The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this site is here.
Reference number for this case: 5-oct-54-Mertrud. Thank you for including this reference number in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
[Ref. 1405:] "NEW YORK TIMES-HERALD" NEWSPAPER:
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Out of This World More Flying Saucers Reported in FranceBy Robert N. Sturdevant A cardboard-box salesman, Pierre Allo[?], told Paris reporters that he spotted a huge silver saucer in the sky round 4:30 p.m. yesterday as his taxi stopped for a red light near the Porte Dorée, at the eastern outskirts of the city. Two other persons, Gilbert Bacon and Paul Julien, reported seeing the same thing but thought it looked more like a flying wing. All witnesses spoke of a screeching sound and a smoky tail which followed the object. These were the last reports of out-of-this-world manifestations which have been pouring in from all parts of France for the last two weeks. A Deputy in the National Assembly has asked the Air ministry what it is doing to explain the so-called phenomena. From Lille, it was reported that a retired miner, known as a local wag, had fabricated some hot-air balloons three yards in diameter which went aloft with the aid of gasoline-saturated straw attached to the bottom. When the balloons went up and got caught in the wind they gave off a yellowish flare, to the consternation of people who saw them in the middle of the night. Unfortunately for the jokster, one almost set a haystack on fire on landing, and the miner was arrested. He is charged with what French law calls "dangerous amusement." A road-mender in middle France also was caught for playing a joke. He had reported seeing a flying cigar alight in a field near his work, and claimed that when he approached the object he was paralyzed by a strange light. Afterward he pointed out three holes in the ground which he said were made by the object. Gendarmes picked him up a couple of days later and perceived that the holes had been made by the road-mender's own hands. He was held for further disciplinary action. |
[Ref. 411:] "LA HAUTE-MARNE LIBEREE" NEWSPAPER:
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The roadmender of Metrud claims
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[1] Possible allusion to the fact that national newspapers gave an erroneous localization.
[Ref. 1660:] JOURNAL "LE QUOTIDIEN DE LA HAUTE-LOIRE":
RAIN OF FLYING SAUCERS IN FRANCETestimonys on the flying saucers seem to become increasingly precise. Various people in the same area announce the same phenomenon and one can say that one has assisted for a few days to a true rain of flying saucers, cigars or discs on the entire France. A farmer of Chaleix (Dordogne) Mr. Garreau affirmed on his honor to have seen a flying soup tureen land in his property. Mr. Garreau declared that two perfectly normal men covered of kaki suit descended, shook hands with him and spoke a language unknown to him. Amazed, Mr. Garreau did not answer, the two men caressed his dog and went up in their apparatus which flew away without noise at a vertiginous pace. A luminous sphere 12 meters in diameter was seen in the Island of Ré by a mason, Mr. Simonetin. The sphere, he said, became red after having hovered within 50 meters of the ground, it changed to blue and rose very quickly vertically. The craft was also observed by two Parisian on holiday. Mrs. Thérèse Fourmeret, 23 years, inhabitant of Poncey-sur-l'Ignon (Côte d'Or) saw Monday evening a craft land in a meadow not far from her residence. She declared that frightened, she had taken greeat care not to observe this phenomenon longer and had taken refuge at neighbors'. The gendarmerie noted very clear traces on the ground at the indicated place. Turfs had been torn off and projected in a radius of four meters. In Duclair (Seine-Inférieure) Mr. Laudrin, employee of the water supplies who was walking with his wife, was dazzled by a ray of light, when he reopened the eyes, he saw a ball that disappeared a few minutes later. A roadmender of Mertrud (Haute-Marne), Mr. André Narcy, claims to have approached within less than one hundred meters a flying saucer posed in a field close to Voillecomte. He saw near the machine a small being, high of approximately 1,20 meters who was dressed of a kind of cape covered with hairs. Mr. Narcy challenged the strange character who did not answer him and threw himself in his machine which flew away vertically. According to Mr. Narcy, the machine was of spherical shape, of a diameter of ten meters approximately. Under the sphere was a kind of spindle and the port-hole by which the being returned in the machine was just between the spindle and the body of the apparatus. At the start of the latter, a kind of flame came out of the spindle while a large vaporous movement occurred under the machine. On the spot he noted that the dew did not exist any more on some surface. The grass had a slightly milky colour and was crushed on a square of approximately three meters side. Moreover, twelve parallel traces resembling prints of round feet were distributed at a certain distance, letting think that the apparatus had landed with a succession of small sudden starts... |
[Ref. 1082:] "SAMEDI-SOIR" NEWSPAPER:
