The 1954 French flap:
The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this site is here.
OCTOBER 31, 1954, COLMAR, HAUT-RHIN:
Reference number for this case: 31-Oct-54-Colmar. Thank you for including this reference number
in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
REPORTS:
[Ref. 1407] "DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE" NEWSPAPER:
Paralyzing celestial balls?
A flying cigar
above Colmar
"I felt a light hit on the left shoulder
and I could not move away from the place", a young girl of 12 years old
explained to us.
The enigma surrounding the mysterious saucers and the cigars continuous.
Last Sunday, at approximately 06:45 p.m., several people observed a cigar
flying in the sky of Colmar. At that time, a group of five children of
ages rangeing from 10 to 12 were on the place of the Koïfhus, beside the
Schwendi monument.
All of a sudden, one of the children shouted and looked at in the direction of the
east, above the houses of the street of the Tanners [rue des Tanneurs]. There, one
could see an apparition about which much has been written already. A shining object,
of elongated shape, yellow-red color at the front and white-yellow at the back,
moved slowly and descended more and more towards the Koïfhus. The children,
seized with panic, fled while shouting, except one, the little Christiane R...,
aged 12 years, whose parents live the Main street [Grand-Rue]. As glued on the
spot and hypnotized, she stared at the luminous disc which went down more and more.
A luminous disc
Suddenly the young girl felt a light schock in her left shoulder. At the same time,
a luminous ball was visible close to the disc. The young girl could not move any more
and it is only when the disc went up above the Decker house, that she
had control of her members again.
Mrs. A. and Mrs. H., both resident of the place of the Koïfhus, having heard the
cries of the children also saw the luminous disc, which moved at this time
in the direction of the west. They dealt with little Christiane, who besides
was not at all a nervous child and they took her along to her parents. Deeply
impressed and trembling of all her body, she could not eat and it is only in the
morning of the next day, when she was calmed a little, that she could tell to
her father the event as it had happened the day before.
We had the opportunity to talk with the other children and their accounts
agreed with that of little Christiane. We also spoke with Mrs. A. from
the place of the Koïfhus.
Alerted by the shouting of the children, she saw, as well as Mrs. H. who
was in her housing, the luminous disc of yellowish color and chaging to red
afterwards, to rise above the Decker house and to move away in the direction
of the west. According to her, the disc had rather the shape of a barrel
and was moving without noise, while other witnesses are said to have heard
a whistling sound, as the air escaping slowly from a tire.
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[Ref. 1232] "DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE" NEWSPAPER'S WEBSITE:
Sur le site web du journal est paru un article titré "Qui se
souvient d'un cigare volant dans le ciel colmarien?"
L'article parle de ce cas qui a eu lieu en plein centre-ville, en donne la teneur
et lançant un appel à témoin, le journal ayant toutefois déjà retrouvé deux des cinq
enfants qui avaient été témoins, Christiane Hofmuller - Christiane R. dans le journal
à l'époque - et sa soeur Danièle Binder.
Toutes deux ont accepté de parler de leurs souvenirs de cet événement, se revoant
sur la place du Koïfhus avec la bande des enfants du quartier, à une heure où
ils auraient du être rentrés.
Christane Hofmüller précise que l'objet était apparu au-dessus du marché couvert,
et s'était dirigé vers les enfants en s'engageant le long de la rue des Tanneurs,
à hauteur de la pointe des toits. Elle était paralysée par la peur, et ne s'explique
toujours pas ce qui lui était arrivé.
Elle a été par la suite surnommée "la soucoupe" par les enfants du quartier, mais
la moquerie tout comme les soucoupes volantes ont été oubliés avec le passage
du temps, et elle reconnait que le sujet ne l'a jamais préoccupée.
Elle en a parlé beaucoup plus tard à son mari, mais ses enfants et petits-enfants
n'en savaient rien jusqu'à ces derniers mois. Elle ne pensait pas que cela pouvait
être important pour eux.
Elle trouve cependant aujourd'hui qu'elle, sa soeur, et leurs camarades
avaient vécu quelque chose d'extraordinaire, sans qu'elle puisse le définir,
et exprime le souhait qu'un jour ses petites-filles sauront ce qui avait été vu.
[Ref. 933] CHRISTIAN VALENTIN, "LES SAISONS D'ALSACE":
The magazine offers the same information as the newspaper DernièRe Nouvelles
d'Alsace's website and those of the article of that time in the same newspaper,
with in addition a current photograph of the witnesses on the square of
Colmar where the observation took place, as well as the following elements:
The witnesses were five children from ten to twelve years old at the time
of the facts, Sunday, October 31, 1954, among those Christiane Hofmuller
and Danièle Binder (current names) who are still residents of Colmar.
Christiane Hofmuller was twelve years old, her parents lived on Grand-Rue.
EXPLANATIONS:
Not looked for yet.
KEYWORDS:
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Colmar, Haut-Rhin, children, multiple, place, city, Koifhus, Christiane Hofmuller, Daniele Binder, hit, fear, paralysis, cigar, swell, effect, yellow, red, white, slow, descent, disc, luminous, ascending
REFERENCES:
[-] indicates sources which I have not yet checked.
- [1407] Article in the regional newspaper "Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace", November 3, 1954.
- [933] "1954, l'année des OVNIS - Des observations par dizaines, des témoins par centaines", article by Christian Valentin in "Saisons d'Alsace", quarterly magazine, Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace publishers, Strasbourg, pp 90-91, summer 2004.
- [1232] Article on the website of the regional newspaper "Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace", November 13, 2004.
