The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 7-Oct-54-Morsbach.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper Le Lorrain, from Nancy in the Moselle, reported on October 9, 1954, via their local correspondent in Forbach, that on Thursday - therefore October 7, 1954 - around 7:20 p.m., the driver of the Coca-Cola firm, Mr. Charles Bou, 30, living at 21 rue Nationale in Stiring-Wendel, returning from his distribution round, was, after crossing Rosbruck on the Route Nationale Nr 3, at the enterrance of Morsbach, when his attention was suddenly drawn to an object on that road.
Mr. Bou, surprised, thought it was a traffic accident and stopped his truck a few meters from the craft. He then realized, when he got out of his vehicle, that it was a circular craft with a diameter of 9 meters and a height of about 4 meters, more than twice the size of a normal man, which was illuminated by several beams of lights directed towards the ground.
Having approached and being a few meters from the strange craft, Mr. Bou saw it take off suddenly, vertically, rising about 10 meters high, to then propel itself in the direction of Morsbach.
It all happened in a few seconds in front of the bewildered driver. Mr. Bou, still under the influence of emotion, resumed his journey and went to his boss, to whom he told the scene, and went to refer it to the gendarmerie.
Captain Bohler went with Mr. Bou to the scene, but could not detect any traces on the roadway. He questioned the witness at length, and the latter told him that the saucer had the shape of a giant plate, blue in color, and that he saw neither opening nor occupant. He said that the craft made no noise when taking off, that there had been no air displacement and no color change.
At the time of the apparition, it was raining, and Mr. Bou declared that when the craft had risen and disappeared, it had "an excessive speed not even to compare with a jet plane."
Surprisingly, Mr. Bou, visiting a client in Merlebach a few moments before the sighting, had declared to the latter that he did not believe in "these flying saucers stories"; he was all the more frightened when he saw the craft.
The newspaper concludes that Mr. Bou, whom they had seen on the morning of October 8, 1954, during his interrogation by Captain Bohler, appeared to them to be trustworthy, and was still under visible emotion.
Le Lorrain for October 11, 1954, published a summary of the case, adding that his employer was in Sarrebruck.
Despite these publications in the press of the time, the case was totally ignored by ufologists who had looked into the cases of 1954 in France; neither Jimmy Guieu, nor Aimé Michel, nor Jacques Vallée, nor Charles Garreau seem to have been aware of it.
I did find something in the ufology magazine Lumières Dans La Nuit, published in 1969: in commentary on an investigation into a recent sighting almost at the same place as this case of 1954, the investigator Mr. Scheuer noted that in the 1950s, at the Saarbrücken-Metz railway bridge, located in Morsbach, this being shown on a map, there had been an observation of which the witness "unfortunately is in America."
The ufologist and author Jean Sider, in 1989, tried to obtain documents or gendarmerie reports related to this affair. While when he asked for documents on satellite falls, he was refused them on the grounds that it was necessary to wait 30 years before the secrecy was lifted, for this case of flying saucer, the French government refused him any document relating to the incident because the military secrecy rules with respect to UFOs, make the documents secret for 60 years, with no exceptions.
Jean Sider published copies of these rejection letters in his book "Ultra top secret - Ces OVNIS qui font peur."
From 2005 and on, the "GEIPAN" (www.cnes-geipan.fr), a branch of the National Space Studies Center responsible for investigating "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" undertook to publish the Gendarmerie reports, including some for the year 1954. But as of 2021, this case does not appear in their published collection.
However, the report was published indeed, but unfortunately in private publication with prohibition of reproduction without authorization: a book titled "In the unpublished archives of the Secret Services", by Bruno Fulgini and Jean-Baptiste Bourrat, published in October 2010, shows a copy of the report, the Belgian ufologist Franck Boitte tells us.
Obviously, he cannot give a copy, but having read it, he shows that this report exists, and that its content is similar to the story of the press of the time; it also shows that the witness testified to the gendarmerie the evening of his encounter, pushed by his employer.
