The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 10-oct-54-Charmes.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper L'Est Républicain for October 20, 1954, reported on page 6 that a flying saucer is said to have landed near Toul on October 10, 1954.
Mr. Roger Thiriet, 40, supervisor warden at the penitentiary center of Ecrouves, domiciled rue du Petit-Bien in Blénod-les-Touls, had told them that on October 10, 1954, around 6:30 in the morning, he was driving on a motorcycle to his workplace as it was not daytime yet and as a dense fog obstructed visibility.
Suddenly, near the railway bridge that spans the R. N. (National Road) 60 exactly at the crossroads that this road forms with that leading to Charmes-la-Côte, he saw in the light projected by his motorcycle headlight a "shape of aluminum color", and arrived at ten meters, he "identified a 'saucer'" posed in the middle of this crossroads.
He said to the newspaper: "It was posed, it seems to me, on the ground but I cannot say because of the fog if it was resting on crutches. It was about 2 meters 40 in diameter and 1 meter 40 tall, with a cupola and pierced on the periphery of two portholes, it was circular."
"I stopped my engine at once, but as I was trying to get closer, the craft climbed noiselessly and without any emission of smoke or flames, I followed its vertical ascent for five meters, but the darkness and the fog prevented me from following its maneuver. On the ground, I did not see any trace. After my duty, I stopped again at the place, but again, I could find any clue."
Until then, he had remained silent, fearing to be the laughing stock of his colleagues and the inhabitants of his commune, but the other "apparitions" of saucers in the region seemed to him to be confirming his own; which finally prompted him to tell about his encounter.
Two of his colleagues, during their duty at the center of Ecrouves, allegedly saw the same day towards 1 o'clock, towards the North-Est, a disk which left behind a glowing reddish trail. The same day, in Longwy, an observer allegedly saw at 1:30, an identical phenomenon.
Since his ecounter, the newspaper says, Roger Thiriet, has been passionate about saucers, and explained that he does not think they come from Mars, "because of the distance that separates the earth from this planet". Rather, he thought they were secret weapons built by a foreign power, perhaps from the Antarctic, which was designated nearly a decade ago as the refuge of foreign political and scientific luminaries..." (i.e., the fables that were told then about Nazi refugee at the South Pole who would built the flying saucers.)
The newspaper published a sketch of the saucer, in fact their own interpretation of the description by Roger Thiriet, with many whimsical details.
[Ref. ler1:] NEWSPAPER "L'EST REPUBLICAIN":
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It came from the Antarctic, estimates the witness of the landing
TOUL (From our newsroom). -- The flying saucer merry-go-round and other flying machines with multiple configurations, according to any appearance, had been sulky of the sky of Toul, except for the evolution at low altitude of a strange disc a few times ago in Gondreville.
This abandon was only temporary, for now the resident of Toul can pour into the file of these phenomena his testimony, and this thanks to Mr. Roger Thiriet, 40 years old, warden in the penitentiary center of Ecrouves, domiciled rue du Petit-Bien in Blénod-les-Touls.
His vision goes back to October 10, but so far, he had preferred to remain silent, fearing to be the target of laughter of his colleagues and the inhabitants of the community. In fact, the appearances recorded almost daily encouraged him to open up about the strange appearance of which he was the witness.
On October 10 thus, around 6 hours 30, Mr. Thiriet was going by motorcycle towards his workplace. The day was not raised yet and, moreover, one rather dense fog obstructed the visibility. Suddenly, close to the railway bridge which spans R.N 60 road very exactly at the crossroads that this road makes with that leading to Charmes-la-Côte, the warden saw in the light projected by the headlight of his machine, a shape of aluminum color. Arrived at ten meters, he identified a "saucer".
"It was posed, it seemed to me, right on the ground but I cannot say, because of the fog, whether or not it rested on a landing gear", he told us it was about 2 meters 40 in diameter and 1 meter 40 in height. Topped of a dome and with two portholes at its sides, it was circular."
And he continued: "I immediately stopped my motor, but as I attempted to get close, the craft rose without noise and without any emission of smoke or flames. I followed its vertical rise during five meters, but the half-light and the fog prevented me from following its evolution. On the ground, I saw no trace. After my duty service, I stopped again at the location, but then again, I could not find the least evidence."
