The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 22-Oct-54-Corbeil-Essonnes.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The national newspaper Le Parisien Libéré for September 24, 1954, reported "A ball of fire in the Seine-et-Marne":
"Wednesday", thus on September 22, 1954, around 08:30 p.m., two inhabitants of Saint-Fargeau had "witnessed the moves of a ball of fire. These persons are trustworthy, it is the apparator Mr. Binet, and Mr. Ravot, butcher."
Mr. Rabot was coming back from Ponthierry when he saw through the windshield of his car, right in front of him, a ball of fire that was moving in the sky. He told this newspaper:
"- I was so surprised, that I stopped my car, I went out and I followed the craft for a few minutes, it was moving horizontally, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, then disappearing into the clouds, It appeared four times, and I noticed at the back a small luminous trail, not very long."
Back home, Mr. Ravot called his neighbor, Mr. Binet, and the two men checked the sky in vain. But suddenly, the butcher's little girl uttered an exclamation: the fireball had made a new appearance. Messrs. Binet and Ravot saw it clearly, it stopped a few seconds before disappearing in the clouds.
The 1958 version by ufologist Aimé Michel is as follows: on September 22, 1954, at 08:00 p.m. a little south of Corbeil, Mr. Rabot, butcher in Ponthierry, drove on the national road 7 towards Saint-Fargeau and Ponthierry, in the direction north to south, when he saw at an altitude which seemed important to him, but under the clouds and above him, a circular luminous object of great size, red in color and surrounded by a kind of bright smoke of the same red color that seemed to escape from it.
Mr. Rabot stopped his car to look, and found that the phenomenon was sometimes motionless, sometimes moving to the right, to the left, vertically, and in all directions with a "majestic slowness."
The phenomenon returned several times to the place it had just left, while Mr. Rabot saw the clouds passing over the object, which disappeared four times into the clouds but each time, did not take long to emerge again.
After a few minutes of observation, Mr. Rabot wanted to find other witnesses, but the road was deserted. He resumed his way towards Ponthierry while checking however from time to time that the phenomenon was still visible.
Arriving at Ponthierry, he alerted the village apparator, who came out of his house with his wife and all three watched the show for several minutes during which the object continued to make many trips and changed color.
After a long period of immobility, the object moved at high speed in the direction of the South and was lost to sight in the clouds. In this last time it disappeared in the clouds, it did that much faster than the first four times.
In 1979, the "skeptical" ufologists Gérard Barthel and Jacques Brucker would foolishly write that it must have been "a big meteorite".
[Ref. ple1:] NEWSPAPER "LE PARISIEN LIBERE":
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After the astonishing observations which excited and intrigued last week, more than a thousand Rome residents, in the course of the last forty-eight hours, many Frenchmen, in various regions, witnessed these phenomena in their turn.
It is confirmed once more (and this is the essence of this great mystery) that the reports match as to the strange evolutions of these unknown devices. Once again, too, the thesis of hallucination is hardly admissible. General perplexity is a fact on which everyone agrees, while "saucers" and "antisaucerists" will find there an exciting and inexhaustible conversation topic.
The beautiful French movie star, Michèle Morgan, witnessed while passing on the Esplanade des Invalides a celestial phenomenon about which she stated:
"I'm sure it was not the lights of the Eiffel tower or the lights of an airplane, for I saw the craft going up vertically. An old gentleman, who was near me, and who had also noticed the phenomenon, ran away.
Her friends gently teased her by reminding her that she had played the part of Joan of Arc. But the star persisted in confirming what she had seen.
Until now, flying saucers had never been seen in the Seine-et-Marne. Everything happens, since, on Wednesday, around 8:30 p.m, two residents of Saint-Fargeau witnessed the moves of a ball of fire. These persons are worthy of faith, it is the apparator Mr. Binet, and Mr. Ravot, butcher.
The latter was returning from Ponthierry when he saw through the windscreen of his car, just before him, a ball of fire moving in the sky.
"I was so surprised," he said, "that I stopped my car, I went out and followed the machine with my eyes for a few minutes. It moved horizontally, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, then disappearing in the clouds. It appeared four times, and I noticed in its back a small trail of light, not very long."
Back home, Mr. Ravot could not resist the desire of calling his neighbor, Mr. Binet. The two men inspected the sky, but in vain. Suddenly the butcher's little girl uttered an exclamation. The ball of fire had made a new appearance. Messrs. Binet and Ravot saw it clearly. It paused for a few seconds before disappearing into the clouds.
