The incident at Le Petit-Cotillon, Blaison, Maine-et-Loire was part of the somewhat fictional "UFO Wave" of 1954 -20th November, and at approximately 1500hrs.
This is the account as you might find it mentioned. To be honest, after 5 decades I have not seen anyone in Ufology refer to this case.
Journalists from Le Courrier de l'Ouest, a regional newspaper, told about an encounter which occurred to Mrs. Besnier, a farm woman in her sixties, at her a farm of Le Petit Cotillon, Blaison, the Maine-et-Loire, France, on November 20, 1954, in the middle of the afternoon around 03:00 p.m. and no later than 03:30 p.m.
After fetching onions and some cloves of garlic in her attic she was at the bottom of the stone staircase which she had just walked down, when she saw a circular object of the size of a "respectable round table" in the farm yard. She had difficulties finding the words to describe the material it was made of, saying that she can't tell if it Was it made of wood, or aluminum or anything else.
Then, at the time when she descended the last step, a small "mannequin" of the child-size rushed onto her and took the onions which she held in a side of her apron, and she also saw an unspecified of other such beings in the court. They had a human appearance but their skin was yellow and they had small, black and piercing eyes. They were dressed with a brown costume which entirely wrapped them, with some kind of back pack, "as some sort of small sulfate sprayer which they had on the back", and on their mouth, a kind of pipe was fixed; which came from a sort of hood.
As the being rushed at her and took her onions, and as she saw the other beings, she fell on her back and hurt herself, so that she could not see them go up in their saucer; but after she stood up again and looked up in the sky, she saw, very high "a brilliant star" which sprang in the air.
The journalist or journalists indicate that they met Mrs. Besnier and asked her for some specifics about her testimony. She answered Without any hesitation. They noted that she is a quiet woman who is afraid of nothing and had heard of flying saucer only by bits of conversations.
The journalist or journalists indicate that the neighbors, and the mayor of Blaison, whom they asked for their opinion, were unanimous in stating that as Mrs. Besnier is a calm woman who "never made any fuss", and that the story was not invented.
After the encounter, Mrs. Besnier did not eat during 48 hours, and "trembling, stiff with cold and seizure", remained confined to bed some time.
Most French Ufologists likely ignored or were unaware of the report and the French UFologist Jean Sider is the person who found out about this case from the regional press: he gave a summarya in his book "Le dossier 1954 et l'imposture rationaliste," sticking to the sources but here is the thing: the book was published in 2014 and I can find no mention of a Ufologist investigating in 1954 or later. Lumieres Dans La Nuit published an article mentioning the case in 1995 -article by Jean Sider , #325, January/February 1995.
Sidr wrote in his book:
100 - November 20, 3:00 p.m., Le Petit-Cotillon, Blaison, Maine-et-Loire.
Mrs. Besnier, 60 years old.
Mrs. Besnier, who is in her sixties, had gone up to her attic (by an outside staircase), to look for onions and a few cloves of garlic. On her way down she saw a strange object in the courtyard of her farm, a sort of giant mushroom, the height of a good round table (sic), made of a material she could not identify. From this apparatus emerged two small "mannequins", characters of reduced size, approximately 1.10 m. tall. They were dressed in a brown suit that completely wrapped them. On their mouths, a sort of pipe was fixed, which originated in a kind of hood, like a small tank of sulphate, which they carried on their backs. Their skin was yellow and they had small, piercing black eyes. They approached Mrs. Besnier, who felt unable to move, as though paralyzed by a strange force. One of the little men grabbed the onions that the farmer was holding in the hem of her apron. Then, according to Mrs. Besnier, the beings unmasked themselves (sic) and spoke a few words that she did not understand. It seems that the witness has lost track of the time elapsed or that she has fallen unconscious (point poorly clarified by my sources). Anyway, when the brave lady came to her senses, it was to see a luminous dot rising in the sky with a brilliant trail behind it.
Journalists who have met Mrs. Besnier present her as a quiet woman who does not read newspapers and only heard about flying saucers through snatches of conversation. The Mayor and the neighbors interviewed have certified that Mrs. Besnier is a most calm person who has never been talked about. My second source specifies that following this incident, Mrs. Besnier did not eat for 48 hours and that "frozen with cold and shock, she remained bedridden for a while."
Local sources: Le Courrier de l'Ouest, Angers, 24 November, p. 2, and November 28, 1954, p. 4; Les Nouvelles de Bretagne et du Maine, Rennes, November 26, 1954, p. 4.
Note: This is a summary of my first two sources (Le Courrier de l'Ouest) because reporters came on site to question the witness and carry out the neighborhood investigation. A counter-investigation made in 1989 by Mr. Roger Chéreau (member of LDLN at the time), established that Mrs. Besnier had died a few years after the incident and that her descendants were scattered in the Angers region. A few residents vaguely remembered the affair and had always believed it was a journalistic hoax. When they were made aware of the reality and the magnitude of the 1954 wave, they were surprised and reconsidered their initial judgment.
