September 1954's peak of the great French UFO flap, archived by date
1954: September UFO|UAP & Entity Sightings Archive
September 1954 is the single most significant month in this archive’s entire record: the peak of what ufology remembers as the great French UFO flap, dozens of close-range sightings crowding a single autumn across the French countryside. At its center sits Quarouble, where Marius Dewilde’s encounter with two entities beside a railroad track left ground imprints investigators calculated at thirty tons — one of the best-documented Close Encounters of the era. Days later at Nouatre, a construction foreman and his entire seven-man crew fell into a simultaneous daze while he faced a vanishing, helmeted figure. Beyond France, a photographed disc over New Zealand, a green fireball watched by thousands across four American states, and an Azores airport guard’s encounter with a blond visitor round out a month too large for any single thread to summarize.
Date: Autumn 1954
Location: Eisenberg, Germany
Time: Unknown
Summary: Six-year-old Anna Lex saw inside a floating, gleaming sphere a female entity she interpreted as the Holy Virgin Mary. No further information survives.
Source: Erich Von Daniken, “Miracle of the Gods”
Date: Fall 1954
Location: Mittelfranken, Germany
Time: Unknown
Summary: A couple walking their dog in a wooded coastal area saw a bright bluish light resolve into a flat, pyramid-shaped craft, about 60 m across, with a dazzling amber underside light, a cabin-like top structure, and a rotating flange. Paralyzed as the object descended nearby with a metallic glow, they encountered a very tall man in a close-fitting shiny suit, who communicated telepathically, identifying himself as being from the constellation “Eagle.” He called out a dog-like creature from the object, explaining it was a pet.
Source: Ulrich Magin
Date: Fall 1954
Location: Near Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Time: Daytime
Summary: A man in his car saw a silvery disc descend and hover within 500 ft, briefly showing a long-haired man in a leather jacket inside, visible only a few seconds. The witness subsequently became convinced he had seen Christ in the craft and was hospitalized for a period afterward.
Source: Dr. Victoria Edwards for CAPRO
Date: Autumn 1954
Location: Kedzierzyn, Poland
Time: Evening
Summary: Young Barbara L., looking out her kitchen window at low, heavy clouds, saw the lower half of a man in a black overall “walking among the clouds,” his upper body obscured, moving as if along an invisible path. She called for her mother, but the figure had vanished by the time her mother arrived.
Source: NPN.org, Poland
Date: Fall 1954
Location: Mayerthorpe, Alberta, Canada
Time: 22:30
Summary: Plowing a field under a clear, star-filled sky, a witness saw a round, lighted object about 500 ft up. Stopping to watch, he saw a human-like figure pass three vertical, window-like bars on the object; about five seconds later it moved south, its lights went out, and it was gone — silently throughout. A second witness half a mile south also saw the object.
Source: Brian Vike, Director, HBCC UFO Research
Date: September 1954
Location: Platonovo, Oryol Region, Russia
Time: Evening
Summary: 14-year-old Mikhail Zybunovskiy, previously involved in a 1947 encounter, was stealing apples when he saw a large, brightly-lit, cigar-shaped object and hid in fear. A sharp, salt-like sensation in his eyes preceded the reappearance of a “soldier”-like green-clad humanoid wearing a sparkling orange-lit cap, matching his 1947 account. The boy cried, the entity vanished, and the object departed; he found himself unable to move, legs feeling “made of lead,” his heart racing.
Source: Aleksey Priyma, “UFOs, Witnesses to the Unknown”
Date: September 2, 1954
Location: Off Ensenada, California, Mexico
Time: Unknown
Summary: A Honduran freighter in coastal waters reported a fireball that skipped along the sea’s surface then vanished, leaving a trail of white smoke paralleling the ship’s course. The Coast Guard searched the area but found nothing to explain it.
