The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 24-Oct-54-Saint-Thiébault.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper L'Union of Reims reported on October 27, 1954, that on October 24, 1954, around 1 p.m., a hunter from Saint-Thiébault found in an alfalfa field, at the edge of the Illond woods, a white Venetian lantern attached to a fragment of beige rubber balloon, of a quality far superior to that used for children's balloons.
The device was equipped with a burned-out candle and was not wet, which indicated a recent landing.
[Ref. unn1:] NEWSPAPER "L'UNION":
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CHAUMONT. -- On Sunday, around 1 p.m., a hunter from St-Thiébault found in an alfalfa field, at the edge of the Illond woods, a white Venetian lantern attached to a fragment of beige rubber balloon, of a quality far superior to that used for children's balloons. The device, which contained a burned-out candle, was not wet, indicating a recent landing.
Whatever the purpose intended by its maker, a device of this kind involves real fire hazards for crops, haystacks, and forests.
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This is a "negative case," since no one thought that this thing was unexplained or extraterrestrial.
Negative cases are important because they make it possible to catalog ordinary explanations for other cases and, as here, indicate whether hoaxes played a role during the period and in the locations concerned. And during the 1954 wave in France, as it grew in importance, one can observe that more and more pranks of this kind were being devised.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Saint-Thiébault, Haute-Marne, negative case, prank, hoax, balloon, crash, landing, hunter, field, lantern, white, balloon, rubber, candle
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| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 11, 2026 | First published, [unn1]. |
