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The 1954 French flap:

The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.

June 24, 1954, Brétigny-sur-Orge, Essonne:

Reference for this case: 24-jun-54-Bretigny.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

In his book "Alerte Dans Le Ciel" of 1956, journalists and ufologist Charles Garreau reports that on June 24, 1954, around 03:30 p.m., the pilot of an "Ouragan" jet fighter plane who was preparing to land in perfect visibility conditions on the Brétigny-sur-Orge base and test center, began his turn, when he saw two objects that moved parallel to his own trajectory, three-quarters front left of his plane.

He made a turn to intercept them and found himself 3 kilometers behind them instead of being at their level.

Charles Garreau gives the report of this pilot as follows:

"I took them for two marauding 'F 84', they were following approximately course 220. I decided to intercept them and I started a turn to catch them, this turn should have normally brought me to their position. To my amazement, I found myself 3 kilometers behind them!"

"I never saw anything like that in the sky! The two objects appeared to me like two ovoid fuselages, seen at the end, and bound by a beam, their spacing was 40 meters, their altitude of 9000 meters. Despite having put all the thrust on, I could not get closer to it. They had to move at a supersonic speed. And, strange thing, they 'waddled'."

Charles Garreau said he received the file of this observation in 1955 by Lieutenant-Colonel Martin, from the scientific bureau of the Air Ministry, who had then told him:

"Here is another quite irritating story, and to which we could not give an explanation."

He notes that the control tower had indicated no other aircraft in the area, and that based on the precise information in this report, the Scientific Bureau has carried out several reconstitution tests, and that all their investigators were able to establish from the pilot's indication that the object filled three-quarters of its front window, it that it must have been in reality either was much larger or much closer, and that it did not look like any known craft or prototype.

Reports:

[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:

Scan.

June 24 [1954]

03:30 p.m.: Bretigny-sur-Orge (Seine-et-Oise) "flying scale"

[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:

In his book, French ufologist Aimé Michel had a footnote that the Bureau des Mystérieux Objets Célestes de l'Armée de l'Air (the Office for the Mysterious Heavenly Objects of the French Air Force) tried in vain to explain an observation of a "flying balance" made in June 1954 by a test pilot of Bretigny.

He refers the reader to page 139 of the book "Alerte dans le ciel."

[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:

106 23 06 1954 15 45 103 BRETIGNY F 1511 E

[Ref. gal1:] CHARLES GARREAU AND RAYMOND LAVIER:

These two French ufologists note in their book that on June 24, 1954, at about 03:30 P.M., he pilot of a fighter jet "Ouragan" who was on the point of landing on the air force base and test center of Brétigny sur Orge, started its turn when he saw two objects which moved in parallel with his own trajectory. He made a turn to intercept them and instead found himself 3 kilometers behind them instead of being closer to them.

The two authors obtained the information on the observation of pilots of the Brétigny airfield on June 24, 1954. The file had been communicated to Charles Garreau in 1955 by lieutenant-colonel Martin of the scientific office of the Ministry for the Air, who had then said to him:

"Here is again a rather irritating story, and to which we could not give explanation."

At 03:30 p.m., on June 24, 1954, a pilot of the flight test center was on the point of landing his "Ouragan" jet under perfect conditions of visibility. The control tower had not indicated any other aircraft in the area. Whereas he started a turn, the pilot saw on the three quarter left front of his plane two objects which evolved parallel to his own flightpath.

Charles Garreau gives the report of this pilot:

"I took them for two "F-84" in patrol. They roughly followed a 220° course. I decided to intercept them and I started a turn to catch up with them. This turn should normally have brought me at their level. I found myself, at my great amazement, 3 kilometers behind them!

"I had never seen anything similar thing in the middle of the sky! The two objects seemed to me two ovoid fuselages, seen in end, and bound by a beam. Their spacing was 40 meters, their altitude 9000 meters. Although having used full throttle, I could not get closer. They were to evolve at a supersonic speed. And, strange thing, they were wobbling."

Garreau indicates that based on the precise information of this report, the Scientific Office carried out several tests of reconstitution, and all that their investigators could establish according to the indications of the pilot, who had specified that the object filled three quarters of his front window, it is that actually this object was much larger or much nearer, and that in any event, it did not resemble any known aircraft or prototype.