Source: Vincent Gaddis, “Invisible Horizons,” p. 212
Date: September 2, 1954 (also reported as September 14, 1954)
Location: Coldwater, Kansas
Time: 22:00
Summary: 12-year-old John Jacob Swaim, having just finished driving a tractor, saw a dark-complexioned little man, about the size of a 5-year-old, with a pointed nose and long ears, crouching 20 ft away, wearing shiny clothing and carrying two-foot cylinders on his back. The figure appeared to float as he ran to a 50-ft disc hovering 5 ft off the ground, boarded, and departed without tilting, faster than a jet. Pear-shaped footprints, 2 x 4.5 in with narrow heels, were found at the site. Note: this case is reported under two different dates by different source compilations (Sheriff Floyd Hadley & Rev. Albert Baller citing September 2; a separate Wilkins/Humanoids compilation citing September 14) with minor detail variation; both clearly describe the same witness and event.
Source: Sheriff Floyd Hadley & Rev. Albert Baller; Harold T. Wilkins
Date: September 3, 1954
Location: Souk-el-Khemis, Tunisia
Time: Unknown
Summary: Many field workers 12 km south of the town saw an object apparently made of transparent plastic fly over houses, stop on edge, and swing like a pendulum a few meters above the ground, making several erratic jumps before resuming horizontal flight and departing.
Source: Magonia 141
Date: September 4, 1954 BBU
Location: Butler, Missouri
Time: 3:00 a.m. (CST)
Summary: CAA communications specialist J. Faltemeier saw 20-30 lights, as if strung together, fly straight and level.
Source: Berliner
Date: September 5, 1954 BBU
Location: Butler, Missouri
Time: 12:23 a.m. (CST)
Summary: J. Faltemeier saw a silver or white object with a swept-back leading edge and a trailing exhaust fly straight and level, then veer from southwest to south.
Source: Berliner
Date: September 7, 1954
Location: Origny, Aisne, France
Time: 00:30
Summary: Robert Chovel, driving home with his wife and father-in-law, saw a luminous red-orange disc flying above the railroad tracks, which stopped suddenly across the road at 300-400 m altitude, showing a small luminous tail-like feature. Near the Buire bridge, the object appeared to be increasing altitude; when the car’s headlights caught it, it accelerated toward LaHerie, 3-4 km away, and disappeared.
Source: CIA Information Sheet, “Flying Disk Sighted in Aisne Department”; UFOE, II
Date: September 7, 1954
Location: Between Harponville and Contay, France
Time: 07:15
Summary: Bricklayers Emile Renard, 27, and Yves Degillerboz, 23, saw an object floating over a field, “like an unfinished haystack, with a plate turned upside down on top of it,” about 10 m in diameter and 3 m high, with a visible door. It took off as they approached, releasing smoke, after being observed for over 3 minutes.
Source: Magonia 142
Date: September 9, 1954
Location: Nelson, New Zealand
Time: Unknown
Summary: A hovering disc was photographed.
Source: UFOE, VIII
Date: September 10, 1954
Location: Mouries, France
Time: 20:30
Summary: Returning home, Antonie Mazaud met a person of normal stature wearing an ear-flap-less helmet, who shook his hand smiling while speaking unintelligible words, then boarded a 15-20 ft cigar-shaped craft and took off vertically with a buzzing sound.
Source: Aime Michel
Date: September 10, 1954
Location: Quarouble, Nord, France
Time: 22:30
Summary: Marius Dewilde, drawn out by barking dogs, found a dark mass on the railroad track less than 6 yards away and two very short, diving-suited entities nearby. Approaching to within 6 ft, he was blinded and paralyzed by a light from the object itself. When released, he found it already rising with dark steam and a whistle, glowing red before departing. Five deep imprints found on the railroad ties were calculated to require roughly 30 tons of weight. [Full Report]
Source: Aime Michel
Date: September 12, 1954
Location: Near Quarouble, Nord, France
Time: Afternoon
Summary: A merchant driving his van saw a cupola-topped disc descend vertically and hover near a grove roughly 50 m from the road, several human-appearing figures visible in the cupola’s foreground. Approaching on foot, he was paralyzed by a luminous beam from the machine, which then took off vertically; he regained mobility once it departed.