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[...] Must we go on? Or also, the 96 centimeters man, carrying a broad leather belt, shoes and panties, which rose in the airs thanks to two boxes in the shape of pears, placed under each arm. This being was seen by Mr. Lacambre, forestry workman in Saint-Pardoux (the Lot), on Monday, October 4, at 8:10 a.m., and the witness has even determined from the footprints that the small being fitted shoesize 21 [Europe standard]... What to think of the assertion of Mr. Garreau, who swears "on his honor" to have seen a "flying soup tureen" landed in his property, and two perfectly normal men get down of it, who shook hands with him and cuddled his dog before leaving as quickly as they came... And this handworker of Lavoux (Vienna), Mr. Roger Barrault who, on Saturday October 9, at 7 p.m., was paralyzed by a luminous ray emanating from a "diver" high of 1 m. 50, fitted with boots, with shining eyes, and carrying a heavy moustache... And the cigar posed in a clearing, in Diges in Yonne, near which Mrs. widows Gaffroy [sic, Geoffroy] saw a man, from the back, in combination and capped of a khaki bonnet... And Mr. Jean Labonne, of Bergerac, who, on October 2, at 10 p.m., saw a metal mushroom in his garden. "Who's there?" he shouted when distinguishing a shade. "What do you want from me?" But the shade climbed in the mushroom which rose in the airs at an extraordinary speed. Even in England which started to worry and almost become indignant that not the least saucer, not the least "cigar" or cigarillo, had made the honor of an appearance to the people which had won the battle of Trafalgar. This gap has been just been largely filled by the sensational revelations of an ornithologist, Mr. Cedric Allingham, who claims to have met, on February 18, in the north of Scotland, not a Martian, but a Venusian with whom he had a lengthy and difficult conversation! This Venusian measured about 1 m 73, he short brown hair, and his skin seemed tanned. He was completely wrapped in a kind of combination which had the appearance of a armored coat. In his nose were two small tubes joined by a metallic wire... Mr. Allingham managed to touch the saucer whose metal was slightly warm, and he finally took the leave of Venusian, not without having offered him his pen, which the man carefully put in a pocket of his combination and after having taken on the run a photograph of the strange character. This rather fuzzy image is, it should be acknowledged, rather unrevealing. One sees the silhouette of a man seen from the back, walking slightly curved, and that, without a little imagination, could easily be matched with the silhouette of any earthman. Lastly, with the latest news, it is a true avalanche of Martians that comes falling on our grounds. In Pournoy La Chétive, in the Moselle, three children were roller skating, when a round machine, of 2.50 meters of diameter, lands close to them. A man left from there, holding in the hand a lit lamp which dazzled the children. He was dressed of a black cassock "like that of our priest", and after having said some unintelligible words, he flew away in his saucer. In the island of Oléron, for the first time, it was two Martian girls who put foot on the ground. It is Mr. Martin, a colonial teacher on holiday, who brings their description to us. They carried small boots and leather gloves, as well as brilliant helmets. They were extremely pretty and nicely agreed to sign an autograph to the teacher. I would take a whole book to bring back all the cases in detail. But all these good people swear to god that they invent nothing. Their entourage echoes that. Him, to invent such a story? A family man known for his respectability... A boy who never drank any drop of alcohol in his life? Come on! So what? Should it be concluded from this that they really saw strange beings, hairy, helmeted, in boots, speaking an incomprehensible language? Do we need to have faith to this story of mysterious green ray which paralyze human beings? Are their accounts, on the contrary, totally invented? Do they rest on a serious basis exaggerated thereafter? Nothing, absolutely nothing in the current state of the collected information which was made available to the public allows to conclude in the sense of the authenticity. The investigations were led as if it were a question of "checking" the statements of the witnesses and not in the spirit to eliminate all the assumptions leading to plausible and relatively simple explanations. These assumptions are numerous, they go from the joke to the hallucination not to mention the optical illusion. To eliminate them, one would need extremely thorough police information, doubled, in all the cases, of a thorough psychological investigation. Then only the facts would remain, logically unexplainable, which would constitute the true file on the Martians. One would then notice that this file is extremely thin, if not non-existent, and that in this business, there is much, far too much, literature. |
[Ref. 1386:] "EVENING STAR" NEWSPAPER:
