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URECAT - UFO Related Entities Catalog

URECAT is a formal catalog of UFO related entities sightings reports with the goal of providing quality information for accurate studies of the topic. Additional information, corrections and reviews are welcome at patrick.gross@inbox.com, please state if you wish to be credited for your contribution or not. The main page of the URECAT catalog is here.

October 1943, Teghime pass, Corsica, France, two men:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

This case is said t have had two witnesses, Corsican resistants, deceased since. These men had excellent reasons to fear any unwanted contact with the Germans, one of the sources said they were hunted by the Gestapo.

The encounter probably took place after September 1943 according to one source, in October 1943 according to another source, while the Italians present on the island had changed sides, now fighting alongside the Allies, this causing the Germans intervention in the island. The exact day and the exact hour are not known.

The two men came from Saint-Florent, on a motorcycle equipped with two saddles, and had just passed the Teghime pass, descending fast the winding and very poorly maintained road leading to Bastia.

One of the versions says that when they approached a bend on the edge of a deep ravine, they saw on the slope above the road, posed on the ground, a lenticular craft "shining like polished aluminum" resembling two plates glued together by the edges.

At the edge of the road stood two tall, blond-haired, short-haired, human-looking beings who watched them arrive. They wore a wide dark belt with a voluminous buckle.

Surprised, the driver of the motorbike braked hard and the bike skidded. The two unknown beings hastily reached their craft which began to rotate, then tilted on its edge and flew towards the sea in total silence.

As they thought they had been dealing with a German military machine, the two men had immediately confided their adventure to their superiors. Their story was collected by one J.-C. Dufour in 1974 from one Jean-Baptiste L. who was 30 years old in 1943, who had worked for the General Intelligence after the war, who died since, and was a long-time correspondent of ufologist Jean Sider, to whom he had communicated the story in a letter dated 16 November 2000.

The other version available is different. It is said that the two witnesses suddenly saw in front of them, on the road, two tall, short-haired blonde, "Germans!" The two resistance fighters immediately decided to make a U-turn, although the two characters were not in the occupier's clothes: silvery, shiny "aluminium-foil-like" outfits, with rather wide belts, and tight collars around the neck. They apparently did not carry weapons.

It was by laboriously making this U-turn that they saw that the supposed Germans were climbing with surprising agility the stony slope which bordered the road, disappearing immediately behind it. Then, they heard a rather gentle noise, a kind of hissing, and saw, first in the rear view mirror of the bike, a discoidal object, metallic in appearance, which rose then moved away to the north -est, towards the Gulf of Genoa.

Shortly afterwards, the two men allegedly told the incident to their group leader, who did not care about it, saying that given the circumstances, he had other things to do.

According to this second version, one of the witnesses told the story to a certain Jean-Claude Dufour, in 1974.

Basic information table:

Case number: URECAT-001626
Date of event: October 1943
Earliest report of event: 2000
Delay of report: 6 decades.
Witness reported via: Told their chief.
First alleged record by: Letter to ufologist Jean Sider.
First certain record by: Ufology book Julien Gonzalez.
First alleged record type: Letter to ufologist.
First certain record type: Ufology book.
This file created on: August 10, 2018
This file last updated on: August 10, 2018
Country of event: France
State/Department: Corse
Type of location: On motorbike descending the Teghime pass.
Lighting conditions: Not reported.
UFO observed: Yes
UFO arrival observed: No
UFO departure observed: Yes
UFO/Entity Relation: Certain
Witnesses numbers: 2
Witnesses ages: Young adults or adults.
Witnesses types: Men from the Resistance.
Photograph(s): No.
Witnesses drawing: No.
Witnesses-approved drawing: No.
Number of entities: 2
Type of entities: Human
Entities height: Tall
Entities outfit type: Outfit, wide dark belt with large buckle..
Entities outfit color: Silver, shining, "like tinfoil".
Entities skin color: Not reported.
Entities body: Not reported.
Entities head: Not reported.
Entities eyes: Not reported.
Entities mouth: Not reported.
Entities nose: Not reported.
Entities feet: Not reported.
Entities arms: Not reported.
Entities fingers: Not reported.
Entities fingers number: Not reported.
Entities hair: Short blond hair.
Entities voice: None heard.
Entities actions: Stood near UFO, saw witness, went back in, departure.
Entities/witness interactions: Fled.
Witness(es) reactions: Observed, fled.
Witness(es) feelings: Frightened.
Witness(es) interpretation: German enemies.
Explanation category: Probable hoax.
Explanation certainty: Medium.

Narratives:

[Ref. jg1:] JULIEN GONZALEZ:

The author indicates that at the Col de Teghime, in Corsica, in October 1943, on an exact day and an exact hour unknown, two men, islanders, died since, were riding on motorbikes, the second in the tandem saddle, towards Bastia.

When they approached a sharp turn at the edge of a deep ravine, they saw on the slope overlooking the road, placed on the ground, a lenticular craft "shining like polished aluminum" resembling two plates with edges glues together.