Mr. Thiriet, who is a sensible man, does not seem to be able to be the subject of hallucination. Moreover, his conviction can be weighed by observations that were recorded by two of his colleagues.
Those, during their service in the center of Ecrouves, saw the same day at about 1 o'clock, in the NE direction, a disc that left behind itself a reddish trail.
In addition, the same day, in Longwy, an observer saw, at 01:30, an identical phenomenon. This is what makes Mr. Thiriet suppose that a correlation between these three visions is plausible.
This resident of Toul who, since his surprising sighting, reads up with interest all that touches with the mystery of the saucers, does not lean o the Martian explanation, because of the distance which separates the earth from this planet. He rather supposes that they are secret weapons built by a foreign power. He does not exclude however the assumption of the construction of these machines by inhabitants of one "6th part of the world". In other words, the Antarctic, which was indicated, nearly ten years ago, as the refuge of foreign political and scientific heads [i.e. nazi Germans at the south pole fantasies]...
In this field, where checking is difficult, all theories are good!
Anyway, it is certain that the declarations of the supervisor of penitentiary made it possible from now on to the residents of Toul to state, not without pride, that they also have "their" saucer -. A.
[Captioned drawing:] According to the statements of Mr. THIRIET, the encountered apparatus was to appear approximately under this aspect.
[Ref. cmn1:] NEWSPAPER "CENTRE-MATIN":
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The "flying saucers" continue to make headlines. Actually, it would be this time, either saucers, but plates.
A farmer from Villepinte (Aude), Mr. Rouquet said he saw the day before yesterday in the evening, around 11:30 p.m., a bright orange disk moving westward. The craft stopped above the territory of the municipality of Laurabuc, remained motionless for a quarter of an hour, then went back and disappeared. Mr. Rouquet's parents, alerted by their son, witnessed the departure.
A few kilometers from Villepinte, residents of Bram and of Villasavary spotted on the day before yesterday, between 11 p.m. and midnight, a luminous disc that moved at a fast pace. It offered the ability to change color..
The evening of the day before yesterday also, several residents of Tréveneuc (Côtes-du-Nord) reported seeing a flying disc hovering above the sea. The same phenomenon was observed in Saint-Quay-Portrieux by a butcher and a teacher.
Finally, near Aire-sur-la-Lys, a steel mill worker of Isbergues saw a round shaped luminous craft descend slowly. When it hit the ground, the witness said, about three kilometers from me, a flash of lightning illuminated the sky." Many people confirmed seeing, not the fireball, but the brightened sky. Regarding the craft, which would have fallen, no trace of it was found.
Meanwhile, another witness report, this one nine days old, came to give some details of a "flying saucer": on October 10, Mr. Roger Thiriet went, around 6:30 a.m., to Ecrouves, where he is a warden at the penitentiary. Suddenly, through a dense fog, he saw a saucer of aluminum color. It was about 2 m. 40 in diameter and 1 m. 40 high, was topped by a dome and had two windows. He approached, but the craft rose silently. Mr. Thiriet kept silence on this, fearing to be ridiculed by his colleagues and the villagers.
The Indonesian agency Antara reported on Tuesday evening, that about 9 p.m. local time, people in Bondowoso, East Java, were awestruck when they saw a white and green disc which passed at high speed over the town and disappeared in half a minute. The witnesses described the object as a "large plate" animated by a rotating motion.
This is the second time that the people of Bondowoso witness a phenomenon of this kind. The first appearance of a "strange object" took place on July 25, at the same hour.
[Ref. fso1:] NEWSPAPER "FRANCE-SOIR":
[... other cases...]
Roger Thiriet, a guard at the prison of Ecouvres, was riding a motorcycle when he suddenly saw an object of aluminum color in the form of a plate, with a cupola and two portholes. It was about 2 meters in diameter, 1 meter high and moved away immediately.
[... other cases...]
[Ref. nnm1:] NEWSPAPER "LE NOUVEAU NORD MARITIME":
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Paris, 20. -- Judging by the small number of testimonies, the flying saucers were not very active over France, yesterday Tuesday.
