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URECAT - UFO Related Entities Catalog

URECAT is a formal catalog of UFO related entities sightings reports with the goal of providing quality information for accurate studies of the topic. Additional information, corrections and reviews are welcome at patrick.gross@inbox.com, please state if you wish to be credited for your contribution or not. The main page of the URECAT catalog is here.

MARCH 5, 1971, CONDAMINE, JURA, FRANCE, GILBERT CAMUS:
Brief summary of the event and follow-up:
Gilbert Camus, radio-engineer of Gevingey in the Jura, had a shop in Gevingey and another in Savigny in the Saone-et-Loire, and made frequent trips between the two places, saying he used to make four trips per day on the secondary road D30 where he experienced an encounter that much frightened him on March 5, 1971 at 01:10 of the morning.

Under a clear moonlit sky and a very cold temperature of about -20°C, he was driving home in his Peugeot 404 car, and had crossed the small village of Trénal. Arriving after the last house of Trénal on a portion of this road which is in straight line for the next kilometer, he drove at 100 or 110 km/h on the road hardened by freezing but deprived of snow, and to have then noticed a rather intense and far away gleam, that he initially thought to be the public lighting of Condamine.

But it realizes very quickly that the light is not opposite the road as it should be it, but more towards the line and in front of wood. It was intrigued and observed it with more attention, being confirmed that the light was well on the line. Continuing with rolled without slowing down, it very quickly approached the place where this light was.

He then notes that the light was not a single source, but six to eight lights located just in front of the wood, in a slightly marshy meadow on the right of the road. Still approaching, he sees that these lights were laid out regularly, at ground level, on a line parallel with that of edge of wood, and that they were rectangles of soft bluish color which seemed fluorescent, not dazzling at all, and he then counted eight of them.

Almost at the same time, he saw above these lights, a kind of dome of dull metallic appearance that shone a little under the moon which was behind and lit it. This dome had the vague shape of half-sphere, flattened a little, and was less high than the trees. he evaluated that its height was 8 meters, its width of 15 meters. He thinks that without the reflection of the moon on this dome, he would probably not have noticed it. He could not distinguish the lower part where this dome and the lights below would join.

He was still driving and apparently without having reduced speed he then arrived at the level of the third tree counted starting from the wood. Behind this tree, he saw three beings who were climbing to the top of the slope of the verge of the road and were at the level of his car's pane. They are on all four, like animals.

He described these three beings of almost black color chestnut, like tanned, with a head as large as a lion's head, and the shape of an ant's head, with a round lobe framed of two other lobes inflating like cheeks, but he could not distinguish the features of their faces. He passed very quickly in front of these beings, they made no movement.

He was frightened, and even more when he saw that in the meadow, there was some twenty more of these creatures, standing or almost upright, others going on all four as if they were looking for something on the ground. Apart from the noise of his car, notice no sounds.

Whereas he had just passed these beings, a huge white or slightly pale blue gleam seemed to come from the back and filled his car, also illuminating the wood, and while looking at by the rear view mirror, he had the feeling that some ray was projected at him. He had the time to notice that some of the beings in the meadow seemed of smaller size than the others and that they had the arms on the ground.

At the same time as he was hit by the gleam, he stopped being frightened and was invaded by a feeling of not being in control of what he did, as if his car went on of its own, and that it was impossible for him to direct it and to avoid an accident. He indicated that it was as if there was failure of the ignition, and was astonished not to have had an accident. He also states that the car had slowed down considerably on 100 meters without him doing anything for that effect, the speed falling to a few 20 km/h whereas the fourth gear was still engaged. He noticed this fast deceleration, but did not feel the deceleration in his body as would have been the case in an sudden braking.

A few moments later, he noticed that the engine had become fluorescent, but that stopped very quickly, before he had reach the wood with the car running at no more than 20 km/h. At this time, the car took speed again, although he did nothing for that, at least not consciously. Completely disorientated, he continued his travel at a speed from 50 to 60 km/h until he reached Condamine, where he recovered and then drove home in Savigny.

