The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 3-oct-54-LaGuerche.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit No. 319 of July 1993 reported that on October 3, 1954, around 2 a.m., in the region of La Guerche, in the Vienne department, a greenish phenomenon in the shape of a cup was observed by the young Marcel Debrade who arrived from Bourges by train to go to his parents living in the estate of ??le "Geai".
He had also found that there was, on the side of "Claurie", "a flying saucer, but this time the machine looked like a coffee cup and was of a greenish color."
"The young man specifies that the road and the meadows were illuminated and as soon as it appeared, everything fell into darkness."
The magazine indicated that the source of the story was the newspaper Le Berry Républicain for October 5, 1954.
In 1979, in their book "La Grande Peur Martienne" ("The Great Martian Scare"), the two "skeptical" ufologists Gérard Barthel and Jacques Brucker gave the same story with the same source, saying that "like all the other investigators", they were "fooled" with regard to the case of La Guerche-sur-l'Aubois in the Cher department of October 3, 1954.
They explain that they found Mr. Debrade in the Paris area where he was living now and that he was very surprised with their questions, that the case was a big joke and that at the village cafe they had even said that in addition to the saucer and the cup, some had observed the croissant.
The case will continue to be published in several summaries with various locations and without mention of what Barthel and Brucker had written.
A reader of my Website found out in 2021 that the location is not "route de la Claurie" but "route de la Clauris" and the resort is not "Le Geai" but "le Jay".
Finally, in 2025, I found the Press article in the regional newspaper Le Berry Républicain for October 5, 1954; it reported:
On Sunday, around 2 a.m., young Marcel Debrade, returning from Bourges by train and heading to his parents' home at the "Geal" estate, also observed a flying saucer on the "Claurie" hill. This time, however, the object resembled a coffee cup and was greenish in color.
[Ref. brn1:] NEWSPAPER "LE BERRY REPUBLICAIN":
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On Friday, around 7:30 p.m., Mrs. Rousselet, residing at the "Moulin de l'Oie" farm in La Guerche, was closing the shutters of her house when she saw a large luminous ball in the sky, reddish in color, which at times took the shape of a cigar. In the middle of the ball, she noticed what appeared to be small filaments. This event was also witnessed by Mrs. Villepreux, the lock keeper at the "L'Oie" lock.
On Sunday, around 2 a.m., young Marcel Debrade, returning from Bourges by train and heading to his parents' home at the "Geal" estate, also observed a flying saucer on the "Claurie" hill. This time, however, the object resembled a coffee cup and was greenish in color.
The young man specified that the road and fields were illuminated, and as soon as the object appeared, everything suddenly plunged into darkness.
On Sunday evening, popular cycling champion Robert Verdenal was returning around 9 p.m. from La Chapelle-Hugon and heading to Grossouvre when, suddenly, a circular shape brightly lit with fiery red glows appeared in the sky ahead of him. The object seemed to hover for a few seconds before suddenly disappearing toward the East. It should be noted that Robert Verdenal was not alone and asserts that he was not experiencing a hallucination.
Two young students from the class of Mr. Chataignier, director of the Vierzon-Bourgneuf school, claim to have seen flying saucers and provided a detailed description to their director. First, young Alain Baumgarten, living in La Petite Loeuf, along with some friends, was stunned when he spotted an object moving through the sky on Thursday morning around 10:30 a.m.
Then, on Friday evening around 7 p.m., young Jean Rousseau saw a luminous object in his parents' garden, which spun around itself before rapidly ascending into the sky.
Should we place much importance on what imaginative children say at their age? They saw something, and to them, that’s all that matters!
On Saturday around 8 p.m., Mrs. Estève Michel, Mr. Jean Bureau, Mr. Gustave Gadoin, and several other residents of Rians observed for about 15 minutes a luminous ball in the direction of Sainte-Solange, which slowly descended vertically. Then, near the horizon, it moved to the right before disappearing. The observers cannot confirm that it was a flying saucer, but given how frequently these luminous objects are reported, it would be easy to label it as such. Will we soon get the explanation everyone is waiting for?
Last Sunday, Mr. Jules Prunget, secretary of the town hall in Pommiers (Indre), was in his garden when his attention was drawn to a very bright yellow-orange object moving from north to south at high speed about 600 meters above the ground. Mrs. Nicaud, who was standing at her door, also saw this strange sight. She described the object as cigar-shaped, about three meters long, with the front larger than the back. No noise or smoke came from it. It was visible for only a few seconds.
The sky over Château-Chinon, according to testimony from five people whose sincerity is beyond doubt, was crossed by one of these mysterious luminous objects now widely known as flying saucers.
The strange sighting occurred around 9 p.m.. This time, the object appeared as an oval-shaped luminous patch seemingly moving at a very high altitude in the sky. At one point, the patch seemed to split into two parts, and each part began spinning rapidly, changing colors several times. Then, it faded, and after a few minutes, the luminous patch reappeared, split again, and started spinning. This phenomenon repeated itself five times before the eyes of the five witnesses.
[Ref. ldl1:] UFOLOGY MAGAZINE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
On October 3, 1954, at about two in the morning, in the area of La Guerche, in the département of the Vienne, a greenish phenomenon with the shape of a cup has been observed. The indicated source is the newspaper "Le Berry Républicain" for Tuesday, October 5, 1954:
"Sunday towards 2:00 in the morning, the young Marcel Debrade who arrived from Bourges by the train returned to his parents living in the domain of the "Geai": he also noted on the side of "la Claurie" a flying saucer, but this time the machine resembled a coffee cup and was of a greenish color."
