The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 30-Sep-54-Sucé-sur-Erdre.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper La Résistance de l'Ouest, from Nantes, on October 4, 1954, reported that a person from Vallet, at 1:30 a.m., "on the night of Thursday to Friday," i.e., on September 30, 1954, he and others were facing the marshes of Sucé-sur-Erdre, when they saw "a craft in the shape of an elongated cylinder about 5 meters in diameter."
The supposed craft rose vertically for what appeared to be 300 meters, and appeared to be stationary for a few minutes.
It took off again shortly afterward "at the speed of a meteor."
[Ref. rot1:] NEWSPAPER "LA RESISTANCE DE L'OUEST":
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The saucers are multiplying, seemingly performing a real saraband in the sky.
On Wednesday, a resident of Le Pallet, driving a car, was around 8:30 p.m. at the intersection of the Nantes-Clisson and Haute-Goulaine roads, near Tournebride, when he saw in the sky a luminous object that appeared to be at about 1,500 meters altitude, with the diameter of a "no entry" road sign. The phenomenon was visible for about 10 seconds.
A person from Vallet, at the same hour, made the same observations...
"Returning from Chateaubriant at 1:30 a.m., in the night from Thursday to Friday, we were facing the marshes of Sucé when we saw a craft in the shape of an elongated cylinder, about 5 meters in diameter. This craft rose vertically — seemingly — about 300 meters and appeared to hover for a few minutes."
"It then departed shortly after at the speed of a meteor."
"On Friday evening, around 10:30 p.m., arriving at the top of Rue Guépin, I saw a luminous mass that first had an elliptical shape crossing the sky above Place Bretagne, seeming to head toward the Loire. This mass, which moved without the slightest sound, made several rather sharp zigzags before disappearing. Although this appearance lasted only three or four seconds, I clearly saw the elliptical shape of the saucer — if that’s what it was — shrink into the shape of a cigar at the moment the craft changed position. This can be explained by a well-known optical phenomenon: a disc seen edge-on gives the impression of a straight line. This also suggests that the famous ‘cigars’ and the famous ‘saucers’ may actually be the same craft seen by different witnesses from different angles."
"It is quite difficult for me to give an indication of the altitude, even an approximate one, where the craft was located, as I have no reference for its dimensions.
"However, if we arbitrarily assume a length of ten meters, it could have been between 1,500 and 2,000 meters in altitude. I regret having been alone on Place Bretagne..."
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It is not quite certain that the report was written down with care in the newspaper: first, they said that it was "at the same time" than another sighting that took place at 08:30 p.m., then they quote the time as 01:30 a.m.
If it was 08:30 p.m., it might have been the meteor seen at that time over this place and a large area on September 29, 1954. If the time was 01:30 a.m. on September 30, 1954, it is less likely that it would have been a meteor because it would have been its only sighting.
I thus leave the case as a case with "insufficient information."
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Sucé-sur-Erdre, Loire-Atlantique, craft, cylinder, elongated, ascent, hovering, multiple
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
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| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | April 25, 2025 | First published, [rot1]. |