A farmer from Villepinte (Aude) Mr. Rouquet, said he saw on Monday evening around 11:30 p.m., an orange-colored luminous disc heading west. The craft stopped above the territory of the commune of Laurubuc, remained motionless for about a quarter of an hour, then left and disappeared. Mr. Rouquet's parents, informed by their son, attended this departure.
A few kilometers from Villepinte, residents of Bram and of Villasavary saw, on Sunday between 11 p.m. and midnight, a luminous disc that was moving at a very high speed. It offered the particularity to change color.
Also on Monday evening, several residents of Tréveneuc (Côtes-du-Nord) said they had seen a flying saucer hovering above the sea. The same phenomenon was observed at Saint-Quay-Portrieux by a butcher and a teacher.
Finally near AIRE-SUR-LA-LYS, a worker in the steelworks of Isbergues saw "a luminous machine of round shape descend slowly." "When it touched the ground," the witness continued, "nearly 3 kilometers from me, a flash lit up the sky." Many residents confirmed that they saw, not the bolide, but the lit up sky. As for the object that fell, no trace of it was found.
Also, another testimony, this one nine days old, came to bring some details on a flying saucer. On October 10, Mr. Roger Thiriet, went, around 6:30 a.m. in Ecrouves where he is a warden at the penitentiary center. Suddenly, through fairly dense fog, he saw an aluminum-colored saucer. It was about 2 m. 40 in diameter and 1 m. 40 tall was crowned with a dome and had two portholes. He approached but the machine rose silently. Mr. Thiriet remained silent on this fact, fearing to be laughed at by his colleagues and the inhabitants of the village.
Saintes, 19. -- Mr. Labassière and his wife who were returning from Saintes (Charente Maritime) reportedly saw the other evening, around 9 p.m., a kind of balance waddling at low altitude. The rod were dazzling green, one of the trays was red and the other orange...
After taking an immobile position, these two trays - according to the witnesses - detached themselves to land in a field. Two small beings then left each ball and, after crossing each other, changed craft.
The two craft then returned to their original place and the phenomenon disappeared in a dazzling flash.
Djakarta, 20. -- The Indonesian agency Aniara reports that on Tuesday evening, around 9 p.m. local time, the population of Bondowoso, in eastern Java, was struck with terror when they saw a white and green disc that passed at high speed over the city and disappeared in half a minute. Witnesses described the object as a "large plate" with a rotating movement.
This is the second time that the people of Bondowoso witnessed such a phenomenon. The first appearance of a "strange object" was said to have taken place on July 25, at the same hour.
[Ref. pat1:] NEWSPAPER "LE PAYS D'AUGE - TRIBUNE":
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In Audruicq (P.-de-C.), MM. Maurice Ramette and Léon Gégnier saw, high in the sky, an object of round shape and white in color which was moving towards them. Suddenly, the craft tilted and disappeared at breakneck speed.
In Hesdin (P.-de-C.), Mr. Jean Gambier, a police officer, was on his way to his duty when his attention was attracted to a blaze in the sky. Above the forest, a red object seemed to descend from the starry sky. The lower part of the craft left behind a luminous trail.
Many residents of Huby-Saint-Leu, a village near Hesdin, also witnessed this phenomenon.
A resident of the village of Prades (Pyrénées-Orientales), to whom two motorcyclists wanted to request information, fled, the other day, shouting: "The Martians are coming". Caught by the bikers, who, to reassure him, had removed their helmets, the farmer admitted that if he had had a gun in his hands he would have killed them.
A saucer was seen by the supervisor of a penitentiary center in Ecrouves, Mr. Roger Thiriet, residing in Blénod-les-Toul (Meurthe-et-Moselle). The jailer's saucer is not exactly fresh since it would have appeared on October 10. But Mr. Thiriet remained silent for a long time "fearing to be the laughing stock of his colleagues". However, his secret seemed to him too burdensome, and here is the account given to the gendarmes by this balanced man:
- I returned to the center by motorbike, when around 6:30 a.m., near the railway bridge, near Charmes-la-Côte, my headlight lighted an aluminum-colored saucer appearing from the fog, posed on the ground. The craft was 2 meters in diameter and 1.40 meters high. It was surmounted by a dome pierced by two portholes.