[Ref. hia1:] CHARLES GARREAU, HISTORIA:

Charles Garreau points out that on June 24, an "Ouragan" jet of the flight test center of Bretigny had tried to intercept such a machine. Garreau provides the account of the pilot as follows:

"Never did I see a similar thing in the middle of the sky: the two objects seemed to me as two ovoid fuselages seen from the end, and bound by a beam. Their spacing was of forty meters, their altitude of 9 000 meters. Although I put on full throttle, I could not get closer. They must have evolved at a supersonic speed. And, strange thing, they were dandled..."

[Ref. gab1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "G.A.B.R.I.E.L.":

Scan.

THE SPHERES

[... other case...]

N° 2. 24/06/1954 Brétigny (Essonne) dimensions inconnues.

[... other cases...]

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

06 24 54 ( ) Bretigny 100V2

[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:

1954, June 24

FRANCE, Bretigny

Around 3:30 p.m. the pilot of a "Hurricane" was about to land, began his turn and saw two objects moving parallel to his own trajectory. He made a turn to intercept them and found himself 3 km behind them, instead of being level with them! "The two objects appeared to me to be ovoid, seen end-on and linked by a beam. Their spacing was 40 meters, their altitude 9000 meters." They moved at supersonic speed and "waddled". (GARREAU and LAVIER: "Face aux extraterrestres" - DELARGE 1975 - J'ai Lu, p. 238, 239)

[Ref. cee1] C.E.R.P.H.E ASSOCIATION:

DATE: 24/06/1954

TIME: 03:30 P.M.

DEPT: ESSONNE

LOCATION: BRETIGNY AIRPORT

TYPE: 1

REPORT:

Piloting an "Ouragan", a pilot of the flight test center was on the point of landing. The visibility was perfect. The control tower had not indicated any other apparatus in the sector. However, whereas he started a turn, the pilot saw two objects which evolved parallel to his own trajectory, on the three quarter left front of his plane.

"I took them for two "F 84" in patrol, he wrote in his report. They followed a course to 220 roughly. I decided to intercept them and I started a turn to catch up with them. This turn should normally have brought me to their level. I found myself, at my great amazement, 3 kilometers behind them. Never, the pilot continues, did I see similar thing in full sky! The two objects seemed to me two ovoid fuselages, seen from an end, and bound by a beam. Their spacing was of 40m, their altitude of 9000m. Although having given full throttle, I could not approach them. They were to evolve at a supersonic speed. And, strange thing, they were dandled."

Basing itself on the precise information of this report, the scientific office carried out several tests of reconstitution. All that the investigators could establish according to the indications of the pilot, who had specified that the object filled the three quarter of his windshield, that this object was actually much larger or much nearer. In any case, it did not resemble any apparatus or known prototype.

The strange machine, chased in vain by the pilot of the "Ouragan," was seen again on October 18 between Saintes and Royan, by two motorists. The two witnesses made an almost word for word identical description to that of the pilot: an object in the shape of balance which was dandled in the sky.

[Ref. dwn1:] DOMINIQUE WEINSTEIN:

Date 54.06.24
Time 15:30
Country France
Location Bretigny Flight test center
M [=Military]
Type of plane and witness a Dassault Ouragan jet pilot
UFO description two ovoid fuselage-shaped objects flying in formation.
Radar
Codes G X E
Source 14 [=Bernard Thouanel]

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:

Luc Chastan indicates that in the Essonne in Brétigny sur Orge on June 24, 1954 at 15:30 hours, "Towards 15:30 the pilot of an 'Ouragan' was on the point of landing, started his turn and saw two objects which moved parallel to his own trajectory. He made a turn to intercept them and found himself 3 km behind them, instead of being at their level! 'The two objects appeared ovoid to me, seen from the end and linked by a beam. Their spacing was 40 meters, their altitude 9000 meters.' They moved at supersonic speed and were 'dandled'."

The sources are indicated as "Face aux Extra terrestres by Garreau and Lavier ** DELARGE 1975" and "UFOs at Close Sight by Gross Patrick ** http://ufologie.net" [Old URL of my Website.].

[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on 23 June 1954 at 15:45 in Bretigny, France, "An unidentified object was sighted, but with appearance and behavior that most likely would have a conventional explanation. One object was observed by one witness for over three minutes. Explanation: Planet."

The sources are indicated as "Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Vallee, Jacques, Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma, Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1966; Vallee, Jacques, Preliminary Catalog (N = 500), (in JVallee01)".

