Valence, France 26th September, 1954
France has produced a number of good quality UFO reports over the years and 1954, as already noted, saw some highly detailed reports. Some of these can, based on the research I have carried out over forty plus years, be classified as either an unknown natural phenomenon(a) or UNP, or as reports of seemingly solid, constructed objects, UFOBs. It is a great pity that the majority of these cases have never been published in the English language
The case of Madame Leboeuf has been referred to in various sources but all appear to have inconsistencies ; a number of internet sites have details of the case that are, to be frank, fictional. Those quoting “Vallee Magonia Database” are worth ignoring and Ufologist Michel Figuet referred to “…the errors of Jacques Vallee” on this case (1)
Raymond Veilith received a transcript of a field investigator’s (unnamed) interview (2) with Madame Leboeuf and his report, dated 3rd December, 1954, gives her account of what happened at Chabeuil, a small village 14 kilometres east of Valence (note that the sighting occurred at approx. 14:30 hrs) :
"It was on September 26, 1954. I was in CHABEUIL and I went to the cemetery to bring flowers there. This cemetery is in the east of the village in a shadowy neighborhood (wood, coppice and culture). I had my black bitch Dolly with me, she was running around nearby. I was in a sunken lane at some distance from the cemetery and I collected blackberries.
"I called my bitch Dolly and as she arrived near me, she stopped dead and started to howl madly - at this time I noticed that the dogs of the nearby houses, who were on the rope (leash), were also howling madly. Surprised by the barking, I raised my head and I saw at 2 meters 50 from me a living being motionless who was staring at me (small height, 1 meter to 1 meter 50), I still wonder for how long it had been looking at me like that.
"It appeared to be wrapped in a transparent diving-suit from head to foot, face almost human ~I did not see ears, vision was little fuzzy through the diving-suit), human eyes staring and brilliant, expressive and intelligent. I did not distinguish arms, those being perhaps stuck along the body. I examined the details of the body of this living being, I especially looked at his eyes (its eyes did not cease to look at me)".
"When I saw it, it approached me, hopping, without being concerned with my bitch who barked at him. Seized with fear, I ran away shouting and I hid in a bush (the fear made my teeth snap together). Almost at once, within five meters of me, I saw a machine in the form of saucer of a diameter of approximately four meters resembling a child’s large mechanical spinning top, but with the flat lower part, rising above the cornfield. The weather was dull, it had just rained one hour before and this machine had a dark colour, a washed out and dull gray. I noticed neither lights nor porthole (from my place, I could at no time see the machine when it was on the ground). The machine thus rose slowly above the cornfield (same location that where it was landed) and I perceived a light humming during this movement, then, when it arrived above the alfalfa field, it tilted to 90° (vertical position) and disappeared in the North-eastern direction at a tremendous speed while emitting an odd whistling sound; I did not notice a gyratory movement.
"The people at the cemetery heard the howls of my bitch as well as the whistle of the machine (my husband who was in aviation and who was in the vicinity also heard this whistle and realized that it was not a jet). They came and they found me in the bush; I was paralysed and I could not call.
"Several people went to the site of the saucer landing a few moments afterwards. They noticed an area of approximately four meters in diameter where the ground and the grass were compacted; several corn plants were crushed; the branches of the acacias which were around the site were scraped and several were broken, this up to a height of approximately ten meters. They found the leaves on the ground.
"I am neither insane nor timorous and it takes a lot to make me get emotional. I nevertheless stayed for two days in bed with fever. Moreover, my bitch Dolly trembled and wept during three consecutive nights. It was only two days later that I informed the Press. I now believe in flying saucers and my husband too".
It needs to be noted that a large number of accounts state that Madame Leboeuf was picking mushrooms but she is quite clear that she was picking blackberries. It is a small point but it shows that the original account had not been read just the inaccuracies given out by others later. This includes the ‘fact’ that all of the witness’ “dogs” began barking and worse. It was not “Mimi” but “Mdme” Leboeuf.
The field investigator notes – confidentially – in his report that “following this great emotion, her periods reappeared immediately”. What we are to make of that I do not know. I do know that the gendarmes who investigated the report noted “…that the fear had involved disorders” which were “strictly feminine”
Figuet spoke to Madame Leboeuf and noted that she had never had been staring at her nor that there was a human-like face or human type eyes –the helmet the entity wore made features blurry. Other than this, the rest of the report from 1954 was accurate.
Madame Leboeuf was taken back to Valence, and went to bed with a 40°C fever, and was looked after for two days by Dr. Margot (this appears to have been nervous shock) –it is only then that she spoke. By this time the newspapers were already informed of the incident. Figuet tells us:
“Then, it was at Madame. Leboeuf’s, a procession of important characters, and a rain of letters coming from all countries. She had a lot to do to answer this. One of these envoys from the Minister for the Air said: ‘If Mdme. Leboeuf saw nothing, she could not have informed as she did on matters that are kept "secret”.
Figuet also pointed out that two young people driving to a cinema along the Montélimar road saw the "saucer" ascending and then disappear.
A Dr. Martinet, was driving back to Croix de Nivollet from Col du Chat pass when he observed “the saucer”, along with about fifteen other people. The observation lasted four minutes, during which he evaluated the objects altitude (he had been an artillery observer) to be approximately 2000 meters. The object then started to go downwards with a falling leaf movement, then disappeared suddenly at the vertical. As with the object at Chabeuil, this one was convex with the higher part of gray colour.
