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October 7, 1954, Amiens, Somme:

Reference for this case: 7-Oct-54-Amiens.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

The regional newspaper Le Courrier Picard, of Amiens, for October 7, 1954, reported the events of the night in this city:

Mr. Albert Mignot, deputy head of handling, leaving the large hall, at the Petite Vitesse, saw a kind of luminous orange disc which passed in the sky, coming from the direction of Montières and heading towards Longueau. The contours of this mass were not well defined.

He first thought as a result of this peculiarity that it was a cloud of smoke, but he realized that it was not that, but that "it was an unknown craft, maybe what one calls a flying saucer."

Mr. Robert Pruvost, main team man who accompanied Mr. Mignot, was in charge of a fish cart, when he saw the luminous disc in the sky and it was he who had warned Mr. Mignot. He said it was an almost round object, yellow in color, which didn't look very high to him. He did not pay attention to a possible noise of the thing.

The two men had alerted their colleagues, who did not want to believe them, but the laborer Adrien Wiart, chief of the railway workers, arrived almost at the same time, reporting the same thing, which convinced the others.

Mr Wiart, heard by the newspaper, declared that having gone to the courtyard of the Petite Vitesse, he had seen in the sky an orange glow which came from the direction of Amiens and headed towards Longueau, at 20 minutes before 01:00 a.m.

He paused, wondering wether it was a searchlight from the 404th R.A.A. in maneuver. Above, he noticed, somewhat detached, a kind of small star which seemed to him to be part of the object, which he had seen during about fifteen seconds. Due to the darkness, he said, he could not assess the dimensions or the height of the object.

The deputy head of la Grande Vitesse, Mr. Petit, phoned to him to ask wether they had seen something, because two of his men had just told them that they had just seen a flying saucer.

Mr. Wiart declared himself skeptical initially, but now thinks that there is "something abnormal", while refusing to affirm that it was a flying saucer.

The newspaper quotes Mr. Michel Groué, maneuver brigadier:

"It was like a rugby ball, and orange in color, twice as long as it was high. A little above, I noticed a fire like you see on the masts of ships. The craft was heading to Longueuil."

"I was with my comrade Dubois and when we told our comrades what we had just seen, they did not want to believe us. Subsequently, in view of the other statements made to them, they ended up believing us."

"In any case, if this is what is called a flying saucer, well I can tell you that I have seen one."

Mr. Raymond Dubois, shunter driver, made similar statements to the newspaper:

"With my comrade Groué, we had just brought two wagons to unload them, when Groué exclaimed, look, look, a saucer. And indeed, I saw in the sky a kind of orange glow which moved in the direction of Longueau. As my engine was running, I can't say if the craft was making any noise. When we talked about what we had just seen, no one wanted to believe us and it took the testimonies of other comrades so that the incredulous realize the obvious."

The regional newspaper La Voix du Nord, in the Artois and the Somme issue for October 9, 1954, mentioned among other observations of "mysterious apparitions":

"At the Amiens station, during the night, MM. Albert Mignot, deputy head of handling; Robert Pruvost, main team man; Adrien Wiart, chief maneuver; Michel Groue, yard maneuver, and Raymond Dubois, loco-tractor driver, saw a mysterious craft fly over the city from west to east."

Reports:

[Ref. cpd1:] NEWSPAPER "LE COURRIER PICARD":

Scan.

Above
the Amiens train station...

During the night, a mysterious craft flew over Amiens and was seen above the station by many employees, who did not believe their eyes, but finally had to face the facts.

Mr. Albert Mignot, deputy head of handling, residing at 236, rue Saint-M[?], left the large hall, at the Petite Vitesse, around [?]:35, when he saw a sort of luminous disc of orange color which passed in the sky, coming from the direction of Montières and heading towards Longueau. The contours of this mass were not well defined.

At first, as a result of this peculiarity, Mr. Mignot thought it was a cloud of smoke, but he soon had to face the facts.

- It was an unknown craft, he told us, perhaps what is called a flying saucer. In any case it was not an illusion.

Mr. Robert Pruvost, main team man, 43, rue Pierre-Corneille, in Longpré, accompanied Mr. Mignot.

- When I was tending to a fish cart, he said, I saw a luminous disc in the sky. It was I who warned Mignot. It was an almost round object, yellow in color, which did not seem very high to me. I didn't realize whether it made any noise.

"We alerted our comrades, but they didn't want to believe us because they were convinced that we were telling them a story.

"But almost at the same time arrived the chief laborer Adrien Wiart, 8 allée des Fleurs, chief of the railwaymen, who made the same declarations as us and whose words convinced the skeptics."

In fact, Mr. Wiart, whom we saw at his home yesterday, told us that having gone to the courtyard of the Petite Vitesse, he had seen a light in the sky which came from the direction of Amiens and headed for Longueau.

