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URECAT - UFO Related Entities Catalog

URECAT is a formal catalog of UFO related entities sightings reports with the goal of providing quality information for accurate studies of the topic. Additional information, corrections and reviews are welcome at patrick.gross@inbox.com, please state if you wish to be credited for your contribution or not. The main page of the URECAT catalog is here.

December 26, 1947, Plescop. Morbihan, France, Thérèse Le Cam, Annic and Monique Goasguen:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

It was in the 1948 Press via the Reuters news agency that the case became known for the first time. The newspapers reported that girls from Plescop in France said that they were going to church on December 26 and that they were stunned by a fireball that fell from the sky, from which a young girl came out, radiant, dressed in a long blue dress, who told them she is the Virgin Mary and asked them to come back to the same place the next day.

The next day, the Press told, they returned to the place and saw the "Virgin Mary" accompanied by "Archangel Gabriel!"

The "Virgin" told them four great secrets that the girls refused to divulge. Their story drew many pilgrims from all over France to the very place where they first saw the appearance.

Researchers studying such things gave the following details:

This took place near Plescop, Morbihan, France, in the Diocese of Vannes. Thérèse Le Cam, 15, Annie and Monique Goasguen, 13 and 11, said that from December 26, 1947 to February 27, 1948, at a place called Kergroix, they saw the "Virgin": "We saw a fireball on the hedge [...] A lady appeared "who told them not to be afraid", that she is "the Mother of Jesus, the Virgin", accompanied by "angel Gabriel" according to one of the seers.

They claimed they heard these words: "Pray a lot for France and for sinners." On December 27, 1947, at the second apparition, the "Virgin" reportedly alluded to the previous appearances of the Ile-Bouchard, also in France, saying "Near Tours, children are praying at the church, go you also pray at the church."

Dozens of people met every night at the place. On January 3, 1948, one of the visionaries asked the apparition to make a sign by healing a blind man, but in vain. A sign is still asked on February 27, 1948, to which the "Virgin" replies that "As long as people are mean, I will not make any sign, Our Lord and I are scandalized by people." The diocesan bishop did not take these events seriously, there was no validation by the Church.

It was in 1974 that the well-known author Erich von Däniken took over the case in one line saying only "12/26/1947 Mary appears to girls Thérèse Le Cam, Annik and Monique Goasguen of Pleskop [sic], near Vannes, in France, as the Immaculate Conception", this, in his opinion, being a manifestation of the "Gods", that is to say, extraterrestrials mistaken for gods by humanity. Then ufologist Albert Rosales included this in one of his books on "encounters with humanoids", with no more details than von Däniken.

Basic information table:

Case number: URECAT-001817
Date of event: December 26, 1947 and on.
Earliest report of event: January 8, 1947
Delay of report: 1 day,
Witness reported via: Told people.
First alleged record by: Reuters Press agency.
First certain record by: Newspaper.
First alleged record type: Press agency.
First certain record type: Newspaper.
This file created on: October 23, 2018
This file last updated on: October 23, 2018
Country of event: France
State/Department: Morbihan
Type of location: Places called Kergroix near Plescop.
Lighting conditions: Not reported.
UFO observed: Yes
UFO arrival observed: Yes
UFO departure observed: Not reported.
UFO/Entity Relation: Certain.
Witnesses numbers: 3
Witnesses ages: 15, 13, 11
Witnesses types: Girls.
Photograph(s): No.
Witnesses drawing: No.
Witnesses-approved drawing: No.
Number of entities: 1
Type of entities: "Blessed Virgin"
Entities height: Not reported.
Entities outfit type: Long blue dress.
Entities outfit color: Blue.
Entities skin color: Not reported.
Entities body: Not reported. "Blessed Virgin".
Entities head: Not reported.
Entities eyes: Not reported.
Entities mouth: Not reported.
Entities nose: Not reported.
Entities feet: Not reported.
Entities arms: Not reported.
Entities fingers: Not reported.
Entities fingers number: Not reported.
Entities hair: Not reported.
Entities voice: Yes, speaks witness language.
Entities actions: Came out of UFO, spoke to witnesses, said she is the "Virgin Mary", refused to heal blind person, confides 4 secrets to keep undisclosed.
Entities/witness interactions: Spoke to witnesses, said she is the "Virgin Mary", refused to heal blind person, confides 4 secrets to keep undisclosed.
Witness(es) reactions: Observed, went, reported, went back, observed again, asked for miracle.
Witness(es) feelings: Not reported.
Witness(es) interpretation: The "Blessed Virgin".
Explanation category: Children religious invention, not UFO-related.
Explanation certainty: High.

Narratives:

[Ref. lp1:] "LA PATRIE" NEWSPAPER:

PARIS, France, 8 (Reuters). -- Three girls from the Brittany village of Plescop, near Rennes, claim to have had a vision of the Virgin Mary twice in the last two weeks, as reported yesterday the evening papers of Paris. Four young girls from the Bouchard Island, in the department of Indre-et-Loire, in the center of France, said on December 13 that the Virgin had appeared to them and had ordered them to build a cave in her honor,

The girls from Plescop said that they were going to church on December 26 and that they were stunned by a fireball that fell from the sky, from which emerged a radiant girl, dressed in a long blue dress.