"The young man specified that the road and meadows were illuminated and as soon as it appeared, all sunk into darkness (after the disappearance of the phenomenon)."
[Ref. bbr1:] GERARD BARTHEL AND JACQUES BRUCKER:
The two authors indicate that "like all the other investigators", they "fell into the trap" with regard to the case from La Guerche-sur-l'Aubois in the Cher on October 3, 1954, of which they give this text according to the newspaper "Le Berry Républicain" for October 5, 1954:
"The young Marcel Debrade who arrived from Bourges by the train returned to his parents living in the domain of the "Geai": he also noted on the hill of "la Claurie" a flying saucer, but this time the machine resembled a coffee cup and was of a greenish color."
"The young man specifies that the road and the meadows were illuminated and when it disappeared all fell into the darkness."
They say that they found Mr. Debrade in the Paris area where he lives today and which that he was very surprised of their questions, as the case was a big joke and that at the villages coffee-shop they had even said that in addition to the saucer and the cup, some had observed the croissant ["croissant" translates into "crescent", it is a French muffin you eat at breakfast with a cup of coffee].
[Ref. tie1] "TOURAINE INSOLITE" WEBSITE:
The author indicates that on Sunday October 3, 1954 towards 02:00 a.m., the young Marcel Debrade who arrived from Bourges by the train returned at his parents' living in the domain of "Geai". He noticed, on the side of the "La Claurie", a flying saucer, which resembled a coffee cup and was of a greenish color. The young man specified that the road and the meadows were illuminated and as soon it [or he] had appeared, all fell into the darkness, after the disappearance of the phenomenon.
The source is indicated as "Le Berry Républicain" for Tuesday, October 5, 1954.
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Vienne in Dercé on October 3, 1954 at the location "La Guerche" around two hours of the morning, a greenish phenomenon in the shape of a cup was observed.
My website ufologie.net (at this obsolete URL) is indicated as source.
[Ref. tie2:] "TOURAINE INSOLITE" WEBSITE:
The author of the website indicates that in La Guerche, on October 3, 1954, at 2:00, there was an "Observation of flying saucer, which resembled a coffee cup and which was of a greenish color for this case, it would seem that it occurred in the surroundings of La Guerche, which had a station at the time, no indication on the place indicated".
[Ref. tie3:] "TOURAINE INSOLITE" WEB FORUM :
La Guerche, October 3, 1954, 02:00.
Observation of a flying saucer, which resembled a coffee cup and which was of a greenish color for this case, it would seem that it occurred in the surroundings of La Guerche, which had a station at the time, not indication on the mentioned place
[Ref. jqy1:] JEAN DE QUERCY:
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37/17 - 1954 on October 03 - La Claurie
It is another curious phenomenon that was reported by a witness arriving from Bourges at "la Claurie" while he was going to his parents. He described it as having the shape of a coffee cup. The object had a green hue and the whole area was illuminated by the machine. At the disappearance of the object everything became dark again. It was around 02:00 in the morning.
(Source: Le Berry Républicain du for October 05, 1954)
[Ref. lec1:] COURRIEL D'UN LECTEUR:
Subject: 3-Oct-54-La-Guerche
From: [Firstname] [Name]
Date: January 27, 2021
Hello,
First of all I want to congratulate you on your website, which I must say is a very nice database.
It was while looking out of curiosity for cases of 1954 that occurred in my department, namely Cher, that I came across the case of October 3, 1954 in La Guerche sur l'Aubois.
I think I can definitively solve the supposed problem of the location of the sighting. It is all a question of spelling that the journalist at the time certainly did not take the time to check. In fact, close to La Guerche sur l'Aubois there is the route de la Clauris (and not Claurie) which leads to the Domaine du Jay (and not du Geai). This place is 3 km from the town's train station (still active).
The Domaine du Jay is currently a resort of guest rooms easily found on the Internet. A little investigation could determine whether the place was previously inhabited by a Debrade family.
I find it astonishing that Messrs Barthel and Brucker managed to find the witness from Paris without having provided the precision of the true location of this supposed observation. I do not know these authors, but in my opinion it is not a guarantee of great seriousness.
Attached are some shots from google maps.
Hoping that this little contribution will be useful.
In friendship,
[Firstname] [Name].
Pièces jointes:
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Probable invention.
I note that the place is not very clear since we have:
As of the place called "La Claurie" and "Le Geai", I failed to locate them.
The "witness" being supposed to return from Bourges by train to go to his parents, the correct place is probably La Guerche-sur-l'Aubois in the Cher department.
The question of the location is thus solved by my reader ([lec1]).
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
La Guerche-sur-l'Aubois, Cher, La Claurie, Le Geai, La Guerche, Vienne, green, greenish, cup, Marcel Debrade, road, La Claurie, Geai, machine, object, landing, illumination, night
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | December 12, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 9, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Addition [lcn1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | January 18, 2009 | Addition [tie1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | July 9, 2010 | Addition [tie2]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | October 19, 2011 | Addition [tie3]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | July 26, 2019 | Additions [jqy1], Summary. Explanations chaged, were: "Hoax." |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | February 19, 2021 | Addition [lec1]. In the Explanations, addition of the part "Update February 19, 2021". In the Summary, addition of "A reader of my Website found out in 2021 that the location is not 'route de la Claurie' but 'route de la Clauris' and the resort is not 'Le Geai' but 'Le Jay'." |
| 1.6 | Patrick Gross | March 25, 2025 | Addition [brn1]. In the Summary, addition of the information from [brn1]. |
