listing the part of the cases where the phenomenon splits in two, or where is said that a disc detached to go to the ground, and recalls that one of the witnesses, Mr. Bonte, explained that the moon was barred by a stratus.
He noted that in 5 of the cases the object is described as a crescent, in others it is a disc, a dome, a collar, in others it is compared to the moon. In 7 cases, the object is said to follow a moving car, but stops when the car stops.
He indicated that in 13 of the cases there was an indication of direction, always the southwest, where the moon was.
He indicated that in 7 cases the object was lowering on the horizon, and that the moon was indeed setting.
He noted that some cases may be explained by the hot air balloons of the retiree from Beuvry-les-Béthune.
[Ref. dcn3:] DOMINIQUE CAUDRON:
Dominique Caudron drew up an inventory of observations in the Nord on October 3, 1954, containing 51 reports, including this one:
[...]
Chronology of the observations of October 3.
We give here only a summary of what was published in the press of the time, for the nord region, regardless of what the ufologists could later say. We have numbered all these observations, the first of which have nothing to do with the setting of the moon, in order to be able to study them globally in a table. Some are already the subject of a special file.
[... other cases...]
21) About 08:45 p.m., AULNOYE (59)
- A foreman of the LMA factories would have seen the same phenomenon than in in Leval.
(Nord Matin-ed. Avesnes 8/10 page 3)
[... other cases...]
All this is only a compilation of the information given by all newspapers of the time, including local editions, and of which ufologists only used a part.
We will see that the analysis of this information makes it possible to eliminate the hypothesis of a flying saucer, in favor of those of multiple observations of the moon, whose image was reddened and deformed by clouds, which also gave it a illusory apparent movement.
[Ref. dcn4:] DOMINIQUE CAUDRON:
[... other cases...]
21) About 08:45 p.m., AULNOYE (59)
Proximity with the identifiable case of Leval.
[... other cases...]
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The Moon.
On the map below: the witness was probably at his home, therefore on the blue line which represents the rue des Fleurs in Aulnoye-Aymeries. The object being said to have been above the forges, was in a direction between the two yellow lines, i.e. between West-Southwest (252°) and South (180°).
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The Moon that evening at 8:45 p.m. from this location was indeed within this direction interval; it was at the azimuth of 222° 51', and the low elevation of 3° 5', favorable for misinterpretation. It was indeed a crescent, being in its last quarter with 36.5% of its surface lighted by the sun.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Aulnoye-Aymeries, Nord, Aulnoye, foreman, crescent, gleam, projection, white, Moon
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | June 5, 2019 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | April 28, 2020 | Addition [nmn1]. In the Summary, addition of "In 2020..." and what follows. Explanations changed, was "The Moon." |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | April 26, 2022 | Addition [dcn1]. In the Summary, addition of the information from [dcn1]. |
