France 1954Home 

Cette page en françaisCliquez!

The 1954 French flap:

The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.

◀ Previous  All  Next ▶

October 15, 1954, Vieux-Port:

Reference for this case: 15-Oct-54-Vieux-Port.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

The national newspaper France Soir for October 16, 1954, reported that above the Vieux-Port, a spherical luminous craft leaving a bright trail was seen around 6 p.m., "yesterday," therefore on October 15, 1954, by "several people."

Reports:

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

Scan.

SAUCERS (continued)

Above the Vieux-Port, a luminous spherical object leaving a bright trail was seen around 6 p.m. yesterday by several people.

A luminous cigar was seen in Mallemort (Bouches-du-Rhône) by multiple witnesses. A "red ball" also swirled above Arles before disappearing in the direction of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

Exploding in midair above Graulhet (Tarn), a saucer reportedly disintegrated before the eyes of Mr. Jean Carcenac, 43, who was observing the phenomenon through binoculars. Debris from the object (silver filaments clumped together that break on contact) was collected by the gendarmerie, which opened an investigation.

A disc with 12 portholes was seen in Besse-sur-Braye (Sarthe). In the same department, a garage owner from Coulaires and a driver from Allennes saw a disc spinning in the sky.

Near Trappes, a driver, Mr. Richard Baudens, living in Adaimville (Seine-et-Oise), saw a fixed red light whose brightness gradually increased. The witness, a former pilot (4,000 flight hours), observed the craft as it moved from right to left and up and down for 20 minutes.

A weather balloon intrigued residents of the Hautes-Alpes all afternoon yesterday, who mistook it for a flying saucer. It was actually a stratospheric balloon carrying scientific equipment for the study of cosmic rays, launched from Milan.

A "blinding flame" was seen by Mr. Corre, a professor in Bourg (Ain), and other residents of the region. Additionally, a "cigar" was seen in Nantua, in Bellegarde, and in Romans.

On the railway line, at the location Saint-Pierre-Halte, near Saint-Omer, a shiny yellow object reportedly landed, 2 meters high.

A fiery egg was seen by a traveling salesman driving between Niffer and Kembs (Haut-Rhin).

A farmer from Angles (Vendée) saw a craft that changed shape and color as it moved forward. When the witness tried to approach the object, it emitted beams of light forming a screen behind which it silently vanished.

A small being in a shiny suit was seen in the Mamora Forest by a French engineer from Meknès. The "Martian" moved toward a craft parked by the roadside, which then took off at high speed.

Fifteen workers from the military supply depot in Casablanca saw an elongated, orange-white object that, for a minute, descended over the city like a falling leaf before suddenly changing direction and vanishing quickly on the horizon.

No flying saucer in Vaucluse: the Secretariat of State for the Armed Forces (Air) clarified that, contrary to some reports, the two pilots from the Orange airbase who flew over Fontaine-de-Vaucluse on the afternoon of October 14 at various altitudes observed no unknown object during their investigation. The two pilots are experienced officers and their report is conclusive.

Explanations:

The location according to France Soir [fso1] is "the Vieux-Port"; but there is no city or village of that name in France. Also, I did not find any place called like that in Paris. It is quite likely, but not certain, that it was the Vieux-Port district in Marseilles. If you say "Vieux-Port" to any French person, this is what immediately comes to mind.

[fso1] for October 16, 1954, gives the date as "yesterday"; this would thus be October 15, 1954. But, at 06:13 p.m., on October 14, 1954, a meteor was widely seen in Southern France, where Marseilles is located.

So I suspect that this actually occurred on October 14, 1954, and was the meteor of that day, especially as the description given here is an obvious description of a meteor.

Keywords:

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

Vieux-Port, multiple, craft, luminous, sphere, trail, brilliant

Sources:

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

Document history:

Version: Created/Changed by: Date: Change Description:
1.0 Patrick Gross October 10, 2025 First published, [fso1].

Valid HTML



 Feedback  |  Top  |  Back  |  Forward  |  Map  |  List |  Home
This page was last updated on October 10, 2025.