The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 14-Oct-54-Amiens.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In the 1970s, Dr. Claude Poher, future chief of the future official UFO investigation group GEPAN, compiled a very synthetic catalog of observations in France that had been reported to the authorities or whose witnesses were officials. He noted that on October 14, 1954, at 11:45 a.m. in Amiens in the Somme, a witness had observed a shiny ovoid object.
In 1979, the "skeptical" ufologists Gérard Barthel and Jacques Brucker claimed to have "investigated" this case, whose witness was "not found after investigation." They indicated that the object was seen over an airplane contrail, so it was too high for a useful description, so there was no possible analysis.
It was in 2020 that I obtained a journalistic source from the time: the regional newspaper Le Courrier Picard for October 15, 1954, had indeed reported on page 3 that the day before, a peacekeeper, Mr. Delcourt, who was walking around 11:40, rue Gauthier-de-Rummilly, had looked up to the sky where there were vast contrails spread by planes moments before.
He suddenly saw above these contrails, at a very high height, according to him, and in the direction of Ailly-sur-Somme, a kind of silver and shiny lens which, without the slightest noise, flew in a large quarter circle and disappeared on the horizon.
Mr. Delcourt hadn't noticed any smoke around the very fast object, and he had told the newspaper that the mysterious machine had a shape different from any known aircraft.
[Ref. cpd1:] NEWSPAPER "LE COURRIER PICARD":
|
We would be ill-inspired if we had abandoned today a chronicle that made the heyday of our imaginations, that of the flying saucers.
Especially since we have new arguments to fuel it, and excellent ones.
We recently recounted the nocturnal exploits of the strange "Martian" that a resident of Amiens had "discovered" route d'Allonville and that he was driving in his van from cafe to cafe.
Only the energetic action of our friend Gilbert, a daring waiter, made it possible to discover that he was a Terran in disguise.
Our Gilbert indeed rushed on the Martian and searched him from top to bottom, which put an end to the joke.
Today, it is more serious. This is a new testimony and this testimony appears very trustworthy since it is that of a peacekeeper, Mr. Delcourt.
Yesterday around 11:40 a.m., while Mr. Delcourt was strolling rue Gauthier-de-Rummilly, he looked up to the sky where vast streaks of condensation spread that planes had left in their path moments before.
Now, abruptly, above these tracks, at a very high height, according to Mr. Delcourt, and in the direction of Ailly-sur-Somme, appeared a kind of silver and shiny lens which without the slightest noise reflected, made a large quarter circle and disappeared on the horizon.
Mr. Delcourt did not notice any smoke around the machine which moved at a very high speed.
- In any case, the peacekeeper told us yesterday, I affirm that this mysterious craft had in no way a shape of known craft.
[Ref. cpr1:] CLAUDE POHER, UFO RESEARCH GROUP "GEPA":
In 1968-1969, before the official GEPAN ufology effort started, its future head Dr Claude Poher was a member of the unofficial GEPA ufology group, and gathered a computer coded listing of more than 700 UFO reports on which multiple factors statistical computation could be run. In the file were a number of 1954 French UFO reports, among those this one.
For readability, a decoded interpretation of the data is provided here under the original 80 character encoded string. Decoding was done according to the original indications, the code number and its generic meaning is given. Please not that the generic meaning of each code is a predefined category, not the real specific details of the case. For example, if the main witness' age was 33, the coding would result in a number "3" which corresponds to a category "Adult from 21 to 59 years."