[Ref. lln1:] NEWSPAPER "LE LORRAIN":
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REIMS (from our correspondent). -- It was a mechanic from the Panhard factory in Reims, Mr. Joseph Roy, 30, who would have had the advantage of seeing a machine a few meters from the road from Reims to Rethel, on a side road.
In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, as he rode on a motorcycle, he suddenly saw a bright, reddish gleam before him, which suddenly disappeared.
Arrived at the spot where he had seen this gleam, he noticed in the fields a strange object, 3 meters long, in the shape of a large shell pierced with portholes at the front.
He distinguished, on the other hand, a vague silhouette. But frightened, he fled. Three other workers had seen the same light in the same place.
FORBACH (From our correspondant). -- Thursday evening, at about 07:20 p.m., while returning from his round of distribution, the driver of the Coca-Cola company, Mr. Bou Charles, aged 30, resident of Stiring-Wendel, 21 rue Nationale, was after the crossing of Rosbruck on the National Road N.3, at the entry of Morsbach when suddenly, his attention was caught by a machine being on this road. Mr. Bou, astonished, believed in a road accident and stopped his truck within a few meters of the machine. At this point in time he realized, while getting out of his vehicle, that it was a circular machine of a diameter of 9 m and a 4 m height approximately (more than 2 times size of a normal man), which was lit by several beams of lights directed towards the ground. Ahving approached and being within a few meters of this odd apparatus, Mr. Bou saw the machine suddenly taking off vertically and rising at 10 meters approximately in the air, to then move in the direction of Morsbach.
All this scene occurred in the timeframe of a few seconds in front of the amazed driver. Mr. Bou, still under the blow of the emotion, took again his road and went to his owner, to whom he described the scene, and went to refer about it to the gendarmerie. Captain Bohler, informed, went with Mr. Bou on the location, but could not detect any trace on the roadway. He lengthily questioned the driver, who declared to him that the saucer had the shape of a giant plate, of blue color. He did not see an opening nor any occupant. The machine, while taking off, did not make any noise, no air volume was displaced and there was no change of color. At the time of the appearance it rained, and Mr. Bou declares that when the apparatus rose and disappeared it had an excessive speed, which cannot even be compared to that of a jet airplane.
The most astonishing of the case is that Mr. Bou, visiting a customer a few moments before, in Merlebach, declared to this one that he does not believe in these flying saucers stories. He was thus all the more frightened when seeing this machine.
The driver that we saw during his interrogation by Captain Bohler, appears to be of good faith and was still under the blow of a visible emotion yesterday morning.
[Ref. lln1:] NEWSPAPER "LE LORRAIN":
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PARIS. - The "flying saucers" continue.
They are reported everywhere. And now, they are mingling to stop the engines.
In Le Mans a milk collector, Mr. Alexandre Tremblais, who was riding his truck on the small road near Saint-Jean-d'Assé (the Sarthe), suddenly noticed that the engine of his vehicle stopped and that the headlights extinguished.
M. Tremblais got out of his truck to see a red and blue luminous cigar, one meter long, disappearing on the horizon. A few minutes later, the engine started again and the headlights functioned again.
In Nancy, a true skeptic, Mr. Georges Bou, a 30-year-old driver at Sarrebruk [sic, Sarrebourg], was traveling on National Road 3 between Morsbach and Forbach when he saw a thick wide shadow blocking the road. He stopped, got out of his cabin, thinking of an accident. But he realized that he was stopped by a saucer. It was nine meters in diameter and about four meters high. It was illuminated by several light beams directed towards the ground.
The driver approached the strange device. Suddenly, the latter took off vertically, marked a pause at ten meters, then moved away very quickly.
The gendarmerie Captain Bohler went to the scene today with Mr. Bou. But he could not find any traces.
In the Island of Ré, Mr. Simonnetti said he saw a luminous sphere about 12 meters in diameter, which oscillated about fifty meters from the ground.
The sphere, he said, became red, turned blue and rose very quickly vertically.
Two other residents and two Parisians on vacation have confirmed.
