The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 2-Oct-54-Morez.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
This is a case that was never echoed in the UFO literature, told in the regional newspaper L'Est Républicain for October 6, 1954, and at least also in the regional newspaper La Bourgogne Républicaine for October 10, 1954:
That Saturday morning, thus on October 2, 1954, a gentleman from Les Rousses who remained anonymous, "trustworthy, honorable in every way, announced a smashing new", that is to say that "a flying saucer had landed at la Combe à la Chèvre, in the forest of the Massacre."
But when about twenty volunteers went to the place, they discovered that it was only a rain gauge shining under the sun, that the services of Water and Forests had installed there many years ago.
As the news had made a fuss, some believed that the roadblocks organized by the police in different parts of the region were meant await the saucer's occupants. But in fact, these roadblocks were meant to arrest Baranès.
Yet, for hours, one wanted to believe in the saucer story, because the many of the residents of the Haut-Jura who had not hesitated to travel kilometers to get to the foot of the rain gauge, would have done nothing to deny that it was a saucer.
[Ref. ler1:] "L'EST REPUBLICAIN":
Morez. -- General mobilization atmosphere reigned in Morez Saturday morning. One called from door to door. One sported a half curious, half-worried face. On the market, conservations were rife.
Already, that story of the "flying saucer" of Prémanon had excited the minds.
"Do you believe this? ... I don't!"
"Still, what do we get to see in our twentieth century." And then here is a Mr. Rousses, reliable, well in all respects, announcing a breaking news:
A flying saucer had landed in La Combe de la Chèvre, in the Massacre's Forest.
Twenty volunteers already rushed to this place where, metallic to the perfection (as it should be) and shining under the shining again sun, a rain gauge ... waiting for the rush of the curious! The Water and Forestry Services had settled it there for many years.
People who were not informed then heard that the police put roadblocks at different points of the region.
One waited for the occupants of this mysterious machine.
In fact, it is the possible passage of Baranès that was anticipated, the Franco-Swiss border being there all close! Yet for long hours, the story of the saucer staunchly believed, because the numerous inhabitants of the Haut-Jura who did not hesitate to walk long kilometers... to the rain gauge, did nothing to disprove that hoax!
[Ref. ppe1:] NEWSPAPER "PARIS-PRESSE":
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AFTER the saucers, cigars, spheres, pots, here is the flying barrel. It was in the Charente that it was "seen" by a motorcyclist, Mr. Jean Allary. It was "studded with golden nails" and was swinging by the side of the road.
In Annoeullin, near Lille, a worker who was smoking a cigar (a real one) in his garden, saw a luminous object in the shape of a crescent landing twenty meters from him. At his shouts, ten billiards players came running from a nearby cafe; the saucer had taken off, but a dozen "luminous dots" were moving above them.
Saucers, cigars, discs, balls and other "flying" objects were spotted in Chancelade (Haute-Vienne), Willer (Haut-Rhin), Gouesnach, near Quimper, Bautignecourt, Ambazac (Haute-Vienne), Dijon, Marcoing, near Cambrai, Pommier (Indre), Rouen, Ajaccio, La Rochelle, Quimper, Cholet, Vannes, Lyon and Le Havre. In la Combe-au-Chèvres, in the Haut Jura, also, but it was just a rain gauge.
[Ref. lbr1:] NEWSPAPER "LA BOURGOGNE REPUBLICAINE":
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Nevers (from our Press Correspondent.). -- According to the testimonies of five people, whose sincerity cannot be doubted, a flying saucer crossed the sky of Château-Chinon on Sunday evening, around 9 p.m. The strange apparition took place around 9 pm. This time, it is a luminous spot, of oval shape, appearing motionless at a very high altitude. At one time the spot appeared to separate into two parts, and each of the formed discs began to turn at full speed, changing color several times. Then everything went out. At the end of a few minutes, the first light spot reappeared, before splitting again and turning. The same phenomenon repeated several times under the more amazed than frightened eyes of the five residents of Chateau-Chinon.
Is it the same machine that was seen at Santenay at approximately the same hour? In any case, the testimony of the residents of Santenay is confirmed by that of the Lille residents who, a few moments earlier, saw three luminous "croissants" above the region.
Morez (from our special correspondent). -- In the Upper Jura where the statements of the children of Prémanon affirming that they had stoned a saucer, the minds are heated.
The other day, a resident of Les Rousses (whose name is not given) announced that a saucer had landed at the "Combe aux Chèvres" in a small clearing in the forest of the Massacre.
In fact, the many curious (20 cars at least) who drove there, did see a metallic object resplendent in the sun.
In addition, police roadblocks had been installed on all roads. It was learned later that the police were hunting more for Baranès, whose passage to Switzerland was feared, than for the Martian, for the saucer of the forest of the Massacre was only a rain gauge installed there for years!
Saturday, 10 pm. 30 and 23 h. 45, a group of four people from Savigny-les-Beaune saw a very bright "ball of fire" followed by a long green trail, which crossed the sky at a dizzying pace.
Two other people who were in a different place also noticed the phenomenon.
It is therefore not a hallucination ... but is it really a "saucer"?
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Misinterpretation causing big fuss.
The "Baranès" that the police wanted to catch was André Baranès, a journalist involved in the affair of the leaks of the National Defense Committee in 1954. Reports of the Committee were found in possession of the French Communist Party.
Roger Wybot, director of the DST, the French intelligence service, had identified the informant as André Baranès, member of the Tunisian Communist Party then of the "colonial section" of the PCF, journalist with the communist weekly Action and the cpmmunist newspaper L'Humanité.
Oddly enough, another observation was reported at Les Rousses that day.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Morez, Jura, misinterpretation, metallic, raing gauge, Les Rousses, forêt du Massacre, Combe à la Chèvre, saucer, landing, excitement, confusion
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | November 24, 2016 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | January 18, 2017 | Addition [lbr1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | October 4, 2019 | Addition of the Summary. Explanations changed, were "Misinterpretation causing big fuss." |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | January 16, 2020 | Addition [ppe1]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | March 24, 2020 | Addition [edc1]. |