"I stopped my engine immediately; but as I approached, the saucer rose without noise."
It turns out that, this same October 10, a machine identical to [Continued on page 3]
A very bright flying disc was seen by a group of workers over a street in Rome. It is one of the innumerable appearances of the "flying saucers" which visit Italy at the moment. Their arrival provokes a strong emotion. In Livorno, a young man, Bruno Senesi, was sent urgently to the mad house. He had presented himself, very agitated, at the city hospital, shouting: "They come to take me... I saw them land in a field... Discs big like that, all in light and in smoke, full of Martians, small and red."
The people of Bondowoso, in east Java, were terrified when they saw a white and green disc, which passed at high speed over the city and disappeared in half a minute. Witnesses described the object as a "large plate" with a rotating movement.
A "Stratojet" plane which flies daily over the Rhône valley, at an altitude of about 10,000 meters, was mistaken the other day, by several inhabitants of Vienna, for a flying saucer.
Indeed, a strange phenomenon occurred after the passage of the powerful jet plane. Kinds of parachutes were formed in the sky, animated of strange movements, which soon reached the ground.
The witnesses of the phenomenon seized this matter and one of them put a little of the substance in a box and had it photographed immediately. A few hours later, the contents of the box, although waterproof, had evaporated.
It seems that the condensation in the rarefied and cold atmosphere of certain compounds of the "stratojet" fuel can cause white or iridescent formations moving at high speed and thus gives rise to various interpretations.
This observation made above the aerodrome of Vienne, is identical to that already reported in its time, by a resident of Oloron.
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(continued from page 1)
Aussay, a small town near Dieppe, was overflown by a mysterious craft which emitted a strange whistling sound. It had the shape of a gigantic cigar thay could reach 15 to 18 meters in length; in the center of the craft there was a disc surmounted by a dome.
In Villepinte (Aude), Mr. Henri Rouquet, 22, was returning home when he noticed a luminous form that was moving at high altitude. Suddenly, the craft lands not far from the farm where the young man lives. Mr. Bouquet then hastened to warn his family and several neighbors, who were able to observe the saucer distinctly. After a few minutes, the disc rose silently and quickly disappeared.
In Ham (Somme), three motorcyclists, MM. Marc and Gilles Lemaire, and Jean Ivard, were going to their work when they noticed in the sky a red disc followed by a flaming cone which advanced at the speed of an airplane. At the precise moment when the craft was above the motorcyclists, the engines of their machines stopped suddenly and the headlights went out. Everything returned to normal when the mysterious object moved away.
A motorist in the Cherbonnières region was driving with his 3 and a half year old son on the road from Sérifère to Paillé when, around 9:30 p.m., he and the child experienced painful tingling sensations, similar to electric shocks; which increased as they progressed.
The car engine suddenly stopped and the headlights went out. The child started to cry. A bright glow, passing from bright red to orange, dazzled the occupants of the car, who see a motionless craft in space. Then what they recognized as a flying saucer disappeared in the night.
been seen in Longwy, in the north of the department.
- It must be a secret weapon, said Mr. Thiriet (who does not believe in Martians), built by a foreign power. I think the craft would come from Antarctica.
Two motorists from Royan, Mr. Labestière and his wife, saw in the sky "a kind of waddling balance".
- The scourge was dazzling green, witnesses said. One of the plates was red, the other orange. After remaining motionless, the two plates detached and landed in a field. Two little beings came out of it and, after crossing paths, changed their plates. The "flying balance" then disappeared, plates included, in a dazzling flash.
In Ollainville, near Arpajon, six residents of the locality noticed an incandescent object which at first looked like a star and was revealed as it approached in the shape of a cigar. Coming from the west, the object disappeared to the east.
In Saint-Fiacre, not far from Etampes, several people saw a craft in the shape of a gigantic star spinning above the village for 20 minutes.
The mayor of Nexon (Haute Vienne) saw a very bright metallic hemisphere hovering at breakneck speed, without noise.
