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October 3, 1954, Rouen, Seine-Maritime:

Reference for this case: 3-Oct-54-Rouen.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

The newspaper Paris-Normandie, of Rouen, for October 5, 1954, wondered whether the "meteors seen on Sunday" were flying saucers.

The article reported that "Sunday", thus on October 3, 1954, around 9 p.m., in Rouen, on the heights near the Saint Hilaire church, walkers had seen "three meteors located one above the other", "like the steps of a staircase". They seemed to be hovering above the Seine, facing the Sainte Catherine hill.

Suddenly, one of them headed at breakneck speed in the direction of the spectators; it seemed to gain height and grew disproportionately.

Its shape was described as "that of a gigantic neon tube", the light it emitted "became an intense yellow. It bowed as if to turn, set off again towards the Seine and disappeared..."

The other two "meteors" had vanished. Everything occurred without the slightest noise. One of the witnesses, an electrician from the general hospice of Rouen living in the Saint Hilaire district, was returning home with his wife and son when his attention was drawn by neighbors to this phenomenon which he described to the newspaper.

Reports:

[Ref. pne1:] NEWSPAPER "PARIS-NORMANDIE":

Were the meteors seen on Sunday flying saucers?

Sunday evening around 21 o'clock, on the heights which border the St Hilaire church, walkers saw three meteors located one above the other, "like the steps of a staircase". They seemed to be stopped above the Seine, opposite the St Catherine hill. Suddenly, one of them moved at a vertiginous speed in the direction of the witnesses. It seemed to take height and grew a lot. Its shape was that of a gigantic neon tube, the light it emitted became of an intense yellow. It tilted as if to veer, went away towards the Seine and disappeared...

The two other meteors had gone. All had happened without the least noise. One of the witnesses, an electrician of the general old people's home of Rouen living the St Hilaire district, was going back home in company of his wife and son when his attention was drawn by neighbors on this phenomenon that he describes to us.

Should it be believed that three flying saucers had been mislead in the sky of Rouen?

[Ref. ppe1:] NEWSPAPER "PARIS-PRESSE":

Scan.

After saucers and cigars

A newcomer in the sky: the
"flying barrel"

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. A la Combe-au-Chèvres, in the Haut Jura, also, but it was just a rain gauge.

[Ref. ads1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ARDENNAIS":

The flying objects saraband

(Continued from the first page)

[...]

Saucers, cigars, discs, balls and other "flying" objects were seen at Chancelade (Haute-Vienne), Willer (Haut-Rhin) [Sep. 30.], Gouesnach, near Quimper [Oct. 2], Beutignecourt, Ambazac (Haute-Vienne) [Oct. 1], Dijon [Oct. 2], Marcoing near Cambrai [Oct. 3], Pommier (Indre) [Oct. 3], Rouen, Ajaccio, la Rochelle [Oct. 2], Quimper [Oct. 2], Cholet [Oct. 2] and Vannes [Oct. 2].

[...]

[Ref. lae1:] NEWSPAPER "L'ALSACE":

The newspaper reports on October 6, 1954, with no other information, that there was a sighting in Rouen. The date is not given but the sighting is mentioned among others that took place on October 2 and 3, 1954.

See the article here.

[Ref. jve5:] JACQUES VALLEE:

230 -001.07730 49.41900 03 10 1954 24 00 2 ROUEN F 301 A

[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
19541002 02.10.1954 Rouen France
19541002 02.10.1954 Rouen France
19540930 30.09.1954 Roven [sic, Rouen] France
19541004 04.10.1954 Rouen France 24.00

Explanations:

Map.

The witnesses are close to the Saint-Hilaire church, the phenomenon appears above the Sainte-Catherine hill, a high spot which overlooks Rouen, and the Seine; if the direction is exact this would be 208°:

Map.

At this time and place, Mars was at 200°, elevation 13°. The Moon was at 223°, height 3° 15.

It may seem absurd that I check this, since the report really has little chance of explaining itself in this way. But it turns out that on October 3, 1954, in the Nord department, there had been dozens of misinterpretations caused by a low crescent moon barred by a cloud, often described as "two craft" or a "a craft splitting in two".

But here I rather exclude such an explanation for several reasons.

First of all, in the sector of the Saint-Hilaire church, the few viewpoints (example below) in the direction of the Sainte-Catherine hill have the horizon barred by the Sainte-Catherine hill; that is to say, a Moon at 3° 15 above the horizon would not really be visible, hidden by the hill.

Photo.

Then, the cloud barring the Moon in the Nord would have had little chance of being present in the same way in such a distant region.

Finally, we are talking about "three", and not two, "meteors" (completely erroneous journalistic designation here).

Mars cannot count as the "third", it is not above the Moon.

Finally, the Moon and Mars were setting, which is difficult to reconcile with "Suddenly, one of them headed at dizzying speed in the direction of the spectators; it seemed to gain height and grow disproportionately."

I don't know what was seen in this case. An extraterrestrial craft? I can't rule it out. But other explanations could be considered, such as projectors on a cloud ceiling. There was no investigation (the witnesses were not named), and the information is quite poor in quantitative terms (durations, angular sizes etc.), which in my opinion does not allow to pronounce any final explanation.

I therefore leave the case as "unidentified."

Keywords:

(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)

Rouen, Seine-Maritime, tube, neon, three, multiple, stopped, maneuver, fast, yellow, silent

Sources:

[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.

Document history:

Version: Created/Changed by: Date: Change Description:
1.0 Patrick Gross February 28, 2010 First published.
1.1 Patrick Gross June 3, 2010 Addition [lae1].
1.2 Patrick Gross June 22, 2010 Addition [jve5].
1.3 Patrick Gross January 2, 2017 Addition [ubk1].
1.4 Patrick Gross February 6, 2021 Additions [ppe1], [ads1].
1.5 Patrick Gross June 30, 2022 Addition of the Summary. Explanations changed, were "Not looked for yet."

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