Let us repeat this testimony of one of our readers, Mrs. Gamundi, living on 192 avenue Jean Jaurès, Paris. The day before yesterday, she was driving by car between Fontainebleau and Essonne, and for half an hour she watched a motionless luminous ball surrounded by a kind of smoke, from which other luminous balls were falling. The ball shifted suddenly and rose at high speed.
At the moment when returning from [...]
[...] cigar shape surrounded by a kind of purple blue steam.
- Another cigar, matching the characteristics of the one observed in Rome, was seen by three people from Lodève (the Herault). The craft seemed to tow a shining globe at a speed of 1,500 km per hour.
As of Dr. Mercier, of Le Puy, he declared that he had observed, twice above the town, a silent round, brilliant object, which moved from south to north at a very high altitude. This machine would also have been seen by several farmers around Le Puy.
- In the Puy-de-Dôme, new witnesses of the phenomenon became known. The craft had a red color. It was a very elongated cigar which, and this is the first time that this particularity is reported, flew sideways. It was absolutely clear, without trail, and seemed to fly very high.
The other night, around 11 p.m., three young boys aged 16 to 17, who were walking on the jetty of the harbor of Banyuls-sur-Mer (PO), saw in the sky an oblong object moving at high speed and from which seemed to come out red and green flames. A little frightened, the boys went to tell their story to various consumers who were on the terrace of a coffee shop, but the latter watched the sky and saw no trace of the mysterious machine.
Mr. de Léotard, MP of the Seine, in a written question, explained to the Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (Air) that recent testimonies relating to "flying saucers" and "flying cigars" are intriguing the public opinion, if not to worrying it, he asks:
(1) If instructions have been given for these phenomena to be systematically and scientifically observed;
(2) If these "saucers" or "cigars" could not be hunted for better observation so that the public would know exactly if some collective autosuggestion has to be dissipated or whether it is necessary to consider these phenomena to the point of view of security and national defense.
[Ref. ppe1:] NEWSPAPER "PARIS-PRESSE":
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Cigars, orange balls, green discs, phosphorescent globes: since Sunday, it's been a continuous parade of flying saucers of all models. You can see them everywhere: in the East, in the West, in Lorraine, in the Parisian suburbs, in England. Actress Michèle Morgan believes she saw two of them the other night above the Invalides.
Do they take off from Mars or do they come out fully armed with the imagination of spectators obsessed with tales of anticipation and the revelations of "skeptical" journalists? We still don't know. But we hesitate to qualify as jokers those who report these "apparitions" when among them are - this is the case near Châteauroux - two gendarmes in uniform and in the exercise of their functions.
The two gendarmes, MM. Courtaud and Peninon, were on patrol the other night in Montierchaume, when they saw a luminous machine immobilized in the sky, then two others of greenish color, at an altitude of about 1,500 meters.
A country keeper, M. Louis Moll, from Obersdorf [sic] (Moselle) also assures us that he saw Sunday in the sky "a weird thing" that arose near the village of Tromborn.
- The craft, he said, looked a bit like a small bus. It then took on the appearance of an orange ball.
It is also a phosphorescent ball, but red this times and followed by a luminous trail, that a butcher of Saint-Fargeau, Mr. Rabot, saw yesterday evening around 8 a.m. near Ponthierry, a few kilometers from Melun.
Mr. Rabot thought he was seeing things and fled to find his neighbor, Mr. Binet, who came out with his wife. Both saw the saucer like him, as it continued to move for a few minutes.
In the Hérault, it is a flying cigar "towing" a fiery red gobe, that three residents of Lodève saw the other evening.
It was also seen yesterday, in the Vendée, by about thirty people, in Sigournais and Saint-Prouant. It was purple blue and shaped like a carrot... "topped of a sort of disc".
An industrialist of Origny-en-Tiérache (Aisne), Mr. Chovel, said today that he also saw, the other night, an orange disc which moved a hundred meters above the trees, at a dizzying pace.
There will soon be a cigars and saucers traffic jam in the sky. Meanwhile, traffic was interrupted yesterday for an hour in Blackpool (England) by onlookers who contemplated a "round white object" swaying in the sky... and which, according to the authorities of the nearby aerodrome, may just be a simple weather balloon.
