The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 15-Oct-54-Saint-Maurice-de-Lignon.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In the archive of the French ufology group SOS OVNIS, I found a transcription of an article from the regional newspaper L'Eveil de la Haute-Loire dated October 18–19, 1954, concerning the Italian high-altitude balloon that had been widely seen and sometimes mistaken for a "flying saucer" in southeastern and central France on October 15, 1954.
The newspaper noted that what was probably this balloon had been seen on October 15, 1954, around 5:40 p.m. at Saint-Maurice-de-Lignon, on the side of La Montagne and La Madeleine.
The newspaper's correspondent described it as follows: "a bright, motionless and very luminous dot, above all resembling a star."
[Ref. sos1:] NEWSPAPER "L'EVEIL DE LA HAUTE-LOIRE" - SOS OVNIS ARCHIVE:
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Quotidien "L'EVEIL DE LA HAUTE-LOIRE" (LE PUY,43) du lun 18 mar 19-10-54 p.1:
SAUCERS AND MARTIANS CONTINUE TO MAKE HEADLINES
TWO FARM WOMEN FRIGHTENED BY A BEING WITHOUT EARS
Two farm women from Livry-sur-Seine stated that, while walking in the woods of Usselle, near the commune, they saw a strange being lying on the path, deep in the forest.
It was the size of a man, but its body was covered with abundant brown hair. It had a round, hairy head, but no ears and extremely piercing eyes.
"It made a sign to us twice with its arm," they added, "but as we were not reassured, we did not dare pass in front of it and we made a detour of nearly 2 kilometers to avoid it."
Two children who were with the farm women also provided testimony and a very precise description.
Alerted by their cries, the farmers armed themselves with their hunting rifles and carried out a search, but in vain.
IT WAS DOUBTLESS THE MILAN WEATHER BALLOON
In many places throughout Haute-Loire and in the Massif Central, the luminous craft seen at Le Puy between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening was observed. Thus it was seen, around 5:40 p.m., at St-Maurice-de-Lignon, on the side of La Montagne and La Madeleine.
Our correspondent described it as follows: "a bright, motionless and very luminous point, above all resembling a star."
The craft was also seen, in the same appearance, at Aurillac and in the Cantal, the Puy-de-Dôme, Corrèze, the Lot, Aveyron, the Creuse. It seems to be confirmed that it was the weather balloon launched from Milan, which our newspaper had announced as possibly heading toward Haute-Loire.
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Negative case: the Italian high-altitude balloon of that day.
The photo of the balloon by the Haute-Provence Observatory:
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See also what Aimé Michel wrote about this in 1958, and the 1968 note by Raymond Veillith on the same affair.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Saint-Maurice-de-Lignon, Haute-Loire, negative case, balloon, high-altitude balloon, luminous, spt, dot, star
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
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| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 4, 2026 | First published, [sos1]. |
