The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 3-Oct-54-Santenay.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
In the regional newspaper Le Bien Public, of Dijon, for October 7, 1954, it was reported that several inhabitants of the Côte-d'Or department had seen a spherical luminous body emitting a bright green light evolving to the south, specifying that this seems to agree with the declarations of several people from Santenay-les-Bains, including Mr. Bernard Legros, 25-year-old manager of Docks Bourguignons.
On Sunday evening, October 3, 1954, around 8:45 p.m., Mr. Legros was between La Garenne and Soisy-la-Forêt, when he saw a luminous ball moving quite slowly and noiselessly in his direction, losing altitude. Mr. Legros immediately stopped, like several other motorists, and all watched, not without fear, for about 5 minutes, "the moves of the luminous craft which suddenly disappeared in the direction of Le Creusot."
They said the "craft", was orange in color and seemed to be topped with some sort of dome of a blackish green glow.
In the regional newspaper La Bourgogne Républicaine for October 10, 1954, an observation in Santenay around 9 p.m. on October 3, 1954, was mentioned.
A few ufology sources mentioned the case, in summary.
[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"?
[Ref. aml1:] AIME MICHEL:
Aimé Michel reports that on October 3, 1954, 2 or 3 minutes after 08:45 p.m., from the village of Santenay, within 15 kilometers of the Drée, a luminous object of orange color is seen arriving from the North-Est, passing West of the witnesses, moving away for Creusot, towards their south-west.
The observation lasted about 5 minutes.
[Ref. gqy1:] GUY QUINCY:
October 3 [1954]
[... other cases...]
08:48 p.m.: Santenay (6km SE Nolay--Côte d'Or): orange cigar + dome
[... other cases...]
[Ref. gep1:] UFOLOGY GROUP "GEPO":
| 10/03/54 | ( ) | Santenay La Dree Amiens Pommiers | 300V1 Y | 30m |
[Ref. via2:] "VIMANA 21" - UFOLOGY MAGAZINE, ADRUP:
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7 [Source date]: A LUMINOUS BALL IN SANTENAY LES BAINS -
Several residents of the Côte-d'Or saw a spherical luminous body emitting a bright green light moving towards the south. This statement seems to agree with those of several people from Santenay les Bains, including Mr. Bernard Legros, 25; manager of the Docks Bourguignons. Sunday evening, October 3, around 8:45 p.m., Mr. Legros was between La Garenne and Soisy la Forêt, when he saw a luminous ball moving rather slowly and noiselessly in his direction while losing altitude. Mr. Legros immediately stopped as well as several other motorists and all attended (not without fear) for about 5 minutes, the movements of the luminous craft which suddenly disappeared in the direction of Le Creusot. The craft, they claim, was orange in color and appeared to be topped by some sort of dome of a blackish green glow.
The source is said to be the newspaper Le Bien Public.
[Ref. via3:] "VIMANA 21" - UFOLOGY MAGAZINE, ADRUP:
This magazine listed this case twice:
54 10 03 20H47 LN Dree
54 10 03 20H45 LN Santenay
[Ref. via1:] "VIMANA 21" - UFOLOGY MAGAZINE, ADRUP:
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54 10 03 / CROSSROADS D 43 / N7 3, LOCATION: LA DREE / 08:47 P.M. / Nl / P /
Observation of an orange colored cigar, one could distinguish a dark dome.
(Source: M. O. C., Aimé Michel, p. 170).
[Ref. lgs1:] LOREN GROSS:
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3 October. Epinac-les-Mines and Santenay, France. (about 8:45 p.m.)
Orange luminous cigar.
Michel wrote:
"M. Bernard Legros, aged 25, with his wife, his mother, Mme. Rizet, and his aunt, Mme. Rety, were in a car leaving Epinac-les-Mines, 30 miles southwest of Dijon, on Route D-43. About two miles from Epinac, reaching the highway of La Dree, they stopped at the crossing.
"Then they noticed, coming from the northeast in a starry sky, a ball glowing with orange light, approaching at moderate speed and losing altitude. The whole family got out of the car. Other motorists passing by at that moment did the same. The object kept coming. It soon passed to the east of la Dree in the direction of Saizy-la-Foret, and continued toward the south. At the moment of its closest proximity the object could be very clearly distinguished: a kind of luminous cigar, it was orange in color. In the middle of its upper part could be seen a kind of darkhued dome.
"At the same moment, the same object came into view over Santenay, a village ten miles east of La Dree. It is certain that the object was the same, for the time, the descriptions of form, color, and movement, were the same. The Santenay witnesses simply saw the object toward the west, and those of la Dree toward the east. But the Ia Dree witnesses are sure the phenomenon was very near, two or three miles at most, at the moment of its closest proximity. The orange cigar thus passed between la Dree and Santenay. Finally, at la Dree as at Santenay, the thing was said to have sped of in the direction of Creusot, toward the southwest. At one place as at the other the observation lasted about five minutes." (xx.)
(xx.) Michel, Aime. Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery. pp.123-124.
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Côte d'or in Santenay on October 3, 1954, at 20:40 hours, a luminous object of orange color is seen passing in the west, moving away to the Creusot, towards the south-west. The observation lasted approximately 5 minutes.
Luc Chastan indicates that the source is "M.O.C. by Michel Aimé ** Arthaud 1958".
[Ref. dcn1] DOMINIQUE CAUDRON:
Dominique Caudron indicates that the catalogue of 800 cases published in 1970 by Maurice Santos, is a good example of what one should not do; he indicates to extract from it the list of the cases of October 3, 1954; which he knows well as he had investigated into these cases of his area of Nord. For each case, below the text of the Santos catalogue, he states what should have been written, and the explanation after analysis, when there is one.
Santos wrote that for this case #547 of October 3, 1954 of "30 meters cigars" there had been in Santenay an observation of a cigar carrying a dome.
Dominique Caudron says that at about 08:40 p.m. in Santenay, 21, "a kind of orange cigar" was "seen 5 minutes moving towards the south (no other sources than Aimé Michel)"
He notes that the estimate of size "30 meters cigars" is completely whimsical, the witnesses not having any means of considering the real dimensions.
He notes that the numbering of the cases by Santos seemed a good idea, but that it prevents the evolution of the catalogue, whose numbering becomes incoherent at the first update: "For example, this catalogue contains only 10 cases for the area of the Nord, whereas we know 48 of them. How to place the 38 others?"
[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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19541003 | 03.10.1954 | Santenay | France | 08:50 p.m. | NL |
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Santenay is also named Santenay-les-Bains.
Around 8:45 - 9 p.m. there were a number of sightings in the area, suggestive of a meteor.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Santenay, Côte-d'Or, luminous, object, orange, duration
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | June 27, 2004 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | January 9, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [lcn1]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | October 14, 2016 | Addition [dcn1]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | January 18, 2017 | Additions [lbr1], [ubk1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | February 17, 2021 | Additions [via1], [via2], [via3], [lgs1]. |
| 1.4 | Patrick Gross | April 17, 2022 | Additions [gqy1], [gep1]. |
| 1.5 | Patrick Gross | June 24, 2022 | Addition of the Summary. |