At the edge of the road stood two tall, blond-haired, short-haired, human-looking beings who watched them arrive. They wore a wide dark belt with a voluminous buckle.

Surprised and somewhat frightened, as the two men were resistance fighters hunted by the Gestapo, the pilot braked hard and the vehicle skidded.

The two unknown beings hastily regained their craft which began to rotate, then tilted on its edge and flew towards the sea in total silence.

Julien Gonzalez notes that Corsica was then under German occupation, the Italian allies having been deemed incapable of maintaining order after the Bastia uprising in early September. As they thought they had been dealing with a German military machine, the two men had immediately confided their adventure to their chiefs.

He indicates that the story was collected by J.-C. Dufour in 1974 from one Jean-Baptiste L. who was 30-year-old in 1943 and died since, he had worked for the Renseignements Généraux [General Intelligence} after the war, and was a longtime correspondent of ufologist Jean Sider, to whom he had communicated the story in a letter dated November 16, 2000.

The author indicates that the source is "Ufomania Magazine, No. 58, March 2009, page 35."

[Ref. jm1:] JOEL MESNARD:

The author indicates that the year 1943 is marked in France by a CE3 with two witnesses, one of which told the adventure to Jean-Claude Dufour in 1974. This man and one of his comrades were Corsican resistant, who had excellent reasons to fear any unwanted contact with the Germans.

Mesnard indicates that this probably happened after September 1943, as the Italians on the island had changed sides, and were now fighting alongside the Allies.

The two men came from Saint-Florent, on a motorcycle, and had just passed the Teghime pass, driving down the winding road then very badly maintained which leads to Bastia.

They suddenly saw in front of them, on the road, two tall, short-haired blondes, "Germans!" The two resistance fighters immediately decided to make a U-turn, although the two characters were not in the occupier's clothes: silvery, shiny "aluminum-foil-like" outfits, with rather wide belts, and necks tight around the neck. They apparently did not carry weapons.

While laboriously making a U-turn, the two Corsicans saw that the supposed Germans climbed with surprising agility the stony embankment which bordered the road, to disappear immediately behind it. It was then that they heard a rather gentle noise, a kind of hissing, and saw, first in the rear voew mirror of the motorcycle, a discoidal object, metallic in appearance, which rose and moved away, northeasterly, towards the Gulf of Genoa.

Shortly afterwards, the two men told the incident to their group leader, who did not listen to them, saying that given the circumstances, he had other things to do.

Points to consider:

I exclude a misinterpretation. The Germans, nor anyone else, had a craft like described, and able to take off from the slopes or the road of the Teghime pass. But the problem is the credibility of the story.

I cannot fail to note the contradictions in the course of events in the two versions available to me. The credibility of the story does benefit from this.

Having received the letter reporting the case in 2000, Jean Sider curiously ommitted to include this case his book "The 'Extraterrestrials' Before the Flying Saucers" of 2007, which precisely listed such stories. Why? Did he just forget?

Italy had violated the agreement with Marshal Pétain during the armistice of June 24, 1940, and invaded Corsica - supposed to be in the "free zone" - with nearly 85,000 soldiers. The Corsican resistance fighters led an insurrection against the Italians in June and July 1943 but the repression by the Italians was terrible, led by their political police and the "Black Shirts". Italy signed the armistice with the allies on September 8, 1943. The 80,000 men of the Italian occupation troops in Corsica then were ordered to consider the Germans, who were mainly in the South of the island, as enemies. On September 9, 1943, the Corsican resistance fighters and the Italian soldiers attacked the German troops. On September 11, General Giraud sent 109 men of the 1st parachutist battalion, landed by night from a submarine in the port of Ajaccio. On September 14, 6600 soldiers of the Moroccan 4th Mountain Division were landed at Ajaccio. The Italian troops of the Friuli infantry division with the participation of the Moroccan colonial troops take the Teghime pass on October 3, 1943. On October 3 to 4, 1943, the last Germans evacuate Bastia, on October 5, Corsica is the first free French department. For lack of a clear date for the alleged saucer encounter, the historical elements do not allow to deny or confirm anything.

List of issues:

Id: Topic: Severity: Date noted: Raised by: Noted by: Description: Proposal: Status:
1 Data Severe August 10, 2018 Patrick Gross Patrick Gross Missing primary source. Help needed. Opened.
2 Data Severe August 10, 2018 Patrick Gross Patrick Gross Missing secondary source UFOMANIA 58. Help needed. Opened.

Evaluation:

Probable hoax.

Sources references:

* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

Document history:

Authoring

Main Author: Patrick Gross
Contributors: None
Reviewers: None
Editor: Patrick Gross

Changes history

Version: Created/Changed By: Date: Change Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross August 10, 2018 Creation, [jg1], [jm1].
1.0 Patrick Gross August 10, 2018 First published.

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This page was last updated on August 10, 2018.