At home, while taking his clothes off, he was amazed to see on its shirt seven or eight traces in the shape of rectangles which measured 4 to 6 cm out of 2 to 3 cm, especially distributed on the left side. These traces were of a very shining gold yellow, like phosphorescent, and persisted only five to six minutes after he had taken his shirt off. The gleam of these traces had a similar appearance as that of the rectangles that he had seen on the right when he was on the road.

The next day he drove back to the place with his son to see whether he would find traces of the apparatus. He did not find anything "at the place where the "monsters" were." In the meadow at the edge of the wood, it immediately saw a trace, a kind of half-ellipse of which the large axis was of almost 10 meters length. The trace was in grass and 2 to 3 cm of depth. It crossed a drainage ditch over a length of almost 2 meters.

At the place where this trace crossed the drainage, the water was not frozen like elsewhere, and his son later told that that water gave an impression of heat to it. In the neighborhoods of the trace, snow had partly melted on a space of approximately 17 meters, and had also melted at the place where the creatures were, this having been noted at 03:00 p.m.

There were footstep traces in the grass near the trace, which resembled those of shoes without heels, but with an abnormal length of 40 centimeters. Gilbert Camus took photographs of these footstep traces, said to be "of average quality."

A tree located behind the trace had a large branch that hung, and it appeared that it had been torn off little time ago. This branch later fell apparently on its own. He stated that certain small yellow plants "had disappeared in the space occupied by the ellipse", and ufologist Jean Tyrode noted that indeed at this trace, the yellow flowers, of Leontodron Crispus type, were absent whereas there was many of them in the rest of the meadow.

Gilbert Camus, who was a well-known person, told this story to whoever wanted to hear it, and two days later, many local folks went to see the places, and a good number of people could note the presence of the traces, while freezing had won again in the drainage during the night. People who crossed the meadow noted that there were many fine prints, resembling those that birds could have left.

Three days after his encounter, Gilbert Camus saw rectangles of the same dimensions than the traces on his shirt appear on his undershirt, but laid out at different places than on the shirt, and of brown color, or "chocolate" as he put it. These traces proved to be tough: the undershirt was washed in the machine and it took three or four to make it go away. While his shirt had shown traces, then his undershirt, his pullover on the other hand did not show any trace.

During the following day, the green painting of his Peugeot 404 car faded, and left quite visible green traces on the rags during washings. Gilbert Camus stopped washing it, thinking that the painting was going to fall off. Jean Tyrode indicates that it looked correct to him that the car lost its color.

Before his encounter, Gilbert Camus suffered of terrible headaches which followed a liver disease. These headaches were unbearable and he despaired to cure, ensuring that sometimes he had wished for death not to suffer anymore. But after the encounter, he realized that its liver did not make him suffer any more suffer. He first did not attach importance to the fact, but as this apparent cure was maintained in time, he linked it to the encounter. More than six months later, the pains not returned. Previously, he had been "unable to eat anything", but thereafter, he could eat anything without being inconvenienced at all.

The ufologists of the area, from the Lumières Dans la Nuit group, Jean Tyrode and Pierre Lonchampt investigated on the location and spoke with the witness, rather quickly, it seems. Tyrode reports that skeptical people suggested Gilbert Camus as an alcoholic but that although he indeed enjoyed the good wine, it was unreasonable to claim that he was drunk every evening, that this was only gossiping from jealous people, adding that it "is to better go visit him in the morning rather than in the afternoon." Tyrode presents him as a very sensible and honest man, Lonchampt too insisted that the man was very honorably known in the area and that there is no doubt in his mind that he was truthful.

Lonchampt indicates that if the fine traces were perhaps those of birds, the other traces were too large to be human shoes as if someone had such big feet it would be known in the area. He excludes snow racket because the form did not match.

Ufologist Charles Garreau who had discussed of the case with these investigators had suggested checking the military authorities whether there were maneuvering troops that night, but there wasn't. Colonel Sirven of 60e Infantry Regiment is said to have researched a month long on this matter in vain, and to have commented that soldiers under hoods and heavy clothes could have been an explanation in December, but that there was nothing of such in March.

