The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
October 26, 1954, Reims, Marne:
Reference for this case: 26-Oct--54-Reims.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The newspaper L'Union, of Reims, on October 28, 1954, reported that what they called an "unidentified object" had been seen in the sky over Reims on the evening of October 26, 1954.
Rather "skeptical" on the subject, the newspaper first warned that it was not appropriate to speak of "flying saucers or other tableware, flying cigars or other hunting sticks, Martians, Venusians, Lunarians or other orangutans with no merit," and that one must give up the "ramblings, hypotheses and easy jokes that have nothing in common with simple intellectual honesty."
They then stated that they would "examine calmly" the testimony that had reached them the previous day from a "Mr. M. S." who wished to remain anonymous, and whose personality, the newspaper said, "excludes any fantasy on his part."
This witness was riding a motorcycle on October 26, 1954 at 07:30 p.m. along Rue de l'Arquebuse in Reims, heading toward Place de la Liberté. As he was passing the intersection with Rue de Vandeuil, he saw in the sky a green object of slightly elliptical shape moving horizontally at very high speed, in an approximately north–south direction.
Mr. M. S. estimated that the apparent diameter of this object was, to him, that "of a thumbtack held at arm's length."
The object had a very intense and very bright green color, and it seemed to increase in size while projecting sparks, after which it disappeared from the observer's view. It seemed to Mr. M. S. that the "unidentified object" was very far away, as he saw it very low on the horizon, necessarily limited by the neighboring houses.
The object left in the sky a whitish trail that was still visible after its disappearance.
Mr. M. S. stated that no aircraft had been reported at that time.
The newspaper explained that because of the time, it was likely that there had been other witnesses, whom they invited to come forward — which indeed happened.
[Ref. unn1:] NEWSPAPER "L'UNION":
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Faced with one of the greatest mysteries of modern times, it is far preferable to resolutely abandon the simplistic definitions of flying saucers or other dishes, flying cigars or other hunting sticks, Martians, Venusians, Lunarians, or other orangutans, which have no real merit.
We much prefer the definition "unidentified flying object," which, when applied to these phenomena now observed by thousands of people, has the merit of precisely framing the problem and, as they say, putting the dots on the i and things in their proper place, cutting short idle speculations, hypotheses, and jokes that have nothing to do with simple intellectual honesty.
This preamble is not entirely useless, as some individuals have developed the deplorable habit of sending unidentified objects at others' heads for their petty interests or personal vanities.
That said, let us calmly examine the testimony received yesterday. The witness, not wishing to be singled out, chose to remain relatively anonymous while still contributing to the pursuit of truth. It goes without saying that the witness's credibility excludes any fanciful exaggeration. He allowed us to cite his initials: M. S.
Mr. M. S. was riding a motorcycle Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. on Rue de l'Arquebuse, heading toward Place de la Liberté. Suddenly, as he crossed Rue de Vandeuil, he saw in the sky a green object, slightly elliptical in shape, moving horizontally at very high speed in an approximately north-south direction.
Mr. M. S. estimates that the apparent diameter of the object was, to him, the size of a thumbtack held at arm's length. The "unidentified object" left a whitish trail in the sky that remained visible after its disappearance.
The object, whose green color was very intense and luminous, seemed to increase in volume while projecting sparks, then vanished from the observer's view. Mr. M. S. felt that the "unidentified object" was very far away, as he saw it low on the horizon, necessarily still limited by the nearby houses.
According to the observer, no aircraft were reported in the area at that time.
Given the hour, it is likely that this phenomenon was seen by others. It would be interesting for them to share their observations with fellow citizens.
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Obvious description or a meteor.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Reims, Marne,
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
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| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 15, 2026 | First published, [unn11]. |