Source: Joel Mesnard & Jean Marie Bigorne
Date: September 14, 1954
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Time: Night
Summary: Several people reported a circular flying object at about 800 m altitude, giving off intense light and leaving a reddish smoke trail roughly three times its own diameter, visible for about 7 seconds.
Source: CIA Information Sheet, “Flying Saucers Over Helsinki”
Date: September 15, 1954
Location: Feurs, St. Etienne, France
Time: Night
Summary: A witness’s vehicle broke down on a secondary road; a bright, indescribable object landed nearby. A small being was briefly seen near the car, fleeing as the witnesses attempted to approach and communicate. The craft departed shortly after.
Source: Figuet & J.L. Ruchon, “Complete Ovni Dossier”
Date: September 15, 1954
Location: Bihar, India
Time: Unknown
Summary: A gray disc hovered, emitted smoke, and climbed away at high speed.
Source: UFOE, X
Date: September 16, 1954
Location: Near Roanoke, Virginia
Time: Unknown
Summary: A shiny, round object buzzed a radio tower; the transmitter failed to operate properly.
Source: UFOE, VIII
Date: September 17, 1954
Location: Rome, Italy
Time: Unknown
Summary: Thousands of citizens and Italian Air Force radar watched a disc-like object depart upwards.
Source: UFOE, VIII
Date: September 17, 1954
Location: Omont, France
Time: 08:30
Summary: M. Delvenne told two friends he saw a metallic top-shaped object, 4 m in diameter and 2.5 m high, descend from the clouds; a hairy-faced being on all fours emerged, then quickly re-entered and the object flew away.
Source: HUMCAT, quoting a newspaper source
Date: September 17, 1954
Location: Cenon, France
Time: 22:30
Summary: Motorcycling after dark, Yves David felt an electric-shock-like sensation and became paralyzed. A 9-ft-long, 3-ft-high object stood ahead; a small being in a diving suit emerged, touched his shoulder, spoke incomprehensibly, and returned to the object, which glowed green and flew away, ending the paralysis.
Source: Aime Michel
Date: September 18, 1954 BBU
Location: Kimpo Air Base, Japan
Time: 5:55 a.m.
Summary: Two control tower operators, a weather forecaster, and a weather observer saw a round, polished-aluminum-like object fly straight and level.
Source: Berliner
Date: September 18, 1954 BBU
Location: From near Denver, Colorado through Santa Fe and Las Cruces, New Mexico to Enid, Oklahoma
Time: 8:40 p.m.
Summary: A green fireball, angular size of the full moon and noiseless, was seen by thousands of witnesses heading southeast across four states.
Source: Edward Ruppelt, p. 47
Date: September 19, 1954
Location: Danane, French West Africa
Time: Unknown
Summary: Officials watched an oval UFO with a dome and “searchlights.”
Source: UFOE, X
Date: September 19, 1954
Location: Oberdorff, France
Time: 21:15
Summary: Police officer Louis Moll saw a bright light land on nearby heights, its luminosity decreasing to reddish after landing, appearing as large as a small bus; he could see a black silhouette moving in front of it before it rose and departed.
Source: Aime Michel
Date: September 20-21, 1954
Location: Santa Maria Airport, Azores Islands
Time: 23:00/21:45
Summary: Airport guard Vitorino Monteiro saw a bluish-metallic, pecan-shaped object, roughly 5 x 10 ft, land on four legs with a hum/whine, an orange nose light and a Plexiglas forward section housing a pilot, plus four pole-like aerial appendages. A blond man, about 5’10”, in a gray aviator suit, exited through a door in the Plexiglas section, spoke in an unrecognized language, patted the guard’s shoulder, then re-boarded, fastened his harness, and took off nearly straight up. Note: this case appears in two source compilations with slightly different times and dates (Sept 20, 11:00 p.m. per Robert Gammell/Blue Book; Sept 21, 9:45 p.m. per Berliner) but matching core details, indicating one event reported through two channels.