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authorities duly noted three deep imprints in the ground. On October 5 at 7:16 a.m. another roadworker named Gustave Narcy was bicycling to work near Wassy near Paris when he noticed an unusual looking creature climbing out of a 30-foot cigar. Mr. Narcy's description was very precise. The stranger was 3 feet 11 inches tall. His body was covered with hair. He was wearing a large orange corset and a helmet made of plush. A moment of mutual staring ensued after which Mr. Narcy said good-morning. The stranger, apparently unreassured, scrambled back into his fuselage and flew away. An investigation of the spot revealed skid-marks on the grass and a strange milky substance. Reports like these are run-of-the mill, chosen at random from literraly hundreds of similar incidents that have been brought to public attention within the last few weeks. The stories have an interesting mixture of variety consistency. The flying whatnots are always luminous by day or night. They are described as saucers, mushrooms, cigars, barrels, spheres and chamber pots. The pilots vary in size as well as wardrobe, ranging in size from dwarfs to giants. In all cases, the visitors have been pictured as mannerly but timid. In several cases the use of harmless weapons has been reported - in several others the intruders have shown an interest in collecting vegetable and mineral specimens near at hand. The scientists have come up with plenty of explanations. A report from Russia that the past summer has been unusually hot on Mars has led to the journalist deduction that the Martians are coming over for a breath of fresh air. The summer in Western Europe has been anything but hot. In Africa, the vice-president of the Astronomic Association of Nairobi suggests that Mars in conducting a geographic survey of the Earth, concentrated presently on Europe and Africa. Professor Herman Oberth, the German scientist who designed the V-2, has a theory that the unearthly visitors are really intelligent plants called "Uranides", millions of years more advanced than human beings. The politicians are also getting into the act: in France Jean Nocher, Gaullist deputy from the Loire District, has formally demanded an investigation by the Secretary for Air. All of which, probably, proves very little. Except that people in Europe today have more serious things to worry about than rearming the Germans. And that if Mr. Pre of Locronan is daft, he has, at least, plenty of company. |
[Ref. 1630:] "LE MERIDIONAL" NEWSPAPER:
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After the saucers and the cigarsA "FLYING MELON" IN THE SKY OF ALSACESTRASBOURG. -- After the cigars, the brushes, the barrels, it is now the "melons" that make their appearance in the sky of Alsace. Indeed, several people, among them pilots of the flying-club of Strasbourg, claim to have seen Saturday evening a shining machine, having the shape of a melon, and leaving a trace of two meters of white-orange colour, that flew above the area of the Bas-Rhin. This machine is said to have been seen almost at the same hour in Strasbourg, Haguenau and Wissembourg. The "melon" evolved at a high altitude and moved according to some in a south-eastern direction, according to the others in an East-West direction. A similar phenomenon was observed in Niederhalslach (valley of the Bruche). An unknown apparatus flies over a soccer gameCHAUMONT. -- During more than one hour, Sunday afternoon, the 400 witnesses of the soccer game in Langres could follow the evolutions of an unknown apparatus which was at very high altitude. Some believed that it was a weather-balloon, which, say the others, appears not very probable, for before disappearing, the machine moved in opposite direction of the wind. In addition, in Chaumont, a mechanic, Mr. Auguste Poulot and his three children noticed at the beginning of the night the passage of a flying cigar. The "saucer" seen by the roadmender was only an alibi as he was late for workDIJON. -- Ten days ago, Mr. André Narcy, aged 47, roadmender, arrived at his work very breathless: "I saw a flying saucer", he claimed. And he gave much details: a machine of orange color stopped in a field, a small being dressed of a hairy cape, a beautiful vertical take-off of the mysterious apparatus. Moreover Mr. Narcy could show the place. With two of his comrades, Misters Riel and Henry, he went back there. All three stated that indeed the dew had dried on a great surface, that the grass had taken "a milky colour", that one saw traces of "round feet", etc... In short, questioned again by the gendarmerie, Mr. Narcy comes to acknowledge that he made up this story entirely to excuse his late arrival at work. A written question to the governmentFOIX. -- Following the many appearance of flying machines of unknown type currently reported in all the areas of France, Mr. Rene Dejean, deputy of Ariège (socialist) addressed to the president of the Council a written question asking him among other questions: - "Wether were created or not a service missioned to gather the existing documentation on this matter and to study the nature and the origin of the said machines. - "Whether the information currently collected and gathered makes it possible to absolutely exclude the assumption of machines piloted or controlled by living beings of unknown species and origin. - "Whether the government has, on the contrary, sufficient information to allot the production of these machines to the industry of a foreign Country. - "Whether in this last case the international agreements signed by France already allowed consultations relating to the use of such machines in a possible conflict. |
[Ref. 1259:] "TIME" MAGAZINE:
The article underneath has been published in the Time magazine, USA, for October 25, 1954.