At Duclair (Seine-Inf.), Mr. Landrin, a water attendant who was walking with his wife, was blinded by a light beam. When he opened his eyes, he said, he saw a ball disappear a few minutes later.
- Near Reims, a mechanic of the Panhard factories, Mr. Joseph Roy, 30, saw near the Isles-sur-Suippe a cigar posed on the ground, resembling according to his description to that of Marignane. Witnesses around have confirmed.
At la Montagne-de-Béruges (the Vienne), a farmer, M. Edouard Thébault, observed in his field an enormous luminous machine.
A few minutes later the craft was extinguished and a huge headlight swept the road, and when the witness returned with his father he had fetched, everything had disappeared.
- Several fishermen and the whole family of a fish dealer saw in the sky, in Plozevet (Finistère), a bright glow surrounded by dense smoke. This gleam, at first motionless, came towards them at an altitude of about ten meters. It had the appearance of an orange sphere.
- A whistling machine, gray in color, stood for a moment about 100 meters from Chassevreuil (Indre). The craft went off at a brisk pace, leaving behind it like a fog.
In the same commune, a young man saw a luminous red-orange machine that moved in a north-south direction.
- An aluminum half-spherical dome, illuminated inside, which was about three meters from the road and one meter from the ground, was seen in Jettingen (Haut-Rhin) by Mr. René Ott, an employee of the S.N.C.F. [national railyway company]. Frightened, Mr. Ott fled. He had, however, had the time to notice that a door was opening in the apparatus. The latter moved above him for a distance of 800 meters before disappearing. The gendarmes found no trace.
- A silent machine, moving like a spinning top, was seen in Calais, above the municipal theater, by a peacekeeper, a hairdresser, a taxi driver and a butcher. It moved away towards the sea.
- A flying saucer rising noiselessly vertically was seen at Vigneux (Seine-et-Oise) by Mr. Marais yesterday at 9 p.m.. It was luminous and had portholes.
ABBEVILLE. "Another false saucer!" The mysterious craft which broke out in the Picardy sky, and whose debris was scattered in a pasture at Boismont, near Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, was but a balloon.
The inhabitants of the region, fearing the famous "paralyzing" green ray, dared not approach the debris. Only Mr. Raymond Boucher, a sugar worker, had the courage to come and contemplate the saucer. It was more simply a balloon used by the meteorological services of the Royal Air Force which, by touching the ground, had burst noisily.
VIENNA. - Thousands of people saw yesterday a formation of flying saucers above Ried, flying from east to west.
Asked about cars that stop, said:
- saucers or not saucers, it is necessary to consider as true the information that arrives at this moment. With regard to the sudden stop of engines at the passage of these craft, we must admit the presence and action of unknown rays. This does not mean that these rays have an extraterrestrial origin. Do you remember that famous Z ray, which was talked about so much before the last war? During the hostilities, the belligerents further perfected the process. I saw personally, some fifteen years ago, experiments in laboratories where electric rays ignited at distances of a few meters paper or other combustible materials.
[Ref. ldl1:] MAGAZINE D'UFOLOGIE "LUMIERES DANS LA NUIT":
En commentaire d'une enquête sur une observation récente presque au même lieu que ce cas de 1954, Mr. Scheuer notait:
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Finally, it is to be noted that at the spot x of the B sketch - the railway bridge Sarrebruck-Metz, in Morsbach - an observation was made in the 50's; unfortunately, the observer is in America.
[Ref. jsr1:] JEAN SIDER:
French ufologist Jean Sider learned information on this case in the newspaper Le Lorrain, of Metz, for October 9-10, on page 7, of which he wrote the following summary:
On October 6, 1954 at 07:20 p.m, on the road RN 3 between Rosbruck and Morsback in the Moselle, Charles Bou, aged 30 years, driver for the Coca-Cola company of Forbach, living in Stiring-Wendel, returned by truck from a round of deliveries, under the rain, when his attention was suddenly drawn by a craft being on the road.
