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The 1954 French flap:

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September 23, 1954, Bourges, Cher:

Reference for this case: 23-Sep-54-Bourges.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

In the press of September 28, 1954, on the sidelines of the observation at Jou, there was the mentions that there were other witnesses, including in Bourges, who had seen "at concordant hours" - which would mean at about 9 p.m. - "a luminous object."

Aimé Michel noted in 1958 on the side of the observation of Jou of September 23, 1954, that there were other witnesses, at the same time - so 9 or 10 p.m. - including in Bourges.

He wrote that these were odd luminosities that seemed to spring from the ground or from a spot on the ground that would be too low to be seen, or hidden by the forest of Vilaines.

He commented that it could not be a St. Elmo fire because seen on a sector too large and seen landing and going away, nor a helicopter because according to the report from Jou it would have had extraordinary headlights.

Reports:

[Ref. jps1:] NEWSPAPER "LE JOURNAL DU PAS-DE-CALAIS ET DE LA SOMME":

Scan.

A "luminous object"
reportedly chased
near Bourges the car
of a P.T.T. inspector

Bourges, 27. -- Mr. Robert Patient, assistant inspector of the PTT, living in Bourges, who, on Thursday evening, drove to Vasselay, with his wife and children, aged 11 and 10, said he had seen, that night, in the hamlet of Jou, north of Bourges, a singular object of extreme brilliance, seeming to come down into a field.

At the alleged landing point, a glowing reflection appeared. An incandescent filament about fifty meters long was in the center of the hemispherical object, the diameter of which approached fifteen meters.

For twenty to thirty seconds, it was dark. Suddenly there was a new light above the horizon. Mr. Patient, who had stopped his car, left, followed silently for a few hundred meters by the object; which then disappeared.

Other witnesses from Bourges, from Saint-Dolchard and from Vierzon, claim to have seen a luminous object at concordant hours.

[Ref. vmr1:] NEWSPAPER "VAR-MATIN REPUBLIQUE:"

Weirder and weirder!

Near Bourges: a luminous object follows a car

Bourges, September 27. -- Mr. Robert Patient, 35-year-old, assistant inspector of the postal and telecommunications authorities, resident of Bourges, who, Thursday evening went by car in Vasselay, in company of his wife and of his children, aged 10 and 11, states to have seen, that night there, in the hamlet of Jou, in the north of Bourges, a weird object of an extreme brilliance, which seemed to go down in a field. At the apparent spot of the supposed landing, a reddish reflection appeared. An incandescent filament long of 50 meters approximately, was in the center of the object, hemispherical, which diameter approached about fifteen meters.

During 20 to 30 seconds, it was the darkness. Suddenly, there was a new gleam above the horizon. Mr. Patient, who had stopped his car, started again followed silently during a few hundreds of meters by the object which then disappeared. Other witnesses of Bourges, St Dolchand and Vierzon claimed to have seen, at concordant hours, a luminous object.

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

Scan.

A luminous object
follows a car
near Bourges

BOURGES, September 27. -- Mr. Robert Patient, 35, assistant inspector of the P.T.T., living in Bourges, who, Thursday evening, drove to Vasselay, with his wife and children, aged 11 and 10, declared that he had seen, that night, in the hamlet of Jou, north of Bourges, a singular object, of extreme brilliance, seeming to descend into a field.

At the alleged landing spot, a glowing reflection appeared. An incandescent filament, about 50 meters long, was in the center of the hemispherical object, the diameter of which approached about fifteen meters.

For twenty to thirty seconds, it was dark. Suddenly there was a new light above the horizon.

Mr. Patient, who had stopped his car, left, followed silently for a few hundred meters by the object, which then disappeared.

Other witnesses from Bourges, from Saint-Dolchard and from Vierzon, claim to have seen a luminous object at concordant hours.

 

[Ref. nnm1:] NEWSPAPER "LE NOUVEAU NORD MARITIME":

Scan.

A LUMINOUS OBJECT
FOLLOWS A CAR
NEAR BOURGES

BOURGES, September 27. -- Mr. Robert Patient, 35, assistant inspector of the P.T.T., living in Bourges, who, Thursday evening, drove to Vasselay, with his wife and children, aged 11 and 10, declared that he had seen, that night, in the hamlet of Jou, north of Bourges, a singular object, of extreme brilliance, seeming to descend into a field.

At the alleged landing spot, a glowing reflection appeared. An incandescent filament, about 50 meters long, was in the center of the hemispherical object, the diameter of which approached about fifteen meters.

For twenty to thirty seconds, it was dark. Suddenly there was a new light above the horizon. Mr. Patient, who had stopped his car, left, followed silently for a few hundred meters by the object, which then disappeared. Other witnesses from Bourges, from Saint-Dolchard and from Vierzon, claim to have seen a luminous object at concordant hours.

[Ref. lcx1:] NEWSPAPER "LA CROIX":

Scan.