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SCIENCEMartians over FranceOne morning last October, Jean Narcy, a road mender of Haute-Marne, France, was riding to work on his bicycle. In a wheat field he saw a little whiskered man just under 4 ft tall, who wore a fur coat, an orange corset and a plush cap. "Bonjour, [Hello]" said Mr. Narcy. The little man muttered something like "I'll be seeing you." Then he jumped into a small (10 ft. in diameter) flying saucer, took off with a buzzing sound and disappeared into the clouds. With Narcy's "Hairy Martian" as a starting point, the French press run wild, and a deluge of Martians have been raining down ever since. They have come in flying cigars, crowns, comets, winged mushrooms, even a flying chamber pot. Unlike Americans who have seen flying saucers, the French "sighters" paid little attention to the vehicles. They were interested in the people from space. The Martians were anything but standardized. One who stopped Mr. Roger Barrault near the town of Lavoux had brilliant eyes, an enormous moustache, wore rubbers and spoke Latin. Another asked Mr. Pierre Lucas, a Breton baker, for a light. He was bearded and had a single eye in the middle of the forehead. Mr. Lucas could not remember what language he spoke. Paralysing Pygmies. As the Martian invasion of France proceeded, the invaders became more bizarre. A troup of pygmies in plastic helmet gamboled down a railroad track near Quarouble and transfixed Mr. Dewilde with "a paralyzing beam of light." Some Martians were blue, others were yellow or pink. A traveling salesman of the Côte du Nord saw a wonderful sight: a deep rose flying cigar from which stepped a zebra-stripped Martian. As he alighted, he changed color, chameleon-like, from yellow to green. The Martians marched en masse into French affairs. Cartoonists welcomed them delightedly (see cuts). As they multiplied, they even gained respectability. Le Figaro reported: "Counsellor General of Alpes Maritimes greets flying saucers' first appearance on the Côte d'Azur." France Soir announced that "a daily flying-saucer service seems to have been established between Marais-Poitevin and La Rochelle." A man from space even made the social columns of Paris-France: "Mustached Martian spends weekend at Vienna." Angry deputies asked questions in Parliament. Air Force Authorities (even as in the US) were badgered for explanations. Before the many-colored Martians rained down on France, fames Swiss Psychiatrist C. G. Jung was asked what he thought about the saucer epidemic. "Something is being seen," said Jung. "What is seen may be, in the case of a single observer, a subjective vision (hallucination). In the case of many observers, it may be a collective vision. such a psychic phenomenon... could be a spontaneous reaction of the subconscious to the present conscious situation; the fear of an apparently insoluble political situation in the world... At such times eyes turn heavenwards ... and miraculous forebodings of a threatening or consoling nature appear from on high." No More Dreams. Dr. Jung blames the U.S. air Force for mishandling the saucer epidemic and for permitting irresponsible journalists to pump it for bits of sensational-sounding information. He does not believe that the saucers are space ships. Those that are not hallucinations, he thinks, are probably misinterpretations of physical objects or effects. But he was willing to speculate about the effect on the human race of an invasion by beings from another world. "Should the origin of the phenomenon turn out to be an extraterrestrial one," said Dr. Jung, "it would prove an intelligent interplanetary link. The impact of such a fact on humanity is unforeseable. But, without doubt, we would be placed in the very questionable position of today's primitive societies that clash with the superior culture of the white race. All initiative would be wrested from us. As an old witch doctor once said to me, with tears in his eyes: We would 'have no more dreams.' Our sciences and technology would go to the junk pile. What such a catastrophe would mean morally we can gauge by the pitiful decline of the primitive cultures that takes place before our eyes. The capacity to manufacture (interplanetary space ships) points to a technology towering sky sky high over ours." "Just as the Pax Britannica made an end to the tribal warfare in Africa, so our world could roll up its Iron Curtain and use it for scrap ... This might not be so bad. But we would have been 'discovered' and colonized." |
[Ref. 1396:] "US MAG" MAGAZINE:
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Photos caption: HATLIKE SPACESHIP SKETCH (Right) was drawn in dirt by Jean Narcy to describer craft he says landed in a field near Wassy. From it emerged a little whiskered man in fur coat and orange corset. |
[Ref. 1703:] HAROLD T. WILKINS:
The author indicates that in France, on october 2, 1954, road-mender Jean Narcy was cycling to his job, near Haute-Marne, when he saw a strange whiskered being in a wheat field, four feet tall, clad in a fur coat and an "orange corset and plush cap."