A very brilliant disc was even seen in Boulogne-sur-Seine, by a dozen workers from the Régie Renault. The phenomenon had been observed in broad daylight for half an hour.
In Trevedec (C.-du-N.), several people saw a flying saucer hovering over the sea.
Near Aire-sur-Lys, a worker at the steel works in Isbergues saw a luminous sphere descend slowly. When it touched the ground, the sky lit up.
[Ref. mcs1:] MICHEL CARROUGES:
Michel Carrouges indicates that close to Ecrouves, Mr. Thiriet saw a saucer whose higher cupola comprised two port-holes, according to an news release by the A.F.P, for October 19, 1954.
[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:
| 287 | -005.83101 | 48.67200 | 10 | 10 | 1954 | 06 | 30 | 1 | CHARMES LA COTE MM | F | 001 | A |
[Ref. jve4:] JACQUES VALLEE:
227) October 10, 1954, 06:30 a.m.. Charmes-la-Côte (France):
Roger Thiriet, jailer in the Ecouvres detention center, was riding his motorcycle when he suddenly saw an aluminum colored object shaped like a plate, with a dome and two portholes. It was about 2 m in diameter and 1 m high. It took off immediately. (P. 54).
[Ref. jve3:] JACQUES VALLEE:
October 10, 1954, 06:30 a.m.. Charmes-la-Côte (France):
Roger Thiriet, jailer in the Ecouvres detention center, was riding his motorcycle when he suddenly saw an aluminum colored object shaped like a plate, with a dome and two portholes. It was about 2 m in diameter and 1 m high. It took off immediately. (France-Soir, October 21, 1954).
[Ref. jve2:] JACQUES VALLEE:
The author indicates that on October 10, 1954, close to Charmes-la-Côte in the Meurthe-et-Moselle, a man on a motorcycle suddenly saw in the light of his headlight an object of aluminum color, in the shape of a plate, with a dome and two panels. The object was approximately 2 meters in diameter, 1 meter in height, and it flew away immediately. The witness was a prison warder in Ecouvres.
[Ref. fru1:] MICHEL FIGUET AND JEAN-LOUIS RUCHON:
These two French ufologists report in their book that on October 10, 1954, in Charmes la Côte, Mr. X, prison warder in Ecouvres, drove by motorcycle at 60:30 when he suddenly saw in the light of his headlight an object of aluminum color posed on the ground, in the form of a plate, with a dome, two panels of two meters diameter and one meter hight [sic]. The machine immediately flew away.
The authors indicate that the source is the Vallée Catalogue, case 227.
[Ref. gep1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "GEPO":
| 10/10/54 | -6 a.m.. | Charmes la Côte ME/MOS | M | 102XVC 2m |
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
4046: 1954/10/10 06:30 5 5:49:40 E 48:36:00 N 3333 WEU FRN M&M 7:7
BLENOD-les-TOUL,FR:JAILER:DOMED 2M SCR/2 PORTS/N60:^ SLNT:/LDLN#324+/r8#227
Ref#194 LUMIERES dans la NUIT.(LDLN France) Issue No. 345 : PASTURE
[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
Godelieve van Overmeire indicates that in 1954, on October 10, in France, in Charmes-la-Côte (Meurthe et Moselle), "Towards 06:30 Roger Thiriet, prison warder in Ecouvres, drove by motorcycle when he suddenly saw an object of aluminum color having the form of a plate, with a cupola and two port-holes. It was approximately 2 m in diameter by 1 m in height and moved away immediately."
The sources are indicated as "France-Soir, 21 Oct 1954" and "Jacques Vallée: 'Chronique des apparitions ET' - DENOEL 1972 - J'AI LU COLL. - p. 274, 275."
[Ref. djn1:] DONALD JOHNSON:
Encounters With Aliens on This Day
October 10
[...]
1954 - Roger Thiriet, jailer in the Ecouvres detention center, was riding his motorcycle in Charmes-la-Cote, France when he suddenly saw an aluminum colored object shaped like a plate, with a dome on top and two portholes. It was about two meters in diameter and one meter high. It took off immediately. (Source: Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: A Century of Landings, p. 223).
