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The 1954 French flap:

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OCTOBER 20, 1954, ZINNKOEPFLE, HAUT-RHIN:

Reference number for this case: 20-Oct-54-Zinnkoepflé. Thank you for including this reference number in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

REPORTS:

[Ref. 1612] "CENTRE MATIN" NEWSPAPER:

A flying saucer of car size land in Oran

THE FLYING SAUCERS APPEARED LAST NIGHT MAINLY ABOVE NORMANDY. IF WE ARE TO BELIEVE SEVRAL PEOPLE, AMONG THEN MISS MICHELLE VITKOSUSKY, CLERK OF NOTARY, SEVERAL UNIDENTIFIED MACHINES HAVE EVOLVED DURING TWO HOURS. OF A MACHINE VIOLENTLY ENLIGHTENED, AND POSED IN A FIELD, AT THE LEFT OF THE ROAD OF SAINT-VALERY-EN-CAUX, ESCAPED LUMINOUS DISCS WHICH TOOK ALTITUDE QUICKLY, TO THEN REGAIN THEIR INITIAL LOCATION.

A flying cigar carried out the same things. Two other machines seen not far from the cliff of Mers-les-Bains, seemed to communicate by signals with the first group. It should be added that the gendarmes who carried out an investigation on the spot did not find any trace of this mysterious carrousel.
A phenomenon a bit similar is said to have been observed above Vic-Bigorre, by a group of ten students who were training on a sports ground. They are said to have seen four discs in formation which seemed to rotate at high speed.
Several testimonys were gathered in Alsace. One of the witnesses, Lucien Fiesch [Fisch] saw close to Issenheim a spherical machine of approximately 6 meters in diameter which stationed within one meter of the ground. Frightened, Mr. Fiesch [Fisch] went away and regained his workplace.
In Guebwiller, Mr. Pierre Ackerman stated to have seen in the sky a brilliant disc which moved silently at approximately 400 meters of altitude. Two schoolboys confirmed this statement.
A resident [female] of Soultzmatt, stated to have observed a machine of elongated form which moved at very high speed.
Another testimony comes from the Nievre. The Lormes-Nevers bus moved towards this latter city, when, near Saxi-Bourdon, the driver stopped and exclaimed: "a saucer", all the passengers went down and distinguished, if they must be believed, a disc shining like aluminum, at 70 or 80 meters of altitude.
The last testimony is that of a factor of the Saint-Pierre-la-Cour station, who saw a disc in the sky, spreading luminous orange rays.
Wednesday morning, around 3 hours, Mr. Gaston Blanquère, resident in Oran, was returning with passengers on board his car. A little after the village of Jean-Mermoz, the attention of the motorists was attracted by a sharp gleam coming from the south and which grew bigger quickly.
A luminous disc crossed the road above them, descended a few hundreds meters further and appeared to contact the ground.
The machine had the size of a small car. It was composed of a higher cupola from which came out a yellow gleam. The lower part of the disc let escape a bluish luminous sheaf. Kinds of very powerful headlights swept the plain.
Ten minutes later, the luminosity dimmed and the machine, taking height, moved away quickly and without noise.
The police chief of the Sig, during his investigation, had these statements confirmed by a fellah of a nearby douar.

[Ref. 312] GERARD BARTHEL AND JACQUES BRUCKER:

The two authors and ufologists indicate that they take in example an article in the newspaper "L'Alsace " which was filed by Mrs. Guedelot, the archivist of the ufology magazine "Lumières Dans la Nuit". They give the following text as being which that appeared in this newspaper:

"While going to gather the grapes in Zinnkoeplfer, Miss Fleck saw at 200 or 300 meters of altitude, an unknown shining object of lengthened form. The apparatus came from the direction of Guebwiller and advanced at high speed, then arrived above the vineyard of Soultzmatt, it stopped during a few moments to move then towards the north."

The two authors note that the details are vague, that the time is missing, that there is a stop and low altitude, and that one can compare the observation to that of a meteor.

To be sure of this, they indicate, they carried out a long investigation to find Miss Fleck, which was difficult for she had married, but that by chance they found her and that she told them that the observation had taken place early in the morning and that there had been no stop. She specified to them that she could not determine altitude for the observation was too short and that she did not talk about an "object" but about a luminous phenomenon.

Barthel and Brucker conclude from this that she did not see a flying saucer but a meteor, and are indignant that this case however appears in "a catalogue", "its card exists, it is described."