Lonchampt notes anomalies in Gilbert Camus' story. A missing tree he said was on the left was actually on the right. The claimed speed of 100 - 110 km/h is doubted, as Lonchampt thereafter drove to the place behind the witness' car and he was going no faster than 40 km/h. Lonchampt adds that it would be much more logical that he drove at about 60 - 70 km/h to record all that he said he saw.

In the end of 2006, the witness' daughter contacted me. She formally contradicts the allegations of alcoholism carried against her father and confirms the case, considering it regrettable that the Gendarmerie could not give her a copy of her father's statement, telling that the official reports are only kept 20 years long.

Basic information table:
Case number: URECAT-000044
Date of event: March 5, 1971
Earliest report of event: March 6, 1971
Delay of report: 1 day
Witness reported via: Talked around.
First alleged record by: Ufologists Tyrode and Lonchampt.
First certain record by: Not known.
First alleged record type: Ufology report or notes.
First certain record type: Ufology book.
This file created on: October 6, 2006
This file last updated on: October 16, 2011
Country of event: France
State/Department: Saône-et-Loire
Type of location: Open country
Lighting conditions: Night
UFO observed: Yes
UFO arrival observed: No
UFO departure observed: No
UFO/Entity Relation: Uncertain
Witnesses numbers: 1
Witnesses ages: Adult.
Witnesses types: Radio electrician, TV repairman.
Photograph(s): No.
Witnesses drawing: No.
Witnesses-approved drawing: No.
Number of entities: About 25
Type of entities: Humanoid
Entities height: Uncertain
Entities outfit type: Not reported.
Entities outfit color: Black or brown.
Entities skin color: Not reported.
Entities body: Not reported.
Entities head: Lion head size, shaped like ants'.
Entities eyes: Not seen.
Entities mouth: Not seen.
Entities nose: Not seen.
Entities feet: Not reported.
Entities arms: Two, some walk on all 4.
Entities fingers: Not reported.
Entities fingers number: Not reported.
Entities hair: Not reported.
Entities voice: None heard.
Entities actions: Stood near the road and in a meadow.
Entities/witness interactions: None.
Witness(es) reactions: Observed, went.
Witness(es) feelings: Frightened.
Witness(es) interpretation: Not reported.
Explanation category: Extraterrestrial beings or hoax or confusion.
Explanation certainty: Low.
Narratives:
[Ref. jt1:] JEAN TYRODE:

Ufologist Jean Tyrode wrote a report on the case of March 5, 1971 towards 01:10 a.m., that occurred between Trénal and Condamine in the Jura, with the single witness Gilbert Camus, a radio-engineer of Gevingey in the Jura.

Gilbert Camus had a shop in Gevingey but also a second one in Savigny in the Saone-et-Loire, 11 km from there, and made frequent trips between the two places, saying that he did the trip four times per day on the Secondary road D30 and thus to knows the premises perfectly.

That night was very clear, with the Moon setting down later at 04:27 a.m., the weather was very cold with a temperature about -20°C.

He was returning from Gevingey towards Savigny and had crossed the small village of Trénal, arriving after the last house of Trénal and a broken road, to a portion of this road which is in straight line on one kilometer, before to reach a small wood at the entry of which it makes a slight curve followed by a right portion of almost 500 meters. The right part of that road is in a plain and crosses slightly marshy meadows. It is bordered of a rather deep ditch which collects water overflows drained by the many ditches across the meadows. The visibility of the road is perfect from Trénal to the wood, with only the trees bordering the roadway possibly masking per moment the sight on the sides.

Gilbert Camus said he was driving between the 100 and 110 kilometers per hour, on the road hardened by freezing but deprived of snow. On the edges of the road, there remained "packs [of snow] left by the snow-plough."

A rather intense and distant gleam drew his attention, he thought that it was the public lighting of Condamine, then very quickly realized that the light is not opposite the road as it should be it, but more towards the right and in front of the wood. He was intrigued and observed it with more attention, confirming for himself that the light was well on the right. He continued to drive without slowing down and very quickly approached the place where this light was.