[Ref. jbu1:] JEROME BEAU:
Jérôme Beau indicates that on Sunday, October 10, 1954, at 6:30, in Charmes-La-Côte in the Meurthe-et-Moselle, France, Roger Thiriet, warden at the prison of Ecouvres, drove on a motorcycle when he suddenly saw an object of aluminum color having the form of a plate, with a cupola and two port-holes, which was approximately 2 meters in diameter, 1 meter in height and moved away immediately.
Jérôme Beau indicates that the source is France-Soir, October 21, 1954.
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Meurthe et Moselle in Charmes la Côte on October 10, 1954 at 06:30 hours "the witness, prison warder in Ecouvres, drove by motorcycle when he suddenly saw an object of aluminum color having the form of a plate, with a cupola and two port-holes. It was approximately 2 m in diameter by 1 m in height and moved away immediately."
The source is indicated as "Chroniques des apparitions E.T. by Vallée Jacques ** DENOEL 1972 - J'AI L coll.".
[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:
The website indicates that on 10 October 1954 at 06:30 in Charmes-la-Cote, France, "An aluminum colored object shaped like a plate, with a dome and two portholes."
The website adds: "Roger Thiriet, jailer in the Ecouvres detention center, was riding his motorcycle in Charmes-la-Cote, France when he suddenly saw an aluminum colored object shaped like a plate, with a dome on top and two portholes. It was about two meters in diameter and one meter high. It took off immediately."
And: "Roger Thiriet, jailer in Ecouvres detention center, was riding his motorcycle when he suddenly saw an aluminum colored object shaped like a plate, with a dome and two portholes. It was about two meters in diameter and one meter high. It took off immediately."
And: "A hovering object was observed. One disc, about 5 feet across, was observed by over 15 male witnesses for over three hours (Cottel)." [This has nothing to do with this case.]
The sources are given as "Michel, Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery, S. G. Phillips, New York, 1958; Project Bluebook, (USAF) Blue Book files counted in official statistics; Bowen, Charles, The Humanoids: FSR Special Edition No. 1, FSR, London, 1966; 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); Schoenherr, Luis, Computerized Catalog (N = 3173); Newspaper Clippings; Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002."
[Ref. eme1:] "EST MAGAZINE":
From the autumn 1954 on, the skies of our areas were the theatre of strange demonstrations. Invaders came from space...
[...]
A few days later [compared to September 17, 1954], a warden of the prison of Ecrouve (54), driving on a motor bike, claims to have seen at 6 a.m., as the fog was thick, the shape of a saucer of 2,40 m in diameter (very precisely!) surmounted by a dome bored of port-holes.
[...]
[Ref. nip1:] "THE NICAP WEBSITE":
*Oct. 10, 1954 - At 6:30 a.m. Roger Thiriet, jailer in the Ecouvres detention center, was riding his motorcycle in Charmes-la-Cote, France when he suddenly saw an aluminum colored object shaped like a plate, with a dome on top and two portholes. It was about two meters in diameter and one meter high. It took off immediately. (Source: Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: A Century of Landings, p. 223, case # 227).
[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":
This database recorded the case 6 times:
| Case Nr. | New case Nr. | Investigator | Date of observation | Zip | Place of observation | Country of observation | Hour of observation | Classification | Comments | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19541010 | 10.10.1954 | Charmes Cote | France | CE I | ||||||
| 19541010 | 10.10.1954 | Charmes Cote | France | CE I | ||||||
| 19541010 | 10.10.1954 | Charmes Cote | France | CE I | ||||||
| 19541010 | 10.10.1954 | Charmes Cote | France | CE I | ||||||
| 19541010 | 10.10.1954 | Charmes Cote | France | CE I | ||||||
| 19541010 | 10.10.1954 | Charmes Cote | France | CE I |
[Ref. prn2:] PETER ROGERSON - "INTCAT":
October 10 1954. 0630hrs.
CHARMES-LA-COTE (MEURTHE ET MOSELLE : FRANCE)
Roger Thiriet, the jailer at the Ecouvres Detention Centre was motorcycling to work through dense fog, when, by the railway bridge across the D 60 at the crossroads there, the light from his lamp reflected off an aluminum coloured object. When he got within 10m he could see that it was a disc, surmounted by a dome in which there were two windows, 2.4m diameter, 1.4m high. He was unable to see whether it was on legs because of the fog. As he got closer the thing took off without a sound, after 5m disappearing into the fog and dark. He could not make out any traces.