| Original code: | 0629551410195411451JA1104010060014ZZZZ003000000000000000000000000000000000000000 |
| Location: | Amiens (Somme) - France |
| Case number: | 0629 |
| Source code: | 55 |
| Nature of the source: | Reports from official French sources: Police, Gendarmerie, Army, Pilots |
| Day: | 14 |
| Month: | 10 |
| Year: | 1954 |
| Hours: | 11 |
| Minutes: | 45 |
| Type of Time: | 1 = local time |
| Number of witnesses: | 1 = 1 |
| Main witness named: | 1 = name(s) indicated |
| Main witness age: | 0 = no indication |
| Main witness occupation: | 4 = army, police, fireman, constable |
| Official investigation: | 1 = an official investigation was made |
| Weather: | 0 = no indication |
| Duration: | 0 = no indication |
| Minimal distance witness - phenomenon: | 6 = larger than 3 km |
| Method of observation: | 0 = no indication |
| Number of "objects" observed simultaneously: | 01 = 1 |
| Shape of the "object" (terminology of witness(es)): | 4 = oval, egg, ovoïd, "like a rugby ball" |
| Dimensions of the phenomenon: | ZZZZ = no indication |
| Color of the observed phenomenon: | 00 = no indication |
| Luminosity of the phenomenon: | 3 = shining, very luminous |
| Lights or projectors on the phenomenon: | 0 = no indication |
| Moving speed of the phenomenon: | 0 = no indication |
| Acceleration of the phenomenon: | 0 = no indication |
| Trajectory of the phenomenon: | 0 = no indication |
| Sounds perceived during observation: | 0 = no indication |
| Maximum angular height of observation (horizon = 0°): | 0 = no indication |
| Nature of the landing place: | 0 = no indication |
| Number of contact points with ground: | 0 = no indication |
| Traces of landing: | 0 = no indication |
| Observation of "occupants" | 0 = no indication |
| Height of the occupants observed: | 00 = no indication |
| Garment of the occupants: | 00 = no indication |
| Garment: | 0 = no indication |
| General behavior of "occupants": | 0 = no indication |
| Interaction of "occupants" with witness: | 0 = no indication |
| Head, hair: | 0 = no indication |
| Voice, breathing, chin: | 0 = no indication |
| Skin: | 0 = no indication |
| Eyes: | 0 = no indication |
| Mouth: | 0 = no indication |
| Various details: | 0 = no indication |
| Thermal effects: | 0 = no indication |
| Luminous effects: | 0 = no indication |
| Magnetic effect (or electromagnetic): | 0 = no indication |
| Odor perceived by witness: | 0 = no indication |
| Physiological effects on the witness(es): | 0 = no indication |
| Psychological effect on the witness(es): | 0 = no indication |
| Effects on animals: | 0 = no indication |
| Other effects reported: | 0 = no indication |
| Nebulosity: | 0 = no indication |
| Oscillations, emission of matter: | 0 = no indication |
| Spin, formation flight: | 0 = no indication |
| Immediate disappearance: | 0 = no indication |
| Halo surrounding the phenomenon: | 0 = no indication |
| Interaction witness / phenomenon (complement to the other rubrics): | 0 = no indication |
| Drawing or photo: | 0 = no indication |
| Structural details observed: | 0 = no indication |
[Ref. bbr1:] GERARD BARTHEL AND JACQUES BRUCKER:
The two authors note this case of October 14, 1954:
"Amiens - 80 - 11 h 45: witness untraceable after investigation."
Further in their book they add that the object was seen above a plane's contrail, which mean that it was so high that there has been no description and thus nothing can be said of the case.
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates in his database that in the Sommein Amiens on October 14, 1954 at 11:45 hours "a witness, gendarme, observed an ovoid shining object."
The source is noted: "Les Universons by Poher Claude ** http://www.premiumwanadoo.com/universons/"
[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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19541014 | 14.10.1954 | Amiens | France |
Totally insufficient information.
Luc Chastan indicated that the witness was a gendarme; but it is not obvious. Claude Poher simply noted the cases coming from official witnesses, or having been reported to the gendarmes. The witness could therefore be a firefighter, mayor, etc.
|
Update on January 29, 2020: with the [cpd1], we have a bit more information, but still not enough to propose any certain explanation.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Amiens, Somme, official, oval, luminous
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | January 16, 2005 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | April 8, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Addition [lcn1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | February 23, 2017 | Addition [ubk1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | July 18, 2019 | Addition of the Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet." |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | January 29, 2020 | Addition [cpd1]. In the Summary, addition of the paragraph "It was in 2020..." and the two next paragraphs. |
