The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 1-Nov-54-Le-Drennec.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper Liberté du Morbihan reported on page 12, on November 5, 1954, that a farmer from Drennec in Finistère said she had seen in the sky the previous day, "a flying saucer in the shape of a spindle. The craft appeared to be about 2 meters long and flew over her farm at a height of about 20 to 30 meters not emitting any noise."
That same November 5, 1954, in the newspaper Ouest-France, one learnrf that the witness was an elderly woman, that she wished to remaine anonymous, that her "good faith cannot be doubted", and that she had told the newspaper:
"It was 6:30 a.m., going to mass, I went into the farmyard. Looking up, I saw a strange craft about 2 meters long which was slowly flying over the farm at a height of about 20 to 30 meters and without noise, because of the clarity in the farmyard, I saw the craft clearly, it was shaped like a spindle."
The old woman was so frightened that she called her son, but the "spindle" had "disappeared, as it had come: noiselessly."
Although this observation can be explained quite simply by a meteor, it appeared without explanation in ufology Web sources in the 2000s.
In 2025, I found the likely primary source, the regional newspaper Le Télégramme de Brest et de l'Ouest for November 5, 1954.
The account, collected by this newspaper, is the same, but the date is not "the previous day", November 4, but "Monday," that is, November 1st, 1954.
[Ref. tbt1:] NEWSPAPER "LE TELEGRAMME DE BREST":
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Rumor spread on Monday that a craft, either saucer or cigar-shaped, had flown over and appeared in the area of our commune.
The person who had the honor of seeing this strange object is a respectable farmer woman who wishes to remain anonymous and whose honesty is beyond question.
She told us the following, verbatim:
"On Monday, shortly before 6:30 a.m., I was in the farmyard, brightly lit by an electric lamp. I was scanning the sky to check the weather before going to early morning mass, when I saw a strange object about 2 meters long, flying slowly at low altitude — 20 to 30 meters — and shaped like a spindle, stick, or cigar. The object skimmed the roof of the farmhouse." It was clearly seen by this good woman, who didn’t much believe in flying saucers or such things, but had to admit the evidence. She was so frightened that she only spoke to her sons about it some time later, but by then the object had vanished.
This strange appearance is at the very least surprising, but the mystery remains.
[Ref. lmn1:] NEWSPAPER "LA LIBERTE DU MORBIHAN":
BREST. -- A farmer woman of Drennec (Finistère) claims to have seen yesterday morning, a flying saucer in the sky, having the shape of a spindle. The machine seemed to be of approximately 2 meters long and flew over her farm at a height of about 20 to 30 meters, not emitting any noise.
[Ref. ofe1:] NEWSPAPER "OUEST FRANCE":
A flying saucer - better, a flying spindle - was spotted by a decent woman of the DRENNEC, a farmer and whose good faith cannot be questioned. This person who wishes to keep anonymity, declared to us "It was 06:30, as I had to go to the mass, I went in the farmyard. Looking up, I saw a strange machine of approximately 2 meters of length which slowly flew over the farm at a height of approximately 20 to 30 meters and without noise. Because of the lighting which reigned in the farmyard, I clearly saw the machine. It had the shape of a spindle."
The old woman was so much frightened that she called her son... But the spindle had disappeared, as it had come: without noise.
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Finistère in Drennec on November 4, 1954 at 06:30 hours, a woman leaves her farm. There she observes above the home an object in the form of a spindle of approximately two meters length which flies rather slowly over the place at approximately twenty to thirty meters altitude. The frightened woman calls her son, but the object disapears before the latter arrives.
The source is noted as being my website at http://ufologie.net (the old URL of its home page).
[Ref. voi1:] "ARCHIVES VIGIE OVNI 29":
Le Drennec ( 29 860 ), November 04, 1954, 06 : 30 ...
Testimony nr FR 29 860 1954 11 04 06 30
Available documents:
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Probably the 07:15 a.m. meteor of that day.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Le Drennec, Finistère, spindle, cigar, anonymous, low, farm, silence
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | October 24, 2004 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 18, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Addition [lcn1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | February 3, 2017 | Addition [voi1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | November 10, 2019 | Addition of the Summary. Explanations chaged, were "Not looked for yet." |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | June 20, 2025 | Addition [tbt1]. Case day changed from 4 to 1. In the Summary, addition of the in formation from [tbt1]. |
