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November 5, 1954, Carrépuis, Somme:

Reference for this case: 5-Nov-54-Carrépuis.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Summary:

The ofology magazine Ouranos No. 15 of the 3rd quarter of 1955 listed an observation on November 5, 1954, in Carrépuis in the Somme department.

In the 2010s, a German database of UFO sightings on the Web added that it occurred at 11:00 p.m.

It was in 2020 that I was able to obtain a source of the time, the regional newspaper Le Courrier Picard, in the Oise department issue on page 3 for November 6, 1954.

In an article about the flying saucers, this newspaper reported that in Carrepuis, Mr. Loffroy, mayor, and Mr. Butin, schoolteacher, had seen the day before, at 0:20 a.m., a red ball moving in the sky towards Amiens.

Reports:

[Ref. cpd1:] NEWSPAPER "LE COURRIER PICARD":

Scan.

The Courier of the Somme

The opinion of an astronomer on the "saucers"

Mr. d'Halluin
who from his Warloy-Baillon observatory
scrutinizes the sky each evening
never detected a mysterious object

The interest that a large part of the population has in the unknown craft which - supposedly - have been furrowing our skies for several nights, prompted us to seek the most authoritative opinion on the subject, that of a astronomer, one of those silent scholars who spend their time scrutinizing imperceptible points lost in the vastness of the heavens.

So we went to Warloy-Baillon to question the "pioneer of the infinite", that is Mr. d'Halluin, whose seriousness and erudition constituted for us and for our readers the surest guarantees.

When we uttered the fateful word - saucer - from the start of the conversation - our interlocutor smiled. He obviously expected that the topic of the interview would roll over this point of burning topicality. Every day, moreover, in Warloy-Baillon, he is questioned about the so-called interstellar craft.

Mr. d'Halluin therefore replied, as he has no doubt already done many times, that he never personally had the opportunity to observe what ordinary people designate by the term saucer. "And yet," he added, "every evening, weather permitting, I am in my little observatory, to study the stars. In addition, during the course of the day, I very often have my nose in the air for mundane weather observations."

Asked about the opinion of astronomers in general, Mr. d'Halluin replied that it appeared that none of his colleagues had hitherto reported "unusual objects" in the sky. Specialist magazines mention nothing [*] and even seem to completely ignore the subject... except in the humor page!

But from there to asserting that this is a repetitive hoax, hallucinations, or fanciful interpretations, there is a big step that our interlocutor refuses to take. He, an astronomer, saw nothing, but he does not doubt the word of his Picardy fellow citizens. He admits a host of hypotheses: smoke or combustion waste from jet planes, secret aircraft of earthly powers, sounding balloons, etc...

As for the sidereal origin of the "objects" seen, Mr. d'Halluin is skeptical, even very skeptical. The stories of hairy Martians wearing orange hats make him smile.

But as a true scientist, he does not limit his horizon (it fit to say) and admits that living beings can exist on other planets, known or unknown to us, or even being part other solar systems. There is no definition of an infinite limit... [sic]

Be that as it may, the distinguished astronomer does not seem at all alarmed at the idea of a Martian invasion.

"If the Martians wanted to come to our place, he jokes, they should have done it sooner, because their planet by definition of limit to the infinite relative [sic]!) at the end of June and at the beginning of July I also observed it in my telescope, quite badly, I recognize it, because it appeared at a low height above the horizon line.

"If you want to admire it all at your ease come in September 1958 because it will be even closer to us and more vertically. Having a weaker layer of atmosphere to cross, we will therefore see it better.

As for Venus, our neighbor, it comes to meet us and the distance that separates it from us will be at a minimum on November 14, in a few days."

We then consider the hypothesis of the "electron saucers" which starred in these columns two days ago.

There, Mr. d'Halluin is formal: the sun can, indeed, emit masses of electrons, but this phenomenon is only observed when the dazzling star has dark spots... what happens every eleven years! And currently we are in a quiet period.

Tranquility also seems to reign everywhere in the intersidereal spaces and if he did not read his "Courrier Picard" every day, Mr. d'Halluin would be surprised to learn during this interview, that some people note a indescribable commotion and that gigantic scenes of home arguments make all the "saucers" spin around there.

***

So, Thursday morning, a resident of the Sainte-Anne district, in Amiens, saw, she told us, a dazzling disc moving in the sky at high altitude.

- In Carrepuis, MM. Loffroy mayor and Mr. Butin schoolteacher, saw yesterday, at 0:20, a red ball moving in the sky towards Amiens.

Also, two workers from the Delprat company, from Albert, coming, one from Marcelcave, the other from Ignaucourt, were going to their work the day before yesterday at Moreuil, around 7 a.m., when, passing through the wood of Moreuil, they were surprised to see a luminous globe at a certain height in the sky yellow in color about 2 meters in diameter.

The latter, after having remained in the air for a few minutes, suddenly dove towards the ground, disappearing behind the treetops leaving a phosphorescent trail in its path.

The two men, previously skeptical, are now convinced "that there is something".

And the saucer file is still growing.

[*] Not true, see for example:

[Ref. vdn1:] NEWSPAPER "LA VOIX DU NORD":

Scan.

Spinning top, ball, cone,
it's always
flying saucers!

Since the beginning of the week, the round of mysterious flying machines has resumed in the Picardy sky.

It is a jeweler from Montdidier, Mr. Duval, who, with his wife and her grandmother, sees an orange spinning top move, for ten minutes, above Rouvrel, Sains-en-Amiénois, Estrées-sur-Noye and Guyancourt.

Residents of Villers-Tournel confirm this statement.

In Camon, near Amiens, it is the entire municipal council which, its meeting over, contemplated for five minutes, four red balls moving at low altitude, then fleeing in single line towards Amiens.

Near Péronne, at nightfall, a teacher, his wife and his daughter also witness the moves of a mysterious machine who finally heads for Amiens.

Same version given by Mr. Loffroy, mayor, and Mr. Buttin teacher in Carrepuis.

[Ref. ous1:] "OURANOS" UFOLOGY MAGAZINE:

OBSERVATIONS

(continued and addenda)

1954

FRANCE -- [... others...] 5/11 [... others...] Carrépuis (Somme), [... 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
19541105 05.11.1954 Carrepuis France 23.00

Explanations:

Map.

Insufficient information, possible Chinese lantern.

The "Chinese lanterns", miniature hot air balloons used festively for centuries in Asia, were used in 1896 in the United States to make believe in passages of mysterious flying machines. In the north of France in 1954, the inspiration came from Beuvry-les-Béthunes where a retiree had fun making them so that people woulc believe seeing flying saucers. Identified, he had been the subject of local and worldwide press articles.

And he had obviously been imitated.

Chinese lantern.

Above:

A modern Chinese lantern.

Keywords:

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

Carrépuis, Somme, night, Loffroy, mayor, Butin, teacher, ball, red

Sources:

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

Document history:

Version: Created/Changed by: Date: Change Description:
1.0 Patrick Gross February 3, 2017 First published.
1.1 Patrick Gross May 16, 2019 Addition [ous1].
1.2 Patrick Gross February 6, 2020 Addition [cpd1]. Explanations changed, were "The information is totally insufficient, and I found no other source so far mentioning a sighting in Carrépuis in November 1954." In the Summary, addition of "It was in 2020 that I was able to obtain a source of the time..." and what follows.
1.3 Patrick Gross October 7, 2021 Addition [vdn1].

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This page was last updated on October 7, 2021.