This case is one of the most extraordinary and the most certain that we have, the personality of the witness ruling out any idea of a prank. A 60-year-old farm woman has indeed other concerns than the desire to mystify her neighborhood, especially with such an "implausible" story. Finally, this CE3 looks a bit like that of Cennina, Italy, which occurred twenty days earlier (see Appendix I, the file on the 1954 wave in Italy).
Patrick Gross writes https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/1954/20nov1954blaison.htm
At the end of the catalog, Jean Sider explains that he cannot rule out that there are two or three misinterpretations or hoaxes in his catalog. He then explains that the "absurd" content of the stories "reinforces" his theory: these are not extraterrestrials but "decoys", that a "superior intelligence distills to us to abuse our judgment". In this case, for example, he wonders why extraterrestrials would have landed in broad daylight in a farmyard to steal onions from an old lady, when they could have collected them in the fields at night without being seen.
A very interesting case involving small entities from October 1954 is worth mentioning here
CASE No. 305
Investigator: Mr. Gérard ECHAPPEE. 1, Rue Langard, 42 L'HORME
A child saw the landing of a luminous object and two small beings with big eyes. On October 27, 1954. The incident took place at the location called "LES EGOTS," commune of ST CATHERINE. 69.
The counter-investigation having been entrusted to Mr. ECHAPPEE, the latter asked for my collaboration to carry it out. Having received the request for an investigation regarding case No. 305, I went to Mr. VIEILLITH in CHAMBON SUR LIGNON and after various searches we discovered several important facts.
- The incident took place on October 27, 1954 around 5:30 p.m. The child was tending cows in a field.
- The child, a girl, is named JEANINE SEON and at the time was 10 years old.
- The incident was reported in a three-column article in the daily newspaper "LA TRIBUNE" on October 28.
We therefore went, Mr. ECHAPPEE and I, to ST CATHERINE on a Sunday morning. The hamlet of LES EGOTS is completely isolated from ST CATHERINE. It is reached by a country path starting at the CROIX DU CHATELARD and ending in a dead end at the hamlet of LES EGOTS.
This hamlet is made up of 3 houses, it is located on the top of a hill, the side opposite the path serving as pasture. As soon as we arrived, 16 years having passed, it appeared to us that there were no longer any SEONs in LES EGOTS.
After much persuasion, we learned that Mr. SEON, the father, had died and that Mrs. SEON, widow, was living with her daughter somewhere near ST CATHERINE.
We managed to find the house where Mrs. SEON, widow, lived with her daughter Jeanine and her son-in-law, at the entrance of RIVERIE. 69.
She nevertheless agreed to give us some information. At the time of the incident JEANINE, the one we are interested in, was living with her aunt Mrs. SEON at LES EGOTS. She was about the same age as her cousin (she 10 years old, her cousin about 14). They went to school together and knew each other well.
On the day of the incident, JEANINE was tending the cows at LES EGOTS when her aunt (her cousin was present) saw her arriving running, completely out of breath, unable to catch her breath. She was truly terrified, her face was pale, and she could hardly stand on her legs. Her aunt laid her down and asked what had happened:
"I was tending the cows," said JEANINE, "when all of a sudden I saw a shiny object circling above me and landing about 20 meters away, near the hedge. I didn't know what it was when I saw two little men come down, with eyes as big as a cow's" (it should be noted that JEANINE, 10 years old and living in the countryside, did not have many points of comparison).
These little men were dressed in red, shiny clothes. As soon as they saw her, the two beings headed toward JEANINE, who, thinking they wanted to capture her, became frightened and fled to her house, where she arrived exhausted and terrified.
Important fact: 2 other children had witnessed the landing, they confirmed JEANINE's testimony but later retracted... Why??..
According to her aunt and her teacher, JEANINE was not a lying child nor one with a wild imagination. At the age of 10, and living in a remote hamlet in the countryside, she could not possibly have been inspired by reading science fiction novels.
Later, JEANINE and her family became the laughingstock of the whole area, and the bullying followed. Needless to say, at school she was called "the Saucer."
Her aunt and her cousin believe in her sincerity.
Personal opinion: It seems to us that JEANINE could not have invented this incident, she did not have the means to do so. The information collected and the details provided lead us to think that J. told the truth, but it will be very difficult to get her to confirm it given the various bullying she suffered following the observation.
sources:
"Soucoupes Volantes: Le Grand Refus?", book by the ufology group G.A.B.R.I.E.L., Michel Moutet publisher, France, page 79, 1978
"HUMCAT", catalogue by Ted Bloecher and David Webb, USA, circa 1979.
These are two brief extraordinary incidents that got a little press coverage locally but Ufologists took their time to look at. In each case the percipient were somewhat shocked, unsurprisingly. and I think it is obvious from the bullying why the other two children did not want to speak later -often parents in these cases do not wish any publicity over "this flying saucer nonsense!"
I have been unable to get a copy of LDLN 325 but if anyone has a vopy and can scan the relavent pages I woul;d appreciate it!