[Ref. non1:] NEWSPAPER "NORD-MATIN":
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The file on flying saucers was considerably enriched in a few days. Since the appearance of the "flying cigar" in the sky of Rome, which moreover gives rise to an official investigation, many witnesses, reliable, have made concordant accounts on identical observations which they made a little everywhere above French territory.
The famous actress Michèle Morgan, herself, noticed above the Esplanade des Invalides two "luminous globes" of which she claims that they were neither an optical illusion nor a known type of craft.
In a written question to the Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, Mr. de Léotard, deputy for the Seine, requests that a scientific investigation be opened and that the public be informed.
At 9:15 p.m., Sunday evening, Mr. Louis Moll, country guard at Oberdorff (Moselle), saw, he says, a mysterious craft landing in the neighboring village of Tromborn:
"It was, he said, the shape of a small bus. For 40 seconds, watch in hand, I observed it when it had just landed, I thought I saw black dots move inside the craft, which was lit. Then the "bus" rose vertically without noise and disappeared.
Wednesday, around 8 p.m. a butcher of Ponthierry (S.-et-M.), Mr. Rabot, was driving by car on the national road n° 7, when he saw a craft of spherical shape, luminous, from where escaped also bright smoke.
Mr. Rabot stopped in front of the house of Ponthierry's trainer, who went out with his wife. For long minutes, the trio observed the craft, which made back and forth movements, then disappeared in the clouds at full speed. Mr. Rabot and the trainer are known in Ponthierry as very serious people.
Two gendarmes, MM. Courtaud and Peninon, returning from tour on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, said they saw in the sky, above the town of La Fleuranderie (Indre), a luminous craft immobilized at 1,500 meters of height approximately.
Finally, three residents of Lodève, perfectly trustworthy, claim to have seen a "flying cigar" above the city conform to the description of the one who moved on September 18 in the sky of Rome.
[Ref. hws1:] HAROLD WILKINS:
The author says that in the valley of the Garonne, a butcher saw a saucer high in the sky that seemed to be using the river as a "point de repere" (landmark).
[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:
Ufologist Aimé Michel reports that on September 22, 1954, at 08:00 P.M., a little in the South of Corbeil, Mr. Rabot, butcher in Ponthierry, was driving on the main road Route Nationale 7 to Saint-Fargeau and Ponthierry, in the direction of north towards the south, when he saw at an altitude which seemed important to him but under the clouds and above him, a circular luminous object of great volume, of red color and surrounded by sort of luminous smoke of the same red color which seemed to come out of it.
Mr. Rabot stopped his car to look at it, and noted that the phenomenon was sometimes motionless, sometimes moved towards the right, the left, vertically and in all the directions with a "majestic slowness."
The phenomenon returned several times to the place which it had just left, while the witness saw the clouds passing above the object. The object disappears four times in the clouds but each time it did not take long to emerge from the clouds.
At the end of a few minutes spent to observe, Mr. Rabot wanted to find other witnesses, but the road was deserted. He started to drive again towards Ponthierry, however checking from time to time that the phenomenon was still visible.
When he arrived in Ponthierry, het alerted the porter of the village, who came out of his place in company of his wife and all three observed the display for several more minutes during which the object continued to make many displacement and changed color.
After a rather long period of immobility, the object left at high speed in the direction of the South and was lost from sight in the clouds. In this last time where it disappeared in the clouds, it did it much more quickly than the first four times.
[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
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September 22 [1954]
07:30 p.m.: Saint-Chéron/Breuillet (Seine-et-Oise)
07:30 p.m.: Arpajon (Seine-et-Oise)
08:00 p.m.: Saint-Fargeau/Ponthierry (Seine-et-Marne): clouds sphere
08:30 p.m.: Rueil-Malmaison/Rebais/Sénart (S.et Oise): luminous ball
08:30 p.m.: Paris 7°(Seine): disque lumineux
? (same h?): Chailly-en-Bière (Seine-et-Marne)/Nationale 7,N. of Fontainebleau (S.et-Marne: clouds sphere + 7 or 8 small lumin. "balls."
[Ref. jve1:] JACQUES VALLEE:
Jacques Vallée indicates that one of the more complete sightings of "large cigars" noted by Aimé Michel and of which he controlled the content by checking the original sources took place on September 22, 1954 at approximately 08:00 p.m. in the south of Paris.