Mr. Bou was astonished, thought of an accident and stopped his vehicle within a few meters of the object. While getting out of his truck, he twice saw that it was a lenticular craft of a diameter of nine meters and four meters height approximately, more than twice the size of a normal man, which was lit by several beams of light directed towards the ground. The machine was in the shape of a giant plate of blue color, did not change color, had no opening, and no occupants were seen.
He approached within a few meters of the object, and then saw it rising suddenly to approximately ten meters height, and then to propel itself towards Morsbach. The sighting lasted a few seconds, there had been no noise on the ground nor at the time of takeoff. The craft's speed was so fast "that it is not even comparable to that of a jet plane."
Mr. Bou resumed his travel, very moved and, arrived at the hangars of his employer, told of the incident to his boss who directed him to the gendarmerie of Forbach.
Captain Bohler captain went on the premises with Mr. Bou, but no trace could be found on the roadway.
The witness did not believe in the flying saucers before this experience and appeared sincere to the journalist who interviewed him.
Jean Sider, decades later, in 1989, tried to obtain the documents or reports from the gendarmerie relating to this case. When he asked first for documents relating to falls of satellite, they were denied to him by the French government with the reason that the secrecy can be lift off only after 30 years. For this flying saucer case, the documents were also denied to him by the French government under the terms of the rules on the military secrecy, which, with regard to UFOs, make the documents secret for 60 years, with no exception.
Jean Sider published the corresponding denial letters in his book "Ultra top secret - Ces OVNIS qui font peur" (See Ref. [jsr2].)
[Ref. lhh1:] LARRY HATCH - "*U* COMPUTER DATABASE":
3991: 1954/10/06 19:20 1 6:51:40 E 49:09:20 N 3333 WEU FRN MSL 8:6
ROSBRUCK,FR:1 OBS:9M SLNT BLU SCR LANDS/ROAD:BEAMS RAYS^:RISES/20M+SHOOTS AWAY
Ref#194 LUMIERES dans la NUIT.(LDLN France) Issue No. 319 : ROAD+RAILS
[Ref. jbu1:] JEROME BEAU:
Thursday, October 7, 1954
[...]
19:30 Landing in the area of Forbach (Moselle)
[...]
Jerome Beau indicates that "Interested by this case, Jean Sider would write in 1989 to the Ministry for Defense as at the General Management of the National Gendarmerie who would answer to him that the file is classified for 60 years."
[Ref. jbu2:] JEROME BEAU:
Jérôme Beau reproduces the [lln1] source and indicates that in 1989, "Jean Sider writes to the Ministry for Defense as well as to the General Management of the National Gendarmerie who would answer to him that the file is classified for 60 years."
[Ref. lcn1:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Moselle in Morsbach on October 7, 1954, at 19:20 hours, "Coming back from his distribution round, the driver of a soda company, was, after the crossing of Rosbruck on the National Road N.3, at the entry of Morsbach when suddenly, his attention was drawn by an apparatus being on this road. The witness, astonished, believed in a road accident and stopped his truck at a few meters of the craft. At this point he realized, while getting out of his vehicle, that it was a circular apparatus of a diameter of 9 m and a 4 m height approximately (more than 2 times the size of a normal man), which were lit by several beams of lights directed towards the ground. Having approached and being at a few meters of this weird craft, the witness saw the machine suddenly taking off vertically and rising to 10 m approximately in the air, to be propelled then in the direction of Morsbach. All this scene occurred in the time of a few seconds in front of the confused driver. The latter, still under the shock of the emotion, ersumed his travel and went to his boss, to whom he described the display, and went to report about it to the gendarmerie. Captain Bohler, informed, went on the spot with the witness, but was unable to detect any trace on the roadway. He lengthily questioned the driver, who declared to him that the object had the shape of a giant plate, of blue color. He did not see an opening nor an occupant. The machine while taking off, did not make any noise, No air volume displacement and not change of color. At the time of the appearance it rained and the witness states that when the apparatus rose and disappeared it had an excessive speed not being comparable even to a jet plane. The driver remained a few days under the shock of a visible emotion."
Luc Chastan indicates that the source is my website at "http://ufologie.net".