Source: Robert D. Gammell, Project Blue Book; Berliner
Date: September 20, 1954
Location: Near Brandsen, Argentina
Time: Late night
Summary: Two men stranded after driving into a ditch watched a luminous, full-moon-like object maneuver over the area for at least an hour before descending behind nearby trees. Two short humanoid figures, dressed in white with large silvery helmets and flowing white capes, then approached, appearing to glide just above the ground; after observing the frightened men, they glided back toward where the object had landed and vanished.
Source: Hector P. Anganuzzi, “Historia de los Platos Voladores en Argentina”
Date: September 20, 1954
Location: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Time: Unknown
Summary: A dark, saucer-shaped UFO arced overhead, leveled off, and moved into the distance.
Source: UFOE, XII
Date: September 21, 1954 BBU
Location: Barstow, California
Time: 1:00 a.m. (PST)
Summary: Two local policemen, four USMC police, and a highway patrolman saw a spark-emitting red-orange ball and a smaller light make a zigzag descent, then hover.
Source: Berliner
Date: September 22, 1954 BBU
Location: 3 miles E of Marshfield, Missouri
Time: 9-11 a.m.
Summary: Private pilots Jack N. Williams and Ernest J. Ash saw a thin, translucent, tan, asymmetrical boomerang-shaped object, 6-7 ft wide, revolving as it hovered southwest at 600 ft height and distance, ascending to 1,500 ft in 20 seconds, descending, then tumbling behind trees after emitting a white puff of smoke. “Pulverized” marks were found on the ground.
Source: Berliner
Date: September 23, 1954
Location: Le Jou, France
Time: 21:00
Summary: The Patient family witnessed a landed object giving off magnesium-like light, a red glow, and a narrow light beam; it departed and followed their car until Fontland. Police and independent witnesses in Plombieres separately observed the object flying erratically over the area for about 60 minutes.
Source: Magonia 151
Date: September 23, 1954 BBU
Location: Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Time: 9:45 a.m. (EST)
Summary: Dave Owenby saw two bright silver, wheel-shaped objects fly north to south in trail.
Source: Berliner; FUFOR Index
Date: September 23, 1954
Location: Lencouacq, France
Time: 21:00
Summary: Mrs. Vignolles saw a luminous object descend rapidly and silently, landing in a field near the church; it departed quickly a few seconds later.
Source: Magonia 152
Date: September 24, 1954
Location: Becard, France
Time: 09:00
Summary: Simone Geoffroy saw a 35-ft, elongated, domed flying saucer in a clearing, a dark-complexioned uniformed man in a khaki skullcap standing behind it watching her; she left quickly. Shepherd Gisele Fin was separately led to the clearing by her barking dogs, which she had to restrain from attacking the pilot, seen leaning on his craft with his back to her. A small green pill was later found at the site.
Source: HUMCAT, quoting a newspaper source
Date: September 24, 1954
Location: Almaseda, Portugal
Time: 10:00
Summary: Cesar Cardoso Ferreira and three others saw two 8-ft-tall giants in shiny metallic suits emerge from a cup-shaped landed craft, gather flowers, shrubs, and twigs into a shiny box, and appear to invite the witnesses aboard, though their language was not understood. The giants boarded and the craft ascended, leaving a shiny wake.
Source: Jacques Vallee, “Passport to Magonia”
Date: September 25, 1954
Location: Joinville-le-Pont, France
Time: 21:35
Summary: Walking along the River Marne, “MP” and a friend saw an object descend and land silently nearby. Two hair-covered-faced humanoids, about 1.10 m tall, exited; a light beam paralyzed both witnesses as one entity approached MP and tore off his trousers before both entities re-boarded and departed vertically at high speed.