The first witness is a butcher of Ponthierry, Mr. Rabot, who was driving by car on the National Road RN 7, when he suddenly saw a circular object of red color with a luminous smoke which escaped from it. The witness estimated that the object was at a considerable altitude, and it evolved slowly in all directions.
Mr. Rabot observed this during several minutes then went up in his car and regained Ponthierry while continuing to supervise the object. Arrived at Ponthierry, he warned the porter of the village who saw the disappearance of the phenomenon at high speed in the clouds.
Jacques Vallée continues then by reporting another sighting at the same the time in the same area.
[Ref. jve2:] JACQUES VALLEE:
Vallée says that Aimé Michel carefully documented cases of "cloud-cigars", checked by Michel and Vallée against the original sources. He says one of the most complete accounts is that of sighting south of Paris at about 8 P.M. on September 22, 1954. A Mr. Rabot, butcher in Ponthierry, was driving along road N. 7 when he suddenly caught sight of a red circular object, with what seemed to be luminous smoke escaping from it. It appeared to be at a considerable height and was moving about slowly and majestically in directions. Rabot watched it for several minutes and then got back in his car and returned to Ponthierry, keeping the object in view. In Ponthierry he notified a local official, who saw the thing disappear at great speed among the clouds.
[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:
| 133 | -002.53071 | 48.53700 | 22 | 09 | 1954 | 20 | 30 | 1 | PONTHIERRY-ESSONE [sic] | F | 11 4 | C | 096 |
[Ref. hdt1:] "HENRY DURRANT":
Discussing the "ways of moving these craft", the author notes that in Ponthierry on September 22, 1954, sometimes "the object is motionless, sometimes it moves right, left, vertically in all directions, but with majestic slowness."
[Ref. gep1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "GEPO":
| 09 22 54 (20) | Corbeil NS RN? Orly | H07 | 107X2AC | (cc) |
[Ref. bbr1:] GERARD BARTHEL AND JACQUES BRUCKER:
The two authors indicate that in Paris on September 22, 1954, at 08:00 p.m., a luminous object in slow displacement with a period of stop was seen.
They add that on October 26, 1977, the witness described to them that it was a large luminous object having the aspect of a disc with a very luminous tail in very fast displacement and that did not stop.
They say that one can seriously think that it was large a meteorite since the description is "identical" to a case in Dôle the same day in which the witness had told them to have seen at 08:30 p.m. a fast fugitive gleam which crossed the sky.
[Ref. lgs1:] LOREN GROSS:
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The most amazing account was M. Rabot's who was in the meat business in the town of Ponthierry. At 8:00 p.m., some 30 minutes after the sighting at Arpajon, M. Rabot happened to be motoring south along Route N-7, approaching St-Fargeau, when he looked up and saw a big, round, red-colored object immersed in a vapor that reflected the crimson glare. The Ponthierry butcher braked to a stop and gave his full attention to the marvel of the heavens. As the overcast drifted with the wind, the UFO maintained its position except for a limited drifting in various directions. On an occasion this drifting carried the object into the overcast but the ruby-colored thing would reappear. M. Rabot was beside himself with awe. There was no other traffic on the highway at the time, so he was unable to flag down a car to get more witnesses, but M. Rabot did drive quickly to the nearest town, Ponthierry, where he got a local official to go outdoors to see the big UFO in the sky. The official's wife tagged along and all three of them, the official, his wife, and Rabot, watched as the UFO changed color and shifted about. The UFO then remained still for a moment before zooming away to the south at high speed. The show was over. 101.
[...]
101. Vallee, Jacques. Challenge to Science, p.76.
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3813: 1954/09/22 20:30 15 2:32:00 E 48:32:00 N 3333 WEU FRN ESN 7:8
PONTHIERRY,FR:LRG LUM CLOUD OFFLOADS SMALLER UFOS:ZIPS OFF TO AVOID AIRLINER:
Ref# 3 VALLEE:UFO ENIGMA: Challenge/Science Page No. 66 : RESIDENT'L
[Ref. goe1:] GODELIEVE VAN OVERMEIRE:
The Belgian ufologist indicates that in 1954, on September 22 in France, in "Ponthierry, Arpajon, etc. (the Seine et Oise)", at 19:30, and "in St Cheron with inter alia witnesses Cyrille Maillard, radio operator officer. Sometimes the object moves on the right, on the left, vertically, in all the directions, with a majestic slowness. In Arpajon Mrs. Chatelin is the witness of the same phenomenon. Little before 20:00 Mr. Rabot of Ponthierry sees a luminous object of great red volume surrounded by a luminous smoke of the same color: the object is vertical.