[Ref. lcn2:] LUC CHASTAN:
Luc Chastan indicates that in the Moselle in Rosbruck on October 6, 1954 at 19:20 hours, "a driver deliveryman discovers an object on the road between Rosbruck and Morsbach. Thinking of an accident he stops at a few meters of the object. He gets out of his truck and observes whereas the object is lenticular of a diameter of 9 meters and a height of 4 approximately. Several beams of light are directed towards the ground. Approaching the object, the latter then rises at ten meters in height and goes away towards Morsbach. The witness specified to the gendarmes that the object was in the shape of a giant plate of blue color without opening, no noise on takeoff and very fast disappearance. Witness obviously moved following this vision."
The source is indicated as "Lumières dans la Nuit".
[Ref. lrl2:] "LE REPUBLICAIN LORRAIN" NEWSPAPER:
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in our archive
We are at the Metz Fair on Sunday, October 10, 1954. On the exhibit of the French army, visitors can admire a powerful projector and a radar station, ultramodern gear of the FTA (Anti-aircraft Land Forces) of the time. They were installed and regulated by some military technicians, under the authority of Commander Cottel.
When around 8 p.m. the projector was lit up and turned to the sky, its beam was caught on a motionless globe, in midair, at the vertical of the fair. It was an object "glittering like a Christmas tree ball!", Commander Cottel later said.
Incredulous technicians decided to turn off the machine and clean its components, but nothing changes: once the projector is turned on again, the mysterious globe is still there, at an altitude that the military estimates at 12,000 m. It is here, the spectators see it, and yet, the radar does not detect its presence!
The machine, estimated at about fifty meters in diameter, is parked in the sky during the three hours of the demonstration of the projector.
The phenomenon is relayed by the press: Le Républicain Lorrain, the AFP, L'Alsace, Le Provençal... The news worries the military authorities and the General Governor of Metz requires a report from Commander Cottel.
Investigation is underway, especially on the possibility of a meteorological phenomenon. Yet, no communication from the army will ever come to clear the mystery...
[Photo caption:] A UFO photographed in the USA in 1966. Photo rue des Archives
Between October 1st and October 21st, 1954, about twenty testimonies of UFO observers in the Moselle were recorded: in the communes of Vergaville, Bidestroff, Kerprich, Guébling, Morsbach, Moncourt, Saint-Avold, Saint-Quirin or Jouy-aux-Arches. Most have been reported in our columns.
Spheres, cones or luminous cigars, batteries that discharge, dancing colors, the phenomena follow each other.
In Pournoy-la-Chétive, two children even saw a furry-faced extraterrestrial descending of his flying saucer and speak to them in an incomprehensible language.
Collective madness or encounter of the third kind? No definitive answer will ever be made.
[Ref. fbe1:] FRANCK BOITTE:
In October 2010, L'Iconoclaste publishers published an impressive work (32x26 cm, 350 pages, several dozen photographic documents) weighing 2.8 kg, where it is specified on p.349 that "any reproduction, representation or distribution, even partial, by any means whatsoever of texts, documents or illustrations of this work without the authorization of the publisher or the beneficiaries, will be the subject of legal proceedings." Titled "Dans les archives inédites des Services Secrets" ["In the unpublished archive of the Secret Services"], it was produced under the direction of Bruno Fulgini for the scientific and editorial part of Jean-Baptiste Bourrat.
[...]
[...] it is therefore not a real surprise to me to find on pages 278-282, with reference to pp. 345-346 of this collection of archives, in a somewhat narrow way, this chapter entitled "Night Lights: Gendarmes on the tracks of UFOs" which apparently - but for those who know a little behind the scenes of ufology, in appearance only - should never have existed. So, you believed that the French secret services were not interested in the question of UFOs and that in the eyes of its successive governments, the topic was alway considered as fables and delusions without interest of amateurs of little green men, abductees and other X-Files buffs? Well, gentlemen debunkers and other more or less masked ufosceptics, you were completely wrong and these few pages are both proof and demonstration.