Mr. Narcy said: "Bonjour, Monsieur," [Hello, Sir] but the little man turned and jumped into a flying saucer and buzzed up into the clouds.
[Ref. 105:] JACQUES VALLEE:
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198 Oct. 05, 1954, 07:15 A.M., Mertrud (France). A roadmender, Mr. Narcy, saw an object near the road between Voillecomte and La Neuville. In a report to police, he stated he saw a hairy dwarf wearing an orange tight-fitting jacket climb aboard the craft, which consisted of a cigar-shaped section under a flat disk. Between the two sections was a kind of porthole through which the entity entered the object. Traces were found at the spot. (38, 39) (Le Parisien, 7 octobre 1954. Combat, l’Aurore, France-Soir, 8 octobre 1954; Journal du Dimanche, 10 octobre 1954). |
[Ref. 152:] JACQUES VALLEE:
The author indicates that on October 5, 1954, near Mertrud, between Voillecomte and Neuville in the department of the Haute-Marne, a roadmender named Narcy saw an object close to the road. A hairy individual entered the apparatus. Traces were discovered where the object had landed.
[Ref. 50:] CHARLES GARREAU AND RAYMOND LAVIER:
The two authors and ufologists indicate that on October 5, 1954, in Voillecomte in Haute-Marne, at seven hours of the morning, André Narcy, a roadmender aged 48, went to his work driving a motorbike.
When he arrived close to Voillecomte, he saw a circular object of 10 meters in diameter in a field. The authors quote him:
"I was at approximately a hundred meters of it. I stopped. I then saw a small being of 1 meter 20 in height, which seemed to be equipped with a houpelande with long hairs. I put myself belly flat, and I called him. The small being turned towards me. He looked all around him, then he rushed into his apparatus. The apparatus took off at once and it disappeared in the clouds. At the time of takeoff, there was like a large vaporous movement under the apparatus."
André Narcy joined his workmates a few moments later, and returned with them on the location of the encounter:
"There was no more dew on a broad surface. The grass had a slightly milky colour and was crushed on a square of approximately 3 meters of side. At the interior of this square, twelve parallel traces resembling inprints of round feet."
The authors indicate that their sources are newspaper clipping and their personal file.
[Ref. 112:] MICHEL FIGUET AND JEAN LOUIS RUCHON:
These two french ufologists wrote:
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AS A MATTER OF FACT: M. Narcy made up this story as an excuse for being late at work. The press published this confession. |
[Ref. 1406:] FRANCIS GATTI:
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WITNESS N°33 October 5, 1954 seven hours fifteen Mertud the High Marne. Mr NARCY roadmender saw a hairy dwarf who returned in a curious vessel resembling a cigar located under a flat disc between the two was a port-hole being used as door by which the dwarf engulfing himself in. Traces, were found at the place indicated by the good man. Information published in Le Parisien on 10/7/54 Combat L'Aurore and France Soir10/8/54 Sunday Newspaper 10/10/54. |
[Ref. 134:] ALBERT ROSALES, HUMCAT:
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126. Location. Mertrud France Date: October 5 1954 Time: 0715A Road mender Andre Narcy was motorcycling to work when he noticed an orange colored object in a field. Approaching, he saw it to be a 10-meter disc with a large dome on top. He walked up to within 100 yards, and observed a 4-foot tall being dressed in a very hairy overcoat. Narcy called to him, but he re-entered the craft and took off, causing an extensive "wash." At the spot the grass was found crushed within a 3-meter square, and had a milky color. 12 parallel tracks of spherical prints were also found. Humcat 1954-70 Source: Jacques Vallee Type: B |
[Ref. 1358:] JEAN-PAUL RONECKER:
The author indicates that close to Mertrud, between Voillecomte and Neuville, in the Haute-Marne in France, on October 5, 1954, a roadmender saw an object posed on the road, and a small hairy being which entered the apparatus.
Hoax.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Mertrud, Haute Marne, Narcy, object, road, Voillecomte, La Neuville, occupant, humanoid, dwarf, clothes, orange, cigar, disc, porthole, traces, landing
[-] indicates sources which I have not yet checked.
