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The 1954 French flap:

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

September 16, 1954, Le Pin, Isère:

Reference for this case: 16-Sep-54-Pin.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

Aimé Michel reported in his 1958 book on the saucer wave of 1954 in France, that he received a letter from a Mr. G. G., who gave the names of four other witnesses, asking that anonimity be preserved, among them a professor of mathematics. The letter was about their observation on September 16, 1954, and Michel provided the following digest of this letter:

"The phenomenon took place Thursday evening September 16, at 17:45. I was in Isère, at the old Carthusian monastery of Silve-Bénite, near the village of Pin."

"The sky was perfectly clear and the atmosphere was transparent: the mountains up to the Mount Blanc inclusively was very visible."

"My attention was suddenly drawn by the presence, in north-north-east direction, of an object of round and flat shape, resembling at the same time to that of a wingless plane and to that of a soap bubble. It slipped quickly into the quiet air, shining of metal reflections with the sun, which reminded glares on aluminium. Part of the machine appeared duller, perhaps because of its different exposure."

"Its altitude appeared low to me, and I am tempted to subjectively estimate it as 1 500 meters. It flew at a moderate and regular speed directed along an absolutely rectilinear line from the north-north-east to the south-south-west. Being at this time there on a ground forming a terrace followed of a strong slope, nothing enabled me to appreciate the real maximum or minimum distances using as reference, for example, hills or mountains. I ceased to distinguish it when it was in a point located at approximately thirty degrees above the horizon, towards the south-south-west. My observation lasted from twenty to thirty seconds."

"The weak wind was directed towards the south: there were four witnesses."

Aimé Michel commented, twice, that one could explain this well-described observation by a weather balloon, "if balloons could cross the sky from one horizon to the other in 30 seconds."

Reports:

[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:

Aimé Michel reports that he received a letter from one Mr. G. G., who asked to keep his name unpublished, and gave the names of 4 other witnesses, among which a professor of mathematics, following their observation who took place on September 16, 1954. Michel provides the following digest of this letter:

"The phenomenon took place Thursday evening September 16, at 17:45. I was in Isère, at the old Carthusian monastery of Silve-Bénite, near the village of Pin."

"The sky was perfectly clear and the atmosphere was transparent: the mountains up to the Mount Blanc inclusively was very visible."

"My attention was suddenly drawn by the presence, in north-north-east direction, of an object of round and flat shape, resembling at the same time to that of a wingless plane and to that of a soap bubble. It slipped quickly into the quiet air, shining of metal reflections with the sun, which reminded glares on aluminium. Part of the machine appeared duller, perhaps because of its different exposure."

"Its altitude appeared low to me, and I am tempted to subjectively estimate it as 1 500 meters. It flew at a moderate and regular speed directed along an absolutely rectilinear line from the north-north-east to the south-south-west. Being at this time there on a ground forming a terrace followed of a strong slope, nothing enabled me to appreciate the real maximum or minimum distances using as reference, for example, hills or mountains. I ceased to distinguish it when it was in a point located at approximately thirty degrees above the horizon, towards the south-south-west. My observation lasted from twenty to thirty seconds."

"The weak wind was directed towards the south: there were four witnesses."

This was followed by their names; which Aimé Michel does not provide, since he was asked to respect their anonymity.

Aimé Michel notes that one could explain this well described observation, including a professor of mathematics among the witnesses, by a weather balloon, if balloons could cross the sky from one horizon to the other in thirty seconds.

[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:

[Ref. ldl1:] "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT" UFOLOGY MAGAZINE:

[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":

[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:

Luc Chastan indicates in his database that in the Isère in Le Pin on September 16, 1954 at 17:45 hours, "4 witnesses, among them a professor of mathematics, observed at the old Carthusian monastery of Silve-Bénite by a perfectly clear sky and a limpid atmosphere, an object of round and flat shape. It was in north-north-east direction. It slipped quickly into the calm air, shining in the sun with metallic reflections evoking the glare of aluminium. Part of the machine appeared duller, perhaps because of a different exposure. Its altitude seemed low, it seemed to be 500 meters. It flew at a moderate and regular speed directed towards an absolutely rectilinear line of the north-north-east to the south-south-west. The witnesses ceased to distinguish the object whereas it was in a point located at approximately thirty degrees above the horizon, towards the south-south-west. The observation lasted from twenty to thirty seconds. The wind weak, was directed in the south."

The source is indicated as "M.O.C. by Michel Aimé ** Arthaud 1958".

[Ref. uda1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on 16 September 1954 at 17:45, 35 miles southeast of Le Pin, France, "Metallic round flat object, gliding along rapidly in calm air." And: "An unidentified object was sighted, but with appearance and behavior that most likely would have a conventional explanation. One metallic round object was observed by four witnesses at a mountain for 24 seconds (Monastere)."

The sources are indicated as Michel, Aime, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery, S. G. Phillips, New York, 1958; Vallee, Jacques, Computerized Catalog (N = 3073); Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002.

[Ref. ubk1:] "UFO-DATENBANK":

This database clumsily recorded this case three times:

Explanations:

Michel infers the object would have crossed the sky from one horizon to another "in thirty seconds", whereas the witness only said that his observation lasted from 20 to 30 seconds, knowing that did not see the object arrive from the north-northeast horizon but noticed at a certain moment the object present in the sky in that direction.

There is also a contradiction between the fatastic speed according to Aimé Michel, this crossing of the entire sky in 30 seconds, and the "moderate speed" estimated by the witness.

All this, as well as the description, makes me suspect that it could have been a weather balloon at a low altitude pushed by a fast wind.

Keywords:

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

Le Pin, Isère, visibility, object, round, flat, shiny, reflexion, metallic, aluminum, low, slow, straight, duration

Sources:

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

• [aml1] "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", book by Aimé Michel, Arthaud publisher, France, 1958.
• [aml1] "Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery", book by Aimé Michel, English version of "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", S.G. Phillips publisher, USA, 1958.
• [gqy1] "Observations 1954", monograph by Guy Quincy, France - Algeria, private publication, page 5, the 1950's.
• [ldl1] Ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit (LDLN), France, #77, page 3, September / October 1965.
• [aml1] "A Propos des Soucoupes Volantes - Mystérieux Objets Célestes", book by Aimé Michel, reprint of "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", Planète publishers, France, pp 67-68, 1966.
• [aml1] "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", book by Aimé Michel, Seghers publisher, France, pp 71-72, 1977.
• [aml1] "Mystérieux Objets Célestes", book by Aimé Michel, Robert Laffont publisher, France, pp 71-72, 1978.
• [lhh1] "*U* Computer Database", database by Larry Hatch, USA, circa 2002.
• [lcn1] Base OVNI France, website by Luc Chastan, France, circa 2005, at baseovnifrance.free.fr/detobs.php?numobs=889
• [uda1] "16 Sep 1954 - Le Pin, France", web page by the UFOdna website, circa 2008, at www.ufodna.com/uf02/uf0/020879.htm
• [ubk1] Online database UFO-Datenbank, Germany, found in 2016, at ufodatenbank.de

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This page was last updated on November 21, 2021.