Source: Michel Figuet
Date: Before September 26, 1954
Location: Wattou, West Flanders, Belgium
Time: Night
Summary: Cycling home, a witness saw a landed saucer-shaped object and hid to observe. Two small helmeted men with instruments emerged; one produced a flash of light and a screen showing a speaking face, though the witness heard nothing. The men dismantled and reloaded their instruments, conversed while pointing toward his hiding spot, and one carried a branch back aboard. As the object rose, the witness fled and was struck by a beam of light, not seeing the object’s departure.
Source: GESAG #446, quoting journalist Walter Cabu
Date: September 26, 1954 (also reported as September 29, 1954)
Location: Chabeuil, France
Time: 14:30/16:00
Summary: Lucette (Mimi) Leboeuf, her dogs barking, saw what looked like a “scarecrow” at the edge of a cornfield/wheat field — a roughly 3.5-ft figure encased in translucent plastic-like material, with large eyes visible, no arms apparent. It began waddling toward her; she fled. A 4-m metallic disc rose from nearby trees with a whistling sound. An 11-ft circle of broken bushes/crushed vegetation was found at the site; Leboeuf was in bed for two days afterward. Note: this case is reported under two dates and slightly different details by two source compilations (Aime Michel/Magonia 156 for Sept 26; Lorenzen/UTWS for Sept 29), evidently describing the same witness and event.
Source: Aime Michel; Magonia 156; Lorenzen, UTWS
Date: September 26, 1954
Location: Challes Airport, Savoie, France
Time: 5:16-5:18:40 p.m.
Summary: Dr. Martinet and roughly fifteen other observers watched an object descend “in a falling leaf manner,” resolving at 5:16 p.m. into the shape of a perfect disc, moving to a position above the Revard cable-car station, then suddenly accelerating and vanishing “as fast as a thunderflash” at exactly 5:18:40 p.m. Its coloring shifted between dark and lighter gray aluminum depending on viewing angle over its roughly four-minute duration. Note: a separate ground-level humanoid sighting at Col du Chat, minutes later the same evening, may be connected to this event — see below.
Source: Aime Michel, “Mysterieux Objets Celestes” (Seghers, 1958), pp. 115-117
Date: September 26, 1954
Location: Col du Chat, France
Time: Night
Summary: Minutes after the sighting above a local radio station near Challes Airport, a short humanoid in a diver-style suit was seen by a Mr. Guyard; it waddled quickly to a saucer-shaped craft and boarded. A ten-foot circle was found at the landing site.
Source: Aime Michel, “Flying Saucers & The Straight Line Mystery”
Date: September 26, 1954 BBU
Location: Altoona, Pennsylvania
Time: 9:04 p.m. (EST)
Summary: Capt. Picune and the crew of United Airlines DC-6 Flight 606, at 19,000 ft and 382 mph ground speed, saw a fire-colored object, flat-bottomed and rounded on top, fly parallel to their aircraft for about a minute before pulling forward at tremendous speed and disappearing east.
Source: Dan Wilson, NARCAP; FUFOR Index
Date: September 27, 1954
Location: Figeac, France
Time: 08:40
Summary: Several children saw a “metallic box” on the ground with an unknown man standing nearby, which then took off.
Source: Jacques Vallee, “Passport to Magonia,” 158
Date: September 27, 1954
Location: Lassus-Perpignan, France
Time: 15:00
Summary: A boy on his way home from school arrived trembling with fear, reporting a round object had landed and two “grotesque little creatures” emerged, re-entering after a few minutes before it flew off. The witness remained in a state of shock.
Source: Aime Michel; Magonia 159
Date: September 27, 1954
Location: Premanon, France
Time: 20:30
Summary: Four children saw a ball of fire hovering in a meadow and two “tin ghosts,” shaped “like a lump of sugar split at the bottom.” 12-year-old Raymond Romand threw pebbles at one; approaching to touch it, he was flung to the ground by an ice-cold force. A 12-ft circle of flattened grass was found at the site.