It was twenty minutes to one o'clock, he said. I stopped, wondering wether it was a searchlight from the 404th R.A.A. in maneuver. Above, I noticed somewhat detached a kind of small star which seemed to me to be part of the mysterious object which I saw during about fifteen seconds. Due to the darkness, I could not get an idea of the dimensions of this object, nor of the height at which it was. It was orange in color.

The deputy head of G.V., Mr. Petit, telephoned us to ask if we had seen anything, because two of his men had just told them that they had just seen a flying saucer. It is surely the same machine as ours.

Until now, I was skeptical adds Mr. Wiart, but now I realize that there is something wrong. But as for saying that it is a flying saucer I would have to see it in daylight!

Mr. Michel Groué, maneuver brigadier, 5[?]4, chemin de la Folie, saw the famous object.

- It was like a rugby ball, he says, and orange in color, twice as long as it was high. A little above, I noticed a fire such as one sees on the masts of ships. The craft was heading towards Longueau.

"I was with my comrade Dubois and when we told our comrades what we had just seen, they did not want to believe us. Subsequently, in view of the other statements made to them, they ended up believing us.

"In any case, adds Mr. Groué, if this is what is called a flying saucer, well I can tell you that I saw one".

Mr. Raymond Dubois, shunter driver, residing at 12 rue Voltaire, made similar statements to us.

- With my comrade Groué, we had just brought two wagons to unload them, when Groué exclaimed, here, look, a saucer. And indeed, I saw in the sky a kind of orange light which moved in the direction of Longueau. As my engine

Scan.

was on, I can't tell wether the craft was making noise. When we talked about what we had just seen, no one in the hall wanted to believe us and it took the testimonies of other comrades for the incredulous to realize the obvious."

And in Hangest-sur-Somme

The "flying saucers" offensive continues in our Picardy skies, which certainly never saw so many. Hangest-sur-Somme, after so many other towns, has in turn been in turmoil since yesterday morning. It is, in fact, that two residents of this locality had the privilege - which each of us, in secret, wishes to get one day - of seeing something extraordinary crossing the sky.

During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, around 1 a.m., Mr. Philidor Léraillé, who is 72 years old and no longer works, stood up, as it often happens to him. Suddenly, while he was glancing out the window, he saw, in the darkness of the night, a kind of particularly luminous and brilliant ball which seemed to progress by leaps in the sky. This thing was heading in a southwest-northeast direction, was at an average altitude, but its speed was very high.

Surprised, Mr. Léraillé, who is a trustworthy person and well known in the region, woke up his wife who also saw the ball as it disappeared behind the horizon line, barred by a poplar plantation located in the Somme valley.

The apparition had lasted only about a minute, and although very short, it left the two old old people very perplexed. Was it a flying saucer? After all, why not, we've seen so much of them in the last few days...

[Ref. vdn1:] NEWSPAPER "LA VOIX DU NORD":

Scan.

ALWAYS
THE SAUCERS

No respite for the saucer researchers who, every evening and even every night, observe mysterious orange appearances in the Picardy sky. Among the people who claim to have seen mysterious craft in the sky we will quote Mr. and Mrs. Legendre, 97, rue Edmond-Rostand, in Amiens; then other people of Boves; Mr. Gilbert Urbain, farmer in Bernaville, is also on the list, as well as Miss Christiane Beaussaux, farm maid.

Apparitions also in the region of Péronne and more especially in Longueval, Roisel, Doing-Flamicourt, Cartigny, Etricourt-Manancourt and Hangest-sur-Somme.

At the Amiens station, during the night, MM. Albert Mignot, deputy head of handling; Robert Pruvost, main team man; Adrien Wiart, chief maneuver; Michel Groue, yard maneuver, and Raymond Dubois, loco-tractor driver, saw a mysterious craft fly over the city from west to east.

Explanations:

Map.

Unidentified.

I cannot say that this was an extraterrestrial craft, but the case is quite intriguing. It lacks all the usual descriptions (trail, sparks, dazzling) made when a meteor is unidentified by witnesses.

Map.

Keywords:

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

Amiens, Somme, Albert Mignot, Robert Pruvost, Adrien Wiart, Michel Groue, Raymond Dubois, craft, disk, bright, orange, blurry, cloud, round, yellow, glow, moving, star, oval, rugby, moving

Sources:

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

Document history:

Version: Created/Changed by: Date: Change Description:
1.0 Patrick Gross October 25, 2021 First published.
1.1 Patrick Gross March 12, 2022 Addition [cpd1]. In the Summary, addition of the information from [cpd1]. Case date changed from beginning of October to October 7. Explanations changed, were "Totally insufficient information."

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This page was last updated on March 12, 2022.