[Note: "Gross 1954" is meant to be this web page on this case. Rogerson provided no link. And my web page was far from being just a quote of L'Est Républicain...]
[Ref. ler2:] "L'EST REPUBLICAIN" NEWSPAPER:
Witnessing a strange disappearance on the road to work, at dawn, Roger Thiriet shut ip afraid for being the laughing stock of the Toul residents. Before finally evoking, in our columns, his vision of a flying saucer. We were in 1954.
[Sketch caption:] With his article telling this fact, L'Est Républicain for October 20 made this sketch appear, captioned as follows: "According to the statements of Mr. Thiriet, the craft he encountered must have looked almost like this."
Prison warden, he also kept the secret. For fear of looking like an illuminated to his relatives and the inhabitants of his village of Blenod-lès-Toul, Roger Thiriet, prison supervisor in Ecrouves, preferred to be silent. A silence of more than a week before finally testifying in L'Est Républicain on October 20, 1954: ten days earlier, while riding a motorcycle from his home to the prison to take his duty, a flying saucer was on his way. Almost at his feet! He had seen it as surely as you read this article, thanks to the headlights of his two-wheelers, the day was not yet up and a thick fog was enveloping the countryside of Toul.
"It was posed, it seems to me, on the ground but I cannot say, because of the fog, if it rested on crutches," he confided to our newspaper. Describing, however, quite precisely his vision, he who stopped at about ten meters of the machine, aluminum color. "It was about 2m40 in diameter and about 1m40 in height. It had a dome and was pierced by two portholes, it was circular. Smartphones were not widespread at the time, this description served, in passing, to establish a "portrait" of the UFO.
Not afraid for a penny, this 40-year-old Belelian then, according to him, descended from his moped to go closer. But "as I tried to approach, the craft rose without a sound and without any emission of smoke or flames. I followed its climb for five meters, but the darkness and the fog prevented me from following its maneuver."
On the ground, on this portion of bitumen at the intersection of the RN60 and the Charmes-la-Côte road, the supervisor found no trace. No more than on his return, the man stopping again after his service to try to unravel the mystery. And to understand a phenomenon that he is not the only one to notice: the year 1954 is apparently a year with saucers! Here and there in France, testimonies relating to strange flying objects indeed multiplied. Including one this same October 10 in Longwy, the colleagues of Roger Thiriet claiming they saw in the sky "a disc that left behind a glowing trail".
Revelations that finally prompted Roger Thiriet to speak publicly. And to be interested, afterward, very closely to the phenomena and unusual appearances, emphasizing nonetheless he did not believe in Martians.
Thesis privileged at the time? That of Antarctica, then designated as a refuge of "foreign political and scientific luminaries". And this enthusisasts of the construction of flying saucers!
S.C.
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Possible witness invention.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Charmes-la-Côte, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Blénod-lès-Toul, Roger Thiriet, road, aluminum, object, dome, portholes, landing
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | April 12, 2003 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | April 18, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [fru1], [goe1], [lcn1], [uda1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | February 19, 2010 | Addition [eme1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | June 28, 2010 | Addition [jve5]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | October 29, 2011 | A search on the web and in my documentation did not reveal other sources. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | September 19, 2014 | Addition [cmn1]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | October 9, 2014 | Addition [nip1]. |
| 1.6 | Patrick Gross | January 24, 2017 | Additions [fso1], [ubk1]. |
| 1.7 | Patrick Gross | January 22, 2019 | Addition [prn2]. |
| 1.8 | Patrick Gross | June 19, 2019 | Additions [lhh1], [ler2], Summary. Explanations changed, was "Not looked for yet. Possible hoax." |
| 1.9 | Patrick Gross | January 30, 2020 | Addition [pat1]. |
| 2.0 | Patrick Gross | March 2, 2020 | Addition [nnm1]. |
| 2.1 | Patrick Gross | May 3, 2020 | Addition [gep1]. |
