The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Mois jour, 1954, Vernon, Eure:
Reference for this case: Jour-Mois-54-Vernon.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper La Dépêche d'Evreux of October 31, 1954, had published a kind of review of sightings in the Dreux region. It mentioned, without further details, an observation that had been the subject of an investigation by the international "Ouranos" Commission, which may have been the one from August 23, 1954, in Vernon. But it was also noted that there had been sightings in the Vernon region of "six phenomena in eight days," with, among the observers Henri Buch, a member of the Commission, who had seen "the same craft two consecutive nights at the same time," while another person had "observed six or seven craft at the same time."
[Ref. dex1:] NEWSPAPER "LA DEPECHE D'EVREUX":
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In our last issue, we reported several testimonies about what are now commonly called "flying saucers," striking accounts considering the limited area in which these curious phenomena have been observed.
Whereas until now the observation of these craft had been isolated events in both time and space, for the past few weeks it seems that every village has been overflown by one or more cigars or saucers, and only the least questionable observations reported can find their way into the major press.
Without going so far as to follow the fertile imaginations that have concluded - despite admitting the language to be "unintelligible" - that the occupants (?) of these craft come straight from the planet Mars, we report here the latest statements that are of particular interest to our region. The closest incident took place in Acquigny, where a craftsman, his apprentice, and a farm worker saw a luminous craft that remained on the ground for a long time.
Another led to an investigation conducted by the international "Ouranos" Commission after the observation in the Vernon region of six phenomena in eight days. Among the observers, Mr. Buch, a member of the commission, saw the same craft on successive nights at the same time. Another person observed six or seven craft at the same time. Other testimonies have more fanciful aspects, such as that of two children from Hennezis who saw two entirely black men, and that of a resident of Merville-Moutiers-Brûlé, near Dreux, who was struck motionless near a luminous sphere.
Finally, to reassure those troubled by these strange occurrences, let us note that a lady from Croth-Soret stated - on her own responsibility - following similar observations in the Saint-André area, that it was "nothing more nor less than a simple balloon."
After having spotted, on two occasions, a ball of fire moving very rapidly across the sky, a young craftsman from Louviers, accompanied by his apprentice, saw - on a particularly dark night at the beginning of October, around 2 a.m. - a luminous craft in the plain area located south of Acquigny, between National Road No. 154 and the railway lines connecting this locality to Évreux on one side and to Pacy-sur-Eure on the other.
They provided interested parties with a detailed description of the craft. According to them, it was a kind of luminous dome, 7 to 8 meters high, resting on a wider base. The whole seemed at times to sway, then rise vertically before descending again a few meters away in the same manner. Colored lights spread around the craft, one of which returned at high speed toward it and disappeared into a shadowy area at its base.
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Totally indifficient information.
The "Ouranos commission" ("Commission internationale d'enquête scientifique Ouranos" or "Commission internationale d'enquête Ouranos") (CIES, CEO or CIEO) established by Marc Thirouin and the Englishman Eric Biddle in 1951, was the very first ufology group in France that investigated sighting reports on location, and Mr. Henri Buch was one of their members.
In the woods on the heights of Vernon, since 1946, were the secret military facilities of the Ballistic and Aerodynamic Research Laboratory (LRBA), employing German scientists working for France. They studied rocket engine propulsion, guidance and piloting of rockets, and the development of new craft extrapolated from German achievements such as the V-2 rocket.
It is not impossible that tests of small rockets resulted in "sightings" in the area, but this is by no means certain: I find no record of launches there in 1954, either because there were none, or because secrecy and then oblivion played a role. In principle, firings did not take place in Vernon, but south of Algeria, in Colomb-Béchar, at the Hammaguir launch center. In any case, this could not explain the observation of August 23, 1954, due to the incompatible location and the description, which does not correspond at all to rocket tests or any other known aerial craft.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Vernon, Eure, Henri Buch, Ouranos
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
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| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | April 2, 2026 | First published, [dex1]. |
