The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 15-sep-54-Tarbes.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The national weekly France Dimanche, in September 1954, reported that Mr. Hatchondo, teacher in the Gers, saw, on September 15, 1954, at 03:15 p.m., in the sky, overlooking the Arras valley, on the hills of the Gers and the plain of Tarbes, "these smoke trails" - sketch below in this file - then "a shining object in front of the smoke. The object disappeared, but a new trail of smoke appeared preceded by the object and crossed the first trail, then suddenly it made a fantastic leap and disappeared towards the northwest."
[Ref. fde1:] NEWSPAPER "FRANCE-DIMANCHE":
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On September 15 at 03:30 p.m., Mr. Hatchondo, a schoolteacher of the Gers, saw a smoke trail in the sky above the Arras valley, the Gers hills and the plain of Tarbes, then a brilliant object was seen in front of this smoke. The object disappeared, but then it reappeared leading a second smoke trail which crossed the first. Suddenly, it made a fantastic jump, and disappeared towards the northwest.
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[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
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September 15, [1954]
03:30 p.m.: Region of Tarbes (B.P.) (contrail)
[Ref. lgs1] LOREN GROSS:
The French newspaper France Dimanche published brief accounts of various UFO sightings accompanied by drawings in its October 10, 1954 issue. These were included in the monograph UFOs. A History 1954 September, pages 31-33. Translations by "ADNf' of the French text exist in NICAP files and are provided here for the reader's perusal. (See below)
[... Other cases...]
No. 3 Gers.
On September 15th at 3:30 p.m., M. Harthonde, a schoolmaster of Gers, saw a smoke trail in the sky above the Arros Valley, the Gers hills and the Tarbes plain. Then a brilliant object was seen in front of the smoke. This disappeared, but then it reappeared leading a second smoke trail which crossed the first. Suddenly, it made a fantastic jump, and disappeared toward the northwest.
[... Other cases...]
These French cases can be found on page 75 of the monograph UFOs: A History 1954 September. Translations of the French text were also done by NICAP's "ADM." [Alexandre Mebane]
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 15 September 1954 at 17:30 in Gers, France, "One object was observed by two witnesses in a yard (Hatchondo)."
The source is noted: "Newspaper Clippings".
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Probable one or two jet fighter planes and their contrails.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Tarbes, Hautes-Pyrénées, Hatchondo, teacher, smoke, trail, object, fast
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | June 25, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | May 24, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Addition [uda1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | December 16, 2016 | Addition [lgs1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | September 8, 2019 | Addition of the Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet. Possible airplane." |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | March 4, 2021 | Addition [gqy1]. |