1. Morsbach-Forbach - 57 Moselle - 10/07/1954 - 19:20 (pp. 282, 345-346)
Mr. Charles Bou, 30 at the time, delivery driver for the Coca-Cola firm in Forbach.
Cloudy sky, it is raining.
While, his round finished, he returns from Rosbruch, he sees slightly on his right and overflowing a little on the low side flanked by an embankment of the N3, 200 m from the entrance to the village, an object placed on the ground. Its width (it is 8 m) is such that he has no other solution than to stop his van to avoid hitting it. Believing - probably because of its uniform blue color - that it is a police vehicle following a traffic accident, he puts the engine in neutral and dismounts. The reconstruction carried out by the gendarmerie captain Bohler indicates that the object is then more distant than ten of 8m.
Mr. Bou realizes that it is in fact a lenticular craft of about 4m. tall, uniformly blue in color. Arranged around the perimeter on the lower half descend "about ten red light beams spaced apart [from each other] by 30-40 cm. With a length of between 0.80 cm to 1 m, directed towards the ground". While still approaching it, the object rises sharply, stops briefly and, having reached an altitude of 10m, disappears very quickly in the direction of the village.
No noise was heard.
Duration of the observation: a few seconds.
Sources: J. Sider "The 1954 Dossier and the Rationalist Imposture", pp.97-98.
Note: Sider dates the case of the 6th. But it is clear from the facsimile of the report of the National Gendarmerie reproduced on p.282 that after having gone to tell his adventure to his employer and at the latter's urging, it is the same evening at 8:00 p.m. that the witness went to the nearest gendarmerie station to make his statement.
Internet link:
http://www.ufologie.net/1954/7oct1954morsbachf.htm [Old address of my page.]
My comments:
Apart from Mr. Bou's statements which were the subject of the gendarmerie report nr 96/4 on the same day, there was no proper investigation, not at least in the sense in which I hear it. How tired was the witness? What about his eyesight? Has his sobriety been checked? Did he have a reputation for being a joker? So many missing elements for which positive answers would have made the case unassailable. As shown in Document 4 reproduced on p.46 of my book "La Vague de 1954 en Belgique: année charnière de l'ufologie européenne" ["The Wave of 1954 in Belgium: pivotal year of European ufology"], the period which goes from October 1 to 10, 1954, constitutes the "peak" of the number of observations listed in France, with a never-before-reached maximum of 61 cases documented on October 3.
Although in my opinion very unlikely, a temporary hallucination caused by fatigue or a hoax cannot, unfortunately, be completely ruled out, with the available documentation available.
Status: Unidentified.
[Ref. ble1:] "BLL ARCHIVES" WEBSITE:
Comments »0
Spheres, luminous cones or cigars, discharging of batteries, dancing colors, etc., between the 1st and the 21st of October 1954, some twenty testimonies and observations of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) were collected in the Moselle, the more particularly in the communes of Vergaville, Bidestroff, Kerprich, Guébling, Morsbach, Moncourt, Saint-Avold, Saint-Quirin and Jouy-aux-Arches. In Pournoy-la-Chétive, near Metz, two children declared that they had seen an alien with a hairy face come down from his flying saucer to come and speak to them in an incomprehensible language.
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Possible extraterrestrial visitors.
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Above: the observation location seen in the 2000's: the old road, just before the railway tracks, at 200 meters before the entry in Morsbach when coming from Rosbruck.
Below: aerial view in the 2000's.
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(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Morsbach, Moselle, Forbach, Charles Bou, driver, truck, road, craft, landing, circular, lights, rays, duration, gendarmerie, police, Bohler, saucer
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | December 28, 2004 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | May 6, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. Additions [jbu1], [jbu2], [lcn1], [lcn2]. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | January 23, 2017 | Addition [lln2]. |
| 1.2 | Patrick Gross | February 11, 2017 | Additions [ble1]. |
| 1.3 | Patrick Gross | November 23, 2021 | Additions [ldl1], [lhh1], [lrl2], [fbe1], Summary. |