Source: Aime Michel; Magonia 160
Date: September 28, 1954
Location: St. Amand-Montrond, Cher, France
Time: 22:30
Summary: Vineyard owner Mr. Mercier, staying up to catch grape thieves, saw a luminous mass fall from the sky about 50 m away and found himself paralyzed as three figures emerged and moved about; he lost consciousness and, upon waking, found everything gone.
Source: Aime Michel; Magonia 162
Date: September 30, 1954
Location: Near Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France
Time: 01:30
Summary: Two witnesses, roughly 400 m distant, observed two brilliant, disc-shaped objects suspended near the ground several meters apart, with two child-sized figures in aluminum outfits approaching each other, conversing, separating, and each seeming to “melt” into its respective craft before both ascended and departed at very high speed.
Source: Joel Mesnard & Jean Marie Bigorne
Date: September 30, 1954
Location: Dearborn, Michigan
Time: 04:45
Summary: Driving to work at 4:45 a.m., 45-year-old Lawrence Cardenas saw roughly fifteen small men, about 5’4″, in dark green uniforms with tight skullcaps, goggles, and oxygen-cylinder-like devices on their shoulders, speaking an unknown tongue near road-construction derricks. A larger entity in a brown uniform, about six inches taller, appeared to be addressing them. Cardenas also saw a large oval object, about 12 ft high with finned, shell-like sides and flickering colored lights, resting on the grass 250 ft away. Not frightened but not wanting to be late for work, he drove on; the entities appeared friendly and curious about their surroundings.
Source: Harold T. Wilkins, “Flying Saucers Uncensored,” quoting newspaper sources; Magonia 164
Date: September 30, 1954
Location: Chereng, Nord, France
Time: Afternoon
Summary: 10-year-old Jean Claude Delmotte, walking near the Chereng forest, saw a dark spherical object about 300 m away turn yellow-orange, then brighten further before departing vertically with a weak noise and sparks. He and two friends later found strange, webbed-foot-like prints, about 16 cm long, at the site, before the ground was trampled by horse carts.
Source: Figuet/Ruchon, “Dossier Ovni,” 1979
Date: September 30, 1954
Location: Nouatre, Indre-et-Loire, France
Time: 16:30
Summary: Construction foreman George Gatay, drawn by an unexplained drowsiness, encountered a man in an opaque glass helmet with a rod-like device and a chest-mounted electronic display, standing before a dome-shaped, bladed-cupola craft hovering 3 ft up. Paralyzed, Gatay watched the entity vanish “like an image one erases”; the object then rose in vertical jerks with a whistling sound and disappeared in a blue haze. His seven co-workers, in a simultaneous daze despite lacking his vantage point, confirmed seeing the same. Gatay, a decorated Resistance veteran, suffered a week of insomnia and headaches afterward. [Full Report]
Source: Jacques Vallee; France-Soir, October 3, 1954
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Peak of the 1954 French Flap
No single month in this archive’s record approaches September 1954 for sheer density of close-range sightings, concentrated overwhelmingly across the French countryside. Two cases anchor the month by any serious evidentiary standard: Quarouble, with its independently calculated physical trace evidence, and Nouatre, with its eight simultaneously-affected witnesses and a documented physical aftermath in its primary witness. Between them sits a genuine wave — dozens of landings, entity encounters, and aerial sightings within a few weeks, several credibly cross-corroborated by police officers, radar operators, and independent bystanders.
This month also required unusually careful handling of source material: three separate cases (Coldwater, Kansas; Santa Maria Airport, Azores; and Chabeuil, France) each appear twice under slightly different dates from different compilers, evidently describing single events rather than repeat incidents. This archive has merged each into one entry with the discrepancy noted plainly, rather than inflating the record with duplicate counts.
“It was calculated that a 30-ton weight would have been necessary to produce them.”
— Aime Michel, on the railroad-tie imprints found at Quarouble, September 10, 1954