He would later tell Jean Tyrode to have noticed that one of the trees of the right side of the road was missing and that he had never noticed that before. Then, he noted that the light was not a single source, but six to eight lights located in front of the edge of the small wood, in a meadow. Still approaching, he saw that these lights were laid out regularly, at ground level, on a line parallel to the edge of the wood, and that they were rectangles of soft bluish color which seemed fluorescent, not dazzling at all, and he then counted eight of them.

Almost at the same time, he saw above these lights, a kind of dome of dull metallic appearance that shone a little under the moon which was behind and lit it. This dome had the vague shape of a half-sphere, flattened a little, like a basket's handle, and was less high than the trees. He evaluated that its height was 8 meters, its width 15 meters. He thought that without the reflection of the moon on this dome, he would probably not have noticed it.

Either there was a certain discontinuity between the luminous rectangles and the dome above, or he could not correctly distinguish the lower part of the dome.

He was still driving and without to have apparently reduced its speed he then arrived at the level of the third tree counted starting from wood. Behind that tree, he saw three beings who were at the top of the slope of the verge of the road and at the level of his car's window pane. The next day, he would describe these beings with the term "animals" because of their strangeness. He would indicate that they climbed the verge on all four. The verge of the ditch measured 50 centimeters and his car's window was approximately a meter above the road, and thus, if one trusts his statements these beings were to be of big size.

He indicated that these three beings were of almost black color, or brown, as tanned, with a head which had the aspect of that of an ant, with a round lobe and two other lobes inflating like cheeks, the size of a lion's head, but he could not distinguish the face. He passed very quickly in front of these beings who did not make any movement.

He was frightened, and even more when he saw that in the meadow, there were some twenty other beings, which appeared of the same species, some standing or almost upright, others going on all four as if they were looking for something at the ground. Apart from the noise of his car, he did not hear sounds.

As he had just passed these beings, a huge white or slightly pale blue gleam filled up his car, also illuminating the small wood, and by looking at by the rear view mirror, he got the impression that he was shot at with this light. At this time, his fear disappeared. He had the time to notice that some of the beings in the meadow seemed of smaller size than the others and that they had their arms on the ground.

At the same time when he was reached by the gleam, which is evoked as a ray that would have been shot at him, he was invaded by a feeling not to have a whole conscience of what he was doing anymore, that his car continued to drive by itself, and that it was impossible for him to direct it and to avoid an accident. He indicated that it was as if there was a failure of the ignition, and was astonished not to have had an accident. He also stated that the car had slowed down considerably without him doing anything to that effect, and that a 100 meters further, the speed had dropped to only 20 km/h whereas the fourth gear was sill engaged. He noticed this fast deceleration, but was not affected as that would have been the case in a sudden breaking.

A few moments later, he noticed that the engine's hood had become fluorescent, but that stopped very quickly before he had reached wood with the car not driving at more than 20 km/h. At this time, the car took again its fast speed without him not doing anything to that effect, at least not consciously.

Completely disoriented, he continued his trip at a speed from 50 to 60 km/h until Condamine, where he pulled himself together, and drove to his home in Savigny.

At home, when he removed his clothes, he was surprised to see on his shirt traces in the shape of rectangles which measured 4 by 6 cm to 2 by 3 centimeters, distributed on the left side and in the number of seven or eight. These traces were of a very shining gold yellow, like phosphorescent, and very fugacious, persisting only five to six minutes after he had removed his shirt. The gleam of these traces had the same appearance as that of the rectangles that he had seen on the right when he was on the road.

The next day, he went back to the sighting's place with his son to see whether he would find traces of the apparatus. He did not find anything "at the place where the "monsters" stood." In the meadow at the edge of the wood, he immediately saw a trace, a kind of half-ellipse of which the larger axis was of almost 10 meters length. The trace was in grass and 2 to 3 cm of depth. The trace crossed a water drainage over a length of almost 2 meters.

At the place where this trace crossed the drainage, water was not cold like elsewhere, and the witness' son told Jean Tyrode and other investigators that the water gave him an impression of heat. In the neighborhoods of the trace, snow had partly melted on a space of approximately 17 meters, and it had also melted at the place where the "monsters" would have been, this having been noted at 03:00 p.m..