So, we have here a large number of independent witnesses to the object –the assumption here is that it was the same object. There were also the noted animal disturbance – lasting days in the case of Dollie – as well as physical traces and the physiological effects on the witness. There are inconsistencies in the reporting but this is really only relevant in regard to the time of the incident.
Figuet notes that Madame Leboeuf believed it to be around 14:30 hrs. The sighting by Dr. Martinet was 35 minutes later at 17:12 hrs. Yes, if the witness saw the entity and UFO, and the motorists, at after 14:30 hrs then the Martinet account did not occur 35 minutes later and Figuet does confirm the Leboeuf time and writes:
“With regard to the observation of Dr. Martinet, it is really 05:12 p.m., 05:14 p.m. or 05:18 p.m. according to the various newspapers of the time. There is a 35 minutes variation approximately between this observation and the departure of the UFO observed in Chabeuil and not 5 minutes. This is a misprint.”
This seems odd and there were even suggestions, mainly from Marie-Therese de Brosses in her book (3) that when Madame. Leboeuf came to her senses, she was unable to explain what happened to her and did not know how the being disappeared, nor how long she had remained in the bushes. This suggests, to de Brosses, an episodes of amnesia, or "missing time" and she wondered about what could have occurred during this time?
If Madame Leboeuf had been abducted then it beat even Alan Godfrey’s 8 minutes or so record abduction. The facts are clear in that she saw the entity. The entity approached her. She ran away shouting/screaming and hid in a bush. She may have fainted. Her husband and others had heard her scream and ran to the area looking for her. None of the factors indicate there was any substantial amount of “missing time”.
The fact is that Madame Leboeuf gave a rough time, she had lain flowers at a grave and then gone blackberry picking, therefore, if the doctor saw the same object 35 minutes later her observation, after having fainted, was at around 16:35 hrs +/-
It seems that Madame Leboeuf felt a little ashamed that she had screamed and run away and hid rather than stand her ground. In a newspaper report (4) she is quoted as saying : “Ah! If I had not been so afraid, perhaps I would have known who it was!”
When you get past all of the inaccuracies and all the wilder speculation and get to a reliable, original, source you find facts. Facts that show just one more ordinary person who encountered something very strange and frightening just once in her lifetime and then went back to her daily life.
Again, the Ufologists and debunkers were the only ones publicizing the event after it happened and for years later. Madame Leboeuf, when questioned, simply recounted her experience, never adding to it or going into wild speculation.
5/10
Above : Madame Leboeuf’s drawing of the entity she sighted put into perspective with the cornfield she saw it next to (see the France-Dimanche drawing that shows position of entity, object and Madame Leboeuf,
Above : Madame Leboeuf’s drawing of the object she (and others) sighted that day
(1) “Flux et Reflux”, Figuet, Michel, Lumieres Dans La Nuit 198, October,
1980 : p. 35
(2) Rapport de l’entrevue avec Mme Leboeuf a Valence / Report of Interview with
Mdme Leboeuf In Valence, sent by a field investigator to Raymond Veilith,
NICAP files and Ufologie website
(3) Enquête sur les Enlèvements Extraterrestres, de Brosses, Marie-Thérèse
l'Aventure Secrète, Plon, J'ai Lu, France, 1995: pp 43-44
(4) “Une Soucoupe Volante a Chabeuil(Drome)”, Le Provençal, Marseilles,
France, September 29, 1954
(5) “La Soucoupe de Valence a laisse des traces (dans le mais”, France-
Dimanche, Paris, 10th October, 1954
Other illustrations/photos are in the book UFO Contact? -price increase after 12th September
UFO Contact? Unidentified-Identified and Contact!
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Since 1947 it has been claimed that UFOs/flying saucers are evidence of aliens visiting the Earth. Since the 1950s claims of encounters with landed craft and alien beings were talked about but not taken seriously.
In the 1960s the subject of UFO abduction was a "slow-burner" until the whole "Grey" abduction phenomenon and claims made by researchers such as Budd Hopkins, Prof. John Mack and Dr David Jacobs and Whitley Streiber.
But is there evidence to back up any of the claims -and what about those encountering Alien Entities but who were not abducted?
Are these people all hoaxers, psychotic or suffering from some other mental illness as some claim?
Are those people who were exposed by Ufologists against their wishes, people who wanted to report what happened and then just get back to their everyday lives -thrust into the media glare against their will?
And if US authorities were so interested that in one case at least they broke into the home of two abductees and this was later proven -why?
Why did a hard core of these people never want publicity or to make money from what happened to them?
Above all, why did a major UFO landing incident take place on a US Inbterstate road in front of a large number of observers (all willing to talk to investigators) never get investigated? If it were not for a radio presenter interviewing and taking notes we would know nothing of the case -it would be labelled "insubstantial".
James and Coral Lorensen -the Scopolamine Kids; using a very notorious "truth drug" on alleged UFO witnesses and selling stories to newspapers. An investigator (a veteran) showing a witness images of "aliens" encountered in other cases before any memories were retrieved. Worst of all, the constant "pissing competition" and breaches of trust between UFO investigators.