[Ref. yho1:] YVES HERBO:

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

UFOs: 1950s, pilots and military witness [sic]

In this article a little "specialized", you will find real testimonies of civilian or military pilots, but also of military personnel on the ground (gendarmes too) involved during appearances of identified aerial phenomena ... as not being explicable by natural or technologically human phenomena... All these testimonies are excerpts from various known books and from several periods, many in France but also in other parts of the world, and have all been the subject of verifications and investigations, both by ufologists than by official services such as gendarmeries or military police or counter-intelligence ... The sources are listed at the end of the article. This article is part of a historical informative and educational investigation and is composed of extracts limited exclusively to a well-defined topic.

(1): Brétigny airfield, June 24, 1954. "This file was communicated to me, in 1955, by the scientific office of the Ministry of Air, while I gathered the documentation of my first book "Alerte dans le ciel." "Here again is a rather irritating story, and which we have been unable to explain," Lieutenant-Colonel Martin told me, handing it to me.

It was approximately 03:30 p.m., June 24, 1954. At the controls of an "Ouragan", a pilot of the flight test center was about to land. The visibility was perfect. The control tower had indicated no other devices in the area. However, as he began a turn, the pilot saw, on the left three quarter in front of his plane, two objects that were evolving parallel to his own trajectory.

"I took them for two marauding F 84s," he wrote in his report, "they were following approximately course 220. I decided to intercept them and I started a turn to catch them. This turn should have brought me at their position. I found myself, to my amazement, 3 kilometers behind them! Never, continues the pilot, I saw something like that in the sky! The two objects appeared to me like two ovoid fuselages, seen at the end. And they were bound by a beam, their spacing was 40 meters, their altitude was 9000 meters, and although I put on full throttle, I could not get close to it, they had to move at a supersonic speed. They were 'waddling'."

Based on the specific information in this report, the Scientific Bureau conducted several reconstitution tests. All that the investigators could establish according to the indications of the pilot, who had specified that the object filled three quarters of his front window, it is that in fact this object was much bigger or much closer. In any case, it did not look like any known craft or prototype.

The strange machine, vainly chased by the pilot of the "Ouragan", was seen on October 18, 1954, between Saintes and Royan, by two motorists. The two witnesses repeat almost word for word the description of the pilot: a "scale-shaped" object that waddles in the sky"...

[... other cases...]

(1), (2), (3), [...]: "Face aux Extra-Terrestres - Le dossier français des atterrissages (1947-1975)" by Charles Garreau and Raymond Lavier, Editions Jean-Pierre Delarge (1975)

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

Case Nr. New case Nr. Investigator Date of observation Zip Place of observation Country of observation Hour of observation Classification Comments Identification
19540623 23.06.1954 Bretigny France 15.45
19540623 23.06.1954 Bretigny France 15.45

Explanations:

Map.

Probable extraterrestrial craft.

The MD-450 Ouragan by Dassault (Below) was the first productive military jet plane of French construction, produced from 1951 to 1954. Propelled by a Hispano-Suiza Nene 104B engine of 2270 kg thrust, it was able to reach 640 km/h.

Ouragan.

Due to the 1954 wave in France, a meeting of the cabinet of Pierre Mendès-France, President of the Council, with Emmanuel Temple, Minister of National Defense and the Armed Forces, and other officials, reportedly resulted in the creation in mid-October 1954 of the "SEMOC" (Section of Study of the Mysterious Celestial Objects), the first official group in France to investigate this issue. The existence of the SEMOC would be indicated in the Journal Officiel of January 12, 1955.

Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Martin, mentioned here by Charles Garreau, was apparently the SEMOC head.

No document resulting from what SEMOC was able to do or conclude would be published, and in 1955, it seems, this commission was apparently put to sleep.

Keywords:

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

Brétigny, Essonne, Army Air Force, Armée de l'Air, pilot, Ouragan, balance, rod, beam, link, linked, two, ovoid, oval, jet, supersonic, fast, maneuver

Sources:

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

Document history:

Version: Created/Changed by: Date: Change Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross April 20, 2006 First published.
1.0 Patrick Gross March 6, 2010 Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [lcn1], [uda1].
1.1 Patrick Gross June 17, 2010 Addition [jve5].
1.2 Patrick Gross December 4, 2016 Addition [ubk1].
1.3 Patrick Gross June 14, 2019 Additions [yho1], Summary.
1.4 Patrick Gross February 19, 2021 Addition [gqy1].
1.5 Patrick Gross April 26, 2022 Addition [gep1].
1.6 Patrick Gross June 25, 2022 Addition [goe1].
1.7 Patrick Gross July 15, 2022 Addition [gab1].

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