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The 1954 French flap:

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November 5, 1954, off the Finistère coast:

Reference for this case: 5-Nov-54-Finistère.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

The national newspaper France Soir for November 7, 1954, reported via its correspondent in Brest, by telephone, that three fishermen from the boat "L’Explorateur" of Moëlan-sur-Mer in Finistère had discovered offshore, on the evening of November 5, 1954, a "strange device floating on the water," which was a duralumin ring 1.5 meters in diameter, inside of which two crossbars intersected. Two perfectly functioning flashlights were attached to the crossbars. Five large toy balloons—three red, one yellow, and one white—inflated "with oxygen" were attached to the ring by metal wires.

This "saucer" had fallen into the sea following the bursting of one of the balloons.

The fishermen brought the device to the port of Brigneau, and the gendarmerie had set out to find the "creators of this saucer that had been seen flying over the region."

Reports:

[Ref. fso1:] NEWSPAPER "FRANCE SOIR":

A "flying saucer" recovered by sailors off the coast of Finistère

BREST, November 6 (by phone). -- Three fishermen from the boat "L'Explorateur" of Moëlan-sur-Mer (Finistère) discovered a strange device floating on the water offshore last night.

It was a duralumin ring 1.5 meters in diameter, inside of which two crossbars intersected. Attached to the crossbars were two flashlights in perfect working order. Five large toy balloons (three red, one yellow, and one white) inflated with oxygen were tied to the ring with metal wires.

This saucer had fallen into the sea following the bursting of one of the balloons. The fishermen brought the device into the port of Brigneau.

The gendarmerie is trying to identify the creators of this saucer, which had been seen flying over the region.

Explanations:

Negative case, prank

Keywords:

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

Finistère, hoax, prank, sea, crash, fishermen, L'Explorateur, Moëlan-sur-Mer, evening, device, circle, duralumin, flashlights, balloons, gendarmes

Sources:

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

[fso1] Article in the national newspaper France Soir, Paris, France, page 3, November 7, 1954.

Document history:

Version:	Created/Changed by:	Date:	Change Description:
1.0	Patrick Gross	July 2, 2025	First published, [fso1].

This page was last updated on July 2, 2025.