[Ref. 1011] "BUHL - PAGE D'HISTOIRE":

[...]
Source: "L'Alsace" from October 1st to December 31, 1954
[...]
On October 20:
[...]
While she helped to gather the grapes in Zinnkoepflé, a girl of Soultzmatt, Miss Mimie Fleck, saw in broad daylight, at a height from 2.000 meters to 3.000 meters a shiny flying object of a lengthened shape. The apparatus coming from the direction of Guebwiller advanced at very high speed then, arrived above the vineyard of Soultzmatt, it stopped a few moments, to finally disappear in direction from North.

[Ref. 1013:] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN:

Christian Valentin indicates that on October 18, 1954, in broad daylight, a girl sees, at a height from 2000 to 3000 m, a brilliant object of elongated form. Coming at high speed from the south, the apparatus stops a few moments above the vineyard of Soultzmatt, before setting out again to disappear towards the north.

NOTES:

Why don't Barthel and Brucker indicate the date of publication of the newspaper that they quote? Don't they constantly make this criticism to the ufologists who do not share their ideas? Isn't the omission of the date of publication for this case - they do give publications date in other cases - a good way to make it difficult to check whether they give a complete and correct version of the source?
According to Barthel and Brucker, the newspaper L'Alsace wrote "200 to 300 meters". According to the author of "Buhl, a page of history", the newspaper L'Alsace wrote "2000 to 3000 meters." Could Barthel and Brucker have deliberately changed these values to serve their cause according to which the witnesses who believe to see flying saucers within 300 meters really see meteors which are much higher, due to their inability to differentiate such abysmally different distance such as 300 meters and 3000 meters?
Barthel and Brucker complain that the report is vague. However, according to "Buhl, a page of history", the first name of Miss Fleck is in the newspaper, while they abstain from indicating it. May it be that they do not want anybody to try to check if they really found Miss Fleck? To remove her first name, isn't it an addition of vagueness?
Meteors seen from the ground quite often give the impression of a short stop. Barthel and Brucker do not seem to know that, and justify the need to find the witness as follows: if there is stop, the meteor explanation is weakened. They say to have found the witness, and that she told them that she did not see a stop. Is it going too far to suspect that perhaps the witness had really observed a short stop, as it often occurs, and than Barthel and Brucker invented their "long investigation " to find the witness, and thus invented her remarks? Why is there no precision of any sort about this long investigation, its circumstances, the new name of Miss Fleck who they said is married since? When, where, how? Is it legitimate that they complain about the "vagueness" of the others all while not giving themselves the least verifiable indication on their remarks and investigations?
Barthel and Brucker write that this case appears in "a catalogue". They take care not to specify which catalogue, nor in which context it appears there. Is it foolish to think that the only catalogue in question here is the collection of news clipping patiently collected by Mrs. Guedelot for the readers of the ufology magazine "Lumières Dans La Nuit" and the magazine's investigators, so that they learn what appears in the PRess and and can consider and invesitigate such reports? Which catalogue had regarded this case as that of an observation of a true flying saucer? It is unreasonable to think that there is no such catalogue, which makes it unsurprizing that Barthel and Brucker feel obliged to imagine, I quote, page 33: "Let us note by the way that if it were reported in a book signed of a prestigious name (ufologicaly speaking), such a case would take a great importance and would not be doubted!! All researchers would integrate it into his studies". These authors are reduced to imagine things; is this rational, or rationalist, or isn't it rather quite simply intellectually dishonest?

EXPLANATIONS:

Probable meteor.

KEYWORDS:

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

Zinnkoepflé, Haut-Rhin, Soultzmatt, Mimie Fleck, high, object, shiny, elongated, stop

REFERENCES:

[-] indicates sources which I have not yet checked.

[-] Article in the regional newspaper "L'Alsace", October 21, 1954.
[1612] Article in the regional newspaper "Centre-Matin", October 22, 1954.
[312] "La grande peur martienne", book by Gerard Barthel and Jacques Brucker, Les Nouvelles Editions Rationalistes publisher, pp 31-32, 1979.
[1013] "1954, l'année des OVNIS - en Alsace et dans le monde", dossier by Christian Valentin, in the quarterly magazine "Saisons d'Alsace", #23, page 92, summer 2004.
[1011] "C'était en 1954 - Cela fait déjà 50 ans", article on the web page "Buhl - Page d'Histoire", at perso.wanadoo.fr/mjc.buhl/Elfaluter/1954.htm.

This page was last updated on February 26, 2005