She told them that she was the Virgin Mary and asked them to come back to the same place the next day, the girls said. The next day they returned to see the Virgin Mary accompanied by the Archangel Gabriel! The Virgin confided to them four great secrets.

The girls refused to divulge these secrets. Their story drew many pilgrims from all over France to the very place where they first saw their appearance.

[Ref. ed1:] ERICH VON DANIKEN:

26.12.1947 Mary appeared to the girls Therese Le Cam, Annik and Monique Goasguen from Pleskop [sic], near Vannes, France, as the Immaculate Conception.

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Albert Rosales indicates that in Pleskop [sic] near Vannes, France, on December l6, 1947, at an unknown time, three local girls, Therese Le Cam, Annica and Monique Goasguen reported encountering the Virgin Mary. Albert Rosales says that there is no other information.

The source is indicated as "Erich Von Daniken 'Erscheinungen'".

Points to consider:

Erich von Däniken, (www.daniken.com), Swiss citizen, born in 1935, became famous by publishing from 1968 on, books translated worldwide claiming the influence of extraterrestrial visitors on the first human civilizations - what is now called the "Ancient Astronaut Theory". He used ideas already published in France by author Robert Charroux. In his book "Erscheinungen", there is a list of "Blessed Virgin" appearances reports, briefly described and without any indication of sources, such as this one, which he attributed to extraterrestrials influencing humanity through such supernatural manifestations of religious appearance. Some ufologists share this point of view and therefore cited the reports of this list, without any other effort.

The "Dictionnaire des 'apparitions' de la Vierge Marie" by Laurantin and Sbalchiero [ls1] says:

PLESCOP (France, Morbihan, Diocese of Vannes): From December 26, 1947 to February 27, 1948, at the locality of Kergroix, Thérèse Le Cam, fifteen years old, Annie and Monique Goasguen (thirteen and eleven years old) say they see the Virgin. "We saw a fireball on the hedge [...] A lady appeared and said: "Do not be afraid, I am the Mother of Jesus, the Virgin, I am accompanied by the angel Gabriel", says one of the seers.

They hear these words: "Pray a lot for France and for sinners." On December 27, 1947 (second appearance), the Virgin would have alluded to the appearances of L'Ile-Bouchard: "Near Tours, the children are praying at the church, you too will pray at the church."

Dozens of people meet every night at the scene. On January 3, 1948, one of the clairvoyants * asks for the appearance of a sign *, that is the cure * of a blind man, in vain. A sign is asked again on February 27, 1948. We get these words in response: "As long as people are mean, I will not make any sign, Our Lord and I are outraged by people."

The diocesan bishop did not take these events seriously.

B.: Billet, Vraies et Fausses Apparitions, 1973, 11; Bulletin mensuel de la Société polymathique du Morbihan, n° 1602, janvier 1997; Ernst, 154; Däniken, 313; La Liberté du Morbihan, 9 and 14 January 1948; E. Tizané, Les Apparitions de la Vierge: un enquêteur laïc s'interroge, Paris, 1977; Turi, 1988, 411. P.S.

The irony here is that, for once, ufologists could have talked of a "UFO" because of the "fireball" but both von Däniken and Rosales seem to have missed it.

That being said, this "UFO" is quite dubious, since in the Press it is "a ball of fire that fell from the sky, from which came out" the "Virgin", who thus could be called a "UFO occupant". But in Laurantin and Sbalchiero, the girls only "saw a fireball on the hedge" and the "Lady appeared" without being explicitly said to have emerged from the ball of fire.

Be that as it may, there is little reason to give credence to the stories of these children. This kind of story was then almost common, but there was never anything to suggest that there is anything real in all this. Thus, one finds here a "quasi-constant" of such alleged "appearances": people come to attend the appearances once the children have made their claims, but they do not see anything of what the children claim to see.

Imagine that a child tells some ufologists near them: "I see an alien in front of me" and that these ufologists see nothing. What would they conclude? I think that apart from some lunatics, none would consider having proven facts here.

List of issues:

Id: Topic: Severity: Date noted: Raised by: Noted by: Description: Proposal: Status:
1 Data Severe October 23, 2018 Patrick Gross Patrick Gross No detailed primary source available. Help needed. Opened.

Evaluation:

Children religious invention, not UFO-related.

Sources references:

* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

Document history:

Authoring

Main Author: Patrick Gross
Contributors: None
Reviewers: None
Editor: Patrick Gross

Changes history

Version: Created/Changed By: Date: Change Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross October 23, 2018 Creation, [lp1], [ed1], [ar1], [ls1].
1.0 Patrick Gross October 23, 2018 First published.

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This page was last updated on October 23, 2018.