Observation also made by Mrs. Gamundi between Ponthierry and Fontainebleau, who stopped to observe during half an hour. Suddenly another smaller ball emerges from the lower part, which fell in free fall, slows down then fled while obliquing. One moment later the phenomenon was repeated, and several times again in continuation. The witness forgot to count so intense his stupor was. When a plane came, the phenomenon hid in the clouds. Then the phenomenon did not reappear any more.
The sources are indicated as "Aimé Michel: 'M.O.C.' Seghers pub., p. 89, 90" and "Henry DURRANT: 'Premières enquêtes sur les Humanoïdes ET' - Laffont 1977 - p. 199".
[Ref. htr1:] HERBERT S. TAYLOR:
The author says that it was almost certainly that the same large reddish ball seen by Mrs. Gamundi, was also seen just minutes before some 10 miles north of her by M. Rabot, a butcher from Saint-Fargeau-Ponthierry. His description matched perfectly that of Gamundi, though he saw no secondary objects. He observed the object for many minutes before it headed south and disappeared in the clouds.
[Ref. jbu1:] JEROME BEAU:
September 22
8 p.m.: Mr. Rabot, butcher in Ponthierry (Seine-and-Oise), circulates in the car on Main road 7, and observes during several mn a red circular object with a luminous smoke which seems to escape from it. The object appears at a considerable altitude and moves in all directions very slowly. Mr. Rabot goes up in his car and goes back to Ponthierry while watching the display. In Ponthierry, he warns the porter of the village, who observes the disappearance of the phenomenon at high speed in the clouds.
The source is indicated as "Vallée 1966".
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Seine et Marne in Ponthierry on September 22, 1954, at 20:00 "The witness circulates in the car on Main Road 7, and observes during several minutes a red circular object with a luminous smoke which seems to escape from it. The object appears at a considerable altitude and moves in all directions very slowly. He goes back to Ponthierry while watching the display. Arrived in the city, he alerts the porter of the village, who observes with his wife the disappearance of the phenomenon at high speed in the clouds."
Luc Chastan indicates that the source is "M.O.C. by Michel Aimé ** Arthaud 1958".
[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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19540922 | 22.09.1954 | St. Fargeau | France | NL | ||||||
| 19540922 | 22.09.1954 | Ponthierry | France | 20.00 | ||||||
| 19540922 | 22.09.1954 | Ponthierry | France | 20.30 | ||||||
| 19540922 | 22.09.1954 | Ponthierry | France | |||||||
| 19540922 | 22.09.1954 | Ponthierry | France | |||||||
| 32205">19540922 | 22.09.1954 | Ponthierry | France | |||||||
| 19540922 | 22.09.1954 | Ponthierry | France |
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As of 2007, Corbeil is named Corbeil-Essonnes, and is no longer in the department of Seine-et-Oise but in the department of Essonne.
What is described here does not fit to anything known, ans is certainly not "a large meteorite,"
Below: places mentioned for the observations of September 22, 1954, in the evening, in the Paris area, plus localization of the Orly airport mentioned by Aimé Michel.
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(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Corbeil-Essonnes, Corbeil, Saint-Fargeau, Seine-et-Oise, Essonne, Rabot, multiple, road, car, altitude, height, phenomenon, object, red, manoeuvres, fast, slow, cloud, clouds, red
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | April 26, 2007 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 14, 2010 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [goe1], [lcn1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | March 18, 2010 | Addition [htr1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | June 17, 2010 | Addition [jve5]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | June 24, 2010 | Addition [hws1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | August 30, 2019 | Additions [lgs1], [lhh1], Summary. Explanations changed, was "Not looked for yet." |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | January 8, 2020 | Addition [ppe1]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | March 28, 2020 | Addition [non1]. |
| 1.6 | Patrick Gross | March 13, 2021 | Addition [gqy1]. |
| 1.7 | Patrick Gross | April 12, 2022 | Additions [hdt1], [gep1]. |
| 1.8 | Patrick Gross | June 9, 2022 | Addition [jve2]. |