A "saucer"
follows a car
for several
hundreds of meters

For several hundred meters, a flying saucer followed a car, at least that is what Mr. R. Patient, assistant inspector of the P.T.T in Bourges, says.

Thursday evening, Mr. Patient going by car, to Vasselay, in the company of his wife and children, aged 11 and 10 years old, saw, that night, in the hamlet of Jou, north of Bourges, a peculiar object of extreme brilliance, seeming to descend into a field.

At the alleged landing spot, a glowing reflection appeared. An incandescent filament about 50 meters long was in the center of the object, hemispherical, the diameter of which approached about fifteen meters.

For twenty to thirty seconds it was darkness. Then suddenly there was a new glow above the horizon. Mr. Patient, who had stopped his car, left followed silently, for a few hundred meters, by the object which then disappeared.

Other witnesses in Bourges, in Saint-Dolchard and in Vierzon, claim to have also seen a luminous object at concordant hours.

Also, Mr. Besse, designer at the E.D.F., in Tulle, saw, distinctly, Friday evening, around 11 p.m., above the city, a flying saucer. Using powerful binoculars, he was able to follow, for a few moments, the maneuvers of the craft which changed, he said, three times its color in a few moments.

[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:

Aimé Michel notes on the side of the observation of Jou of September 23, 1954, that there were other witnesses, at the same time - so 9 or 10 p.m. - including in Bourges.

He wrote that these were odd luminosities that seemed to spring from the ground or from a spot on the ground that would be too low to be seen, or hidden by the forest of Vilaines.

He commented that it could not be a St. Elmo fire because seen on a sector too large and seen landing and going away, nor a helicopter because according to the report from Jou it would have had extraordinary headlights.

[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:

Scan.

September 23, 1954

9 p.m./10 p.m.: Bourges/Asnières/Saint Doulchard(Cher)

[Ref. gep1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "GEPO":

09 23 54 (21) Bourges(cher) 101 VX (4 07)

[Ref. fru1:] MICHEL FIGUET AND JEAN-LOUIS RUCHON:

The two ufologists indicate without further details that on September 23, 1954, in Bourges in the department of the Cher, a luminous object was observed, at the same hour than in Saint Doulchard and in Vierzon.

[Ref. via1:] UFOLOGY BULLETIN "VIMANA 21":

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28: A LUMINOUS OBJECT FOLLOWS A CAR NEAR BOURGE [sic] -

Mr. Robert Patient, 35, PTT inspector, who Thursday evening, driving to Vasselay in the company of his wife and children, declares having noticed that night, in the hamlet of Jou, north of Bourges, a peculiar object of extreme brilliance, seeming to descend into a field. At the presumed landing spot, a glowing reflection appeared. An incandescent filament about 50m long, was in the center of the hemispherical object, whose diameter was about fifteen meters. For 20 to 30 seconds, it was darkness. Suddenly, there was a new light above the horizon. He had stopped his car and he left, followed silently for a few hundred yards by the object, which then disappeared. Other witnesses from Bourges, from St-Dolchard [sic] and from Vierzon, claim to have seen at a concordant time, a luminous object.

The source is said to be the newspaper Le Bien Public.

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:

Luc Chastan indicates that in the Cher in Bourges on September 23, 1954 at 21:00 hours, there was an observation of a luminous object, without other details.

The source is indicated as "Ovni, Premier dossier complet... by Figuet M./ Ruchon J.L. ** Alain Lefeuvre pub. 1979."

[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":

This database recorded the case four times:

Case Nr. New case Nr. Investigator Date of observation Zip Place of observation Country of observation Hour of observation Classification Comments Identification
19540922 22.09.1954 Bourges France Night NL
19540923 23.09.1954 Bourges France
19540923 23.09.1954 Bourges France 09.00 p.m.
19540923 23.09.1954 Bourges France 09.00 p.m.

Explanations:

Map.

The information I have been able to find so far is obviously totally insufficient, since the "luminous object" could have been almost anything.

The fact that there were several observations of this luminous object from various places in the region at concordant hours suggests, of course, that it could have been a meteor.

There were several sightings - with approximate witnesses locations - that same nightin the Bourges area:

The Moon had set at 05:00 p.m. and rose only at 2:45 a.m. the next morning.

Keywords:

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

Bourges, Cher, luminous

Sources:

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

Document history:

Version: Created/Changed by: Date: Change Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross June 3, 2005 First published.
1.0 Patrick Gross January 3, 2009 Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Addition [lcn1].
1.1 Patrick Gross January 31, 2017 Addition [ubk1].
1.2 Patrick Gross September 23, 2019 Additions [via1], Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet."
1.3 Patrick Gross February 20, 2020 Additions [cpd1], [nnm1].
1.4 Patrick Gross April 24, 2020 Addition [jps1].
1.5 Patrick Gross January 23, 2021 Addition [lcx1].
1.6 Patrick Gross March 14, 2021 Addition [gqy1].
1.7 Patrick Gross April 11, 2022 Addition [gep1].

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