October 7, 1954: Isles-sur-Suippe, France

October 7, 1954--Isles-sur-Suippes, France. UFO shaped like “giant artillery shell” with “portholes”; landing or near-landing case. [XII].1

Section XII has the case listed in a table with basically the same description but it mentions the portholes were dim and that it was “early am” when the sighting occurred.2 It has no footnote so we don’t know the source. 

The Blue Book file

There is no Blue Book file for this case. 

Media accounts

There are no US media accounts but it is documented in the French press. It seems that the primary source of this information comes from Aime Michel’s, Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery:3 

“M. Joseph Roy, mechanic in the Panhard factory, was riding his bicycle along Route N-51 when directly in front of him and very low there was a burst of intense light which he at first mistook for car headlights. The light moved little in the darkness, then went out. M. Roy continued to pedal and soon came to the place where the light had disappeared. In the field near the road an object about three yards long, shaped like ‘a giant artillery shell,’ could be seen by the dim light emanating from its ‘portholes.’ In front of this object moved a small dark form which the frightened bicyclist did not stop to examine, and which he could not describe. He pedaled for dear life to the nearest police station. The police went back with him to the road where he had passed the apparition, and found strange marks in the soft earth of the field. Subsequent investigations revealed that three other workmen a few miles away, bicycling to their night jobs, had seen a ball of fire descending toward the place where M. Roy saw the ‘shell’ and the dark form.” 

Patrick Gross’ web site has a bit on this case and it seems to have been examined by others. Gross mentions that Michel Figuet had identified the source of the sighting and that it had been revealed a few days later in the newspaper from nearby Reims. 4 

But in fact, the case was apparently explained by the newspaper L’Union of Reims after just a few days: English military personal had parked there. This will be stated again by a reader of Science et Vie magazine in 1958, which source Michel Figuet would quote in 1985.4

Later writers, would add that a helicopter was there as well but it is unclear where this information originated.

Analysis/summary

It seems that this was another case of listing a case from a UFOlogical source without any further checking. According to Patrick Gross, the explanation had been published in 1958, which is long before the UFO evidence was published. The theory that a helicopter was also involved seems to be speculation. It must be noted that Mr. Roy mentioned only seeing a bright light on, or near, the ground. The other report made by the three workmen, could have been a meteor unrelated to what Roy had seen. There really is no reason to add the helicopter. The vehicle seen could have simply been one or two trucks and a tent or two that were set up. The lighting of this grouping could have created an appearance that confused Joseph Roy and resulted in the description given. 

Conclusion

The report of a landed UFO should have more evidence than an anecdotal story to qualify as “good” evidence that UFOs are some form of flying craft not built by man. It seems that a few British soldiers on military maneuvers is an adequate explanation for what was seen and it should be reclassified as such. This case does not belong in The UFO evidence and should be removed.. 

Quelle: SUNlite 5/2020