The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 18-Oct-54-Rambourlieux.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In the Cambrai issue, the regional newspaper Nord-Matin for October 22, 1954, reported that "Monday" - therefore on October 18, 1954 - the passengers of the railway line from Busigny to Valenciennes who were on the train arriving at 6:28 p.m. at the Neuvilly station, had seen, at nightfall, on the heights of the Rambourlieux farm, a strange glow in the shape of a disc, first motionless, then moving slowly in the direction of Montay.
The regional newspaper La Voix du Nord of the same day reported the same sighting in its local issue of Cambrai.
[Ref. nmn1:] NEWSPAPER "NORD-MATIN":
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Our friendly music director saw a saucer heading towards Le Cateau.
Saturday at 9:15 p.m., a resident of rue de la Maladrerie who was in her yard, also saw in the sky a luminous ball which advanced very quickly. She called her husband immediately, but when he too came out, the thing was already gone.
Monday, users of the S.N.C.F. line Busigny-Valenciennes who were on the 6:28 p.m. train (arrival time at Neuvilly station), saw at dusk, on the heights of the Rambourlieux farm, a strange glow in the form of a disc, first motionless, then moving slowly in the direction of Montay.
[Ref. vdn1:] NEWSPAPER "LA VOIX DU NORD":
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Would Neuvilly be ignored by the flying saucers and the Martians? No, dear readers.
Our friendly music chief saw a saucer one evening heading towards Le Cateau.
Saturday, October 16, at 9:15 p.m., a resident of rue de la Maladrerie who was in her courtyard, also saw a luminous ball in the sky which was moving very quickly; she called her husband immediately, but when he came out, the craft had already disappeared.
Monday October 18, users of the S.N.C.F. line Busigny-Valenciennes who were on the 6:28 p.m. train, saw at nightfall, on the heights of the Rembourleux farm, a little to the left of the said farm, a strange glow having the shape of a disc, first motionless, then moving slowly in the direction of Montay.
[Ref. dcn1:] DOMINIQUE CAUDRON:
Dominique Caudron tells me by email having just completed a study of the October 18, 1954, meteor, and having found changes to do in my catalog. For this case, he indicates to me Rambourlieux is only a locality, that in fact the witnesses were at the Neuvilly train station (now disused), the direction is SSW, the hour, necessarily quite precise because of the train, does not correspond to the meteor at 8:45 p.m. and the movement does not correspond either.
On October 18, 1954 at 08:45 p.m., there was a widely seen meteor in this region.
But we are told of a train arriving at 6:28 p.m. in Neuvilly; this is too early.
This hour may be wrong, or another meteor is possible.
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Update on October 19, 2021:
There was a train station and a railway line (red line below) in Neuvilly, and there is indeed a farm in Ramourlieux towards the South-South-West, 2 km in straight line from the railway leaving Neuvilly:
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One can therefore assume that the witnesses were on the train leaving Neuvilly shortly after 6:28 pm; and that the direction of observation is towards the South-South-West or South-West.
Astronomically, night is falling, it's not quite dark. At 06:30 p.m., the Moon is visible at only 8° elevation, but quite in the wrong direction, at 108°. Mars set at 5:44 p.m., Jupiter is at the elevation of 19° but not in the right direction, at 147°.
Venus is at 218°, at the low elevation of 5° 27' suitable for misinterpretations. The direction (blue line on the map) is exactly what the witnesses would have observed if, leaving the station by train, they were just leaving Neuvilly to the east, when the dwellings were no longer hiding the direction of the Rambourlieux farm.
Venus had 54.58% of its surface illuminated and was located 112.60 million km from Earth, which is close to the average distance of 108 million km.
We are told that the "disk" was first motionless, which somehow matches the fact that the train must have been very slow just after exiting the station. We are told that afterwards the "disk" moved in the direction of Montay. Indeed Montay is south-east of Neuvilly station, 3 km away. This direction would totally match an illusion of movement created by the movement of the train towards the South-East.
So I think there are chances that this observation was an observation of Venus.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Rambourlieux, Nord, multiple, train, nightfall, ferme de Rambourlieux, gleam, disc, motionless, slow, Montay
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 17, 2020 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | October 3, 2021 | Addition [dcn1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | October 19, 2021 | Addition [vdn1]. In the Summary, addition of the paragraphe "The regional newspaper La Voix du Nord..." In the Explanations, addition of the "Update on October 19, 2021" part. |
