Marignane Airport, France, October 27, 1952
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP ENCOUNTER REPORT
1952: Marignane Airport, France
The Football-Shaped Object with Four Windows
At about 2:03 a.m. on October 27, 1952, customs officer Gabriel Gachignard, on duty at Marignane Airport near Marseille, saw a roughly 15-foot football-shaped object come down about 100 meters away in overcast weather. It had a metallic grillwork and four rectangular windows 8 to 12 inches wide, and its color throbbed in soft changing tints.
It made a dull sound as it touched the ground, then left with a soft swishing and instant acceleration, gone from view within three seconds. The report comes on the same night as the Gaillac display, a few hundred kilometers away.
Date: October 27, 1952
Sighting Time: 2:03 a.m.
Day/Night: Night
Location: Marignane Airport, near Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
Urban or Rural: Airfield
No. of Entity(‘s): None reported
Entity Type: Not applicable
Entity Description: Not applicable
Hynek Classification: CE-I
Duration: Landing brief; the departure took about 3 seconds
No. of Object(s): 1
Shape of Object(s): Football-shaped, with a metallic grillwork and four rectangular windows
Size of Object(s): About 15 feet long; windows 8 to 12 inches wide
Color of Object(s): Soft, changing tints that throbbed
Distance to Object(s): About 100 meters
Height & Speed: Landed briefly; departed with instant acceleration
Number of Witnesses: 1
Special Features/Characteristics: A brief landing; a dull sound on touching the ground; a soft swishing departure; overcast weather
Case Status: Unexplained; single witness
Source: Gabriel Gachignard (customs officer), as recorded in the archive’s sources
Summary/Description: A customs officer at Marignane Airport saw a 15-foot football-shaped object with four windows land about 100 meters away and then leave in under three seconds on October 27, 1952.
Related Cases: Gaillac and Brives-Charensac, October 27, 1952, on the October 22nd–31st page
DETAILED REPORT
Customs officer Gabriel Gachignard was working at the airfield at about 2:03 a.m. when he saw an object come down about 100 meters away. The weather was overcast. It was football-shaped, about 15 feet long, with a metallic grillwork and four rectangular windows between 8 and 12 inches wide.
The object throbbed with soft, changing tints. It made a dull sound on touching the ground, stayed briefly, and left with a soft swishing sound and instant acceleration, vanishing from view within three seconds.
The sources supplied give no follow-up, no ground traces and no second witness. An earlier listing carried the event as two overlapping entries; they were one event.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
Marignane 1952: A Customs Officer and a Landing
- Single witness: The case rests on Gachignard. He was on duty at an airfield, which gives him a good view and a reason to be there, but there is no corroboration in the sources supplied.
- Close range: At 100 meters, the description of grillwork and window size is a close-range one, which puts it in CE-I.
- No traces: Nothing is recorded about marks on the ground, which would have upgraded it to CE-II.
- Same night: It falls on October 27, the night of the Gaillac display and other southern France reports, with no stated connection.
Marignane is a short but specific landing report from a trained observer on duty at night. It stays Unexplained, with the usual limits of one witness and no physical follow-up.
