The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
October 30, 1954, Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle:
Reference for this case: 30-Oct-54-Nancy.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper L'Est Républicain, in Nancy, on October 31, 1954, reported having received testimonies indicating that the day before, that is October 30, 1954, around 8 p.m., including that of an aviator who had seen in the sky "a craft about ten centimeters large," elongated in shape, whose tail, surrounded by a luminous circle, trailed behind it a red and green band; the whole thing was rather dazzling and was rapidly rising above Gilbert Street.
Also, a conductor from Nancy, well known in the city, Mr. Y. F., who did not have a reputation "for being a crank," and who was then with one of his musicians and his wife in front of No. 8 Clos Hinzelin, had noticed a "craft" that "looked like a very dazzling ball, also, from which escaped an incandescent, whitish trail, with a diameter that was "about 20 centimeters."
This lasted a few seconds, accompanied by an engine noise, reminiscent of a two-stroke engine running in first gear.
The newspaper insisted that it "could not have been a shooting star because, besides the diameter, the saucer, which was speeding in the direction of Strasbourg Avenue, toward the city center, was moving below the clouds;" the weather being "slightly misty and the sky devoid of stars."
On November 2, 1954, the same newspaper returned to the observation, giving the time as 11:45 p.m., identifying the conductor as Yves Franchini, who was with two friends. The newspaper added that "other residents of Nancy were struck by the same sight: the young Claude Baermann, residing at 36, avenue de l'Abbé-Grégoire, and Mr. and Mrs. Meyer, living at 62, avenue du Général-Leclerc."
[Ref. ern1:] NEWSPAPER "L'EST REPUBLICAIN":
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Compared to other French cities, Nancy seemed to be the poor relation: it had not yet had its own flying saucer.
Of course, there had been rumors. Several residents of Avenue de Strasbourg claimed to have seen a luminous craft in the sky. A truck driver whispered to those close to him that he had witnessed a similar vision. While on vacation in the Cantal, a man from Nancy had even photographed a flying saucer. But all of this, while intriguing, did not seem particularly serious, at least on the surface.
However, yesterday, new testimonies suddenly reached us. Around 8 p.m., a pilot spotted in the sky a craft about ten centimeters in size, elongated in shape, with a tail surrounded by a luminous ring, trailing a red and green streak behind it. The whole sight was rather dazzling and rapidly ascended over Rue Gilbert.
Even more intriguing is the testimony of a well-known orchestra conductor from Nancy, Mr. Y. F., who was at the time with one of his musicians and his wife in front of No. 8, Clos Hinzelin.
The craft they all saw resembled a very dazzling sphere, from which a whitish incandescent trail escaped. Its diameter was about 20 centimeters. The phenomenon lasted only a few seconds, accompanied by an engine noise reminiscent of a two-stroke vehicle moving in first gear.
It could not have been a shooting star because, apart from its size, the saucer - which was speeding in the direction of Avenue de Strasbourg toward the city center - was moving below the clouds. The weather was slightly misty, and the sky was devoid of stars.
On the witnesses' watches, the hands read exactly 10:53 p.m. And the witness who came to tell us what he saw is not known, in everyday life, to be a dreamer.
"Of course..." the skeptics will say.
But still, the phenomenon is quite unsettling, as if Nancy needed this invasion of saucers...
[Ref. ern2:] NEWSPAPER "L'EST REPUBLICAIN":
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It seems that Sunday evening was particularly favorable for the "flying saucers" to take a stroll through the sky of Nancy.
Indeed, after the two testimonies published yesterday, we have now learned that a similar phenomenon was observed by other passersby at different times.
A pilot, as we recall, was the first to spot the saucer around 8:00 p.m., above Rue Gilbert.
A resident of Avenue de la Libération, Mr. Clément, reported noticing at 10:50 p.m. on Rue Leonard-Bourcier a luminous blue and green object, leaving behind a white trail, coming from the north and speeding across the sky in the direction of Maxéville.
Mr. Meglioli, from Avenue de Boufflers, who was next to Mr. Clément, also witnessed the event.
Finally, at 11:45 p.m., the time when Mr. Yves Franchini, an orchestra conductor, and two of his friends saw the object streak across the sky over Clos Hinzelin toward Avenue de Strasbourg, other residents of Nancy were struck by the same sight: young Claude Baermann, residing at 36 Avenue de l'Abbé-Grégoire, and Mr. and Mrs. Meyer, living at 62 Avenue du Général-Leclerc.
8:00 p.m., 10:50 p.m., 11:45 p.m....
We are therefore likely dealing with three different objects. For having been served quite late, Nancy had to be served well.
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The arguments of the newspaper [ern1] are incorrect.
First of all, it seems that the editor does not distinguish between a "shooting star" and a meteor.
The notion of a shooting star - not very scientific, the term belongs more to everyday usage - refers to the luminous phenomenon that accompanies the entry into the Earth's atmosphere of a very small meteoroid fragment, typically submillimetric in size.
The notion of a meteor or "fireball" refers to the luminous trail produced by the entry into the Earth's atmosphere of an extraterrestrial body, or meteoroid, which may produce, if it has not been entirely consumed, one or more meteorites.
In other words, something that would not be a shooting star could be a meteor, a possibility the newspaper does not consider.
The newspaper ruled out a shooting star on the one hand because of the "diameter." This made no sense since the diameter in question is not properly established by the testimonies. These state "about ten centimeters" and "about 20 centimeters." This makes no sense because the witnesses did not know the distance separating them from the phenomenon. To provide a reliable size, the human eye must be less than 50 meters away, a distance at which stereoscopic vision based on parallax between the right and left eye ceases to be effective. To give the size of a phenomenon, the witnesses should have provided an angular size, independent of distance: "about half the size of the Moon," or "one tenth of a degree," or "the same width as a little finger when the arm is extended."
The newspaper also ruled out a shooting star because of a cloudy sky below which, according to them, the phenomenon was located. First, note that the cloud cover was light, the newspaper stating: "slightly hazy." Secondly, a meteor most often emits a fairly strong light, much brighter than that of a star, and this light easily penetrates a "slightly hazy" sky.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, night, Yves Franchini, conductor, multiple, craft, Clos Hinzelin, avenue de Strasbourg, Claude Baermann, Meyer
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | March 18, 2025 | First published, [ern2]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | April 21, 2026 | Additions [ern1], Summary. Explanations changed, were "The information on what was seen is totally insufficient." |