There were footstep in grass near the trace, which resembled that of shoes without heels, but with an abnormal length of 40 centimeters. Gilbert Camus took photographs of the footsteps traces in snow, which were of medium quality.

A tree located behind the trace had a large branch that hung, and its junction with the trunk showed that it had been torn off little time ago. This branch later fell although no strong wind occurred. The witness stated to Jean Tyrode that certain small yellow plants "had disappeared in the space occupied by the ellipse", and Jean tyrode noted that in this site, these yellow flowers, Leontodron Crispus, were absent whereas the rest of the meadow was covered with it.

Gilbert Camus, who was a very well-known man, told his story to whoever wanted to hear about it, and two days later, many people of the area went to see the place, and a good number of these people noted the presence of the traces, while the water in the drainage had frozen again during the night. People who tramped the meadow noted that there were many fine prints, resembling those that birds could have left.

Three days after his encounter, Gilbert Camus saw rectangles of the same dimensions than the traces on his shirt to appear on his undershirt, but not laid out at all at the same places as on the shirt, and of brown color, or maroon, or "chocolate" as he put it. These spots proved to be tough: the undershirt was washed in the machine and the spots remained there until after three or four washings. Although his short and later his undershirt had shown traces, his pullover on the other hand did not carry any trace.

During days which followed, the green painting of his Peugeot 404 car faded, leaving quite visible green traces on the rags during washings. Gilbert Camus ceased washing it, thinking that the painting would go off. Jean Tyrode indicates that it seemed true to him that the car lost its color.

Before his encounter, Gilbert Camus suffered atrociously from headaches which followed a liver disease. These headaches were unbearable and he despaired to cure one day, sometimes telling that he wished to die rather than to suffer more. But after the sighting, he realized that his liver did not hurt any longer. He made this remark initially without attaching much importance to it, but as this apparent cure maintained in time, he made the link with the sighting. More than six months later, the pains had still not returned in the liver, nor with his head. Previously, he was on the point of "not being able to eat anything", but thereafter, he could eat all he wanted without being inconvenienced at all.

Jean Tyrode tells that skeptical people had said that Gilbert Camus was enjoying alcohol too much. Tyrode notes that the witness does indeed appreciate the good wine but that there is no reason to claim that he is drunk every evening, that this was only gossips of jealous people, and that "it is better to go visit him in the morning than in the afternoon." Tyrode indicates that he saw him one evening going to repair a television set, and that he had apparently not drunk, and that he is a very sensible man of good faith.

Jean Tyrode then reports on information given by Mr. Lonchampt, an investigator of the Lumières Dans La Nuit ufology group, of Lons. Mr. Lonchampt indicates that the witness is very honorably known in the area and that as far as he is concerned there is no doubt that he told the truth.

Lonchampt evokes remarks on the traces in the shape of legs of birds: he notes that it seems quite possible that these rather large traces were due to birds but that it "does not explain the remainder."

Lonchampt indicates that it was put forth that the traces of shoes would be those of human shoes, but he wants to be much less affirmative: he does not know if there are 40 cm length shoes but notes that a person who would carry such shoes would be surely be known in the country, and that nobody spoke of anything like that.

He evokes the idea of snow rackets, but notes that their very rare use was not justified by the temperature, and that neither the form nor the dimensions of the footstep traces matched those of snow rackets.

He comments on the explanation by military operations, which had also been put forth, with claimed that the traces of the machine could be those of a military machine and that the "monsters" could have been soldiers. He notes that although a priori reasonable, he however got information from colonel Sirven who commanded the 60th Infantry Regiment. This colonel, after one month of research, said that there were indeed military manoeuvers by great cold but that it took place December. It would have been possible to find these soldiers under the hoods a bit weird, but "it was not possible any more in March."

Lonchampt notes anomalies in Gilbert Camus' story. The missing tree was on the left of the road and not on the right. Lonchampt is skeptical about the 100 - 110 km/h speed claimed by Gilbert Camus, without being able to prove that it was wrong: Lonchampt went on the location with the witness's son not knowing anything of the road, which is narrow with turns, and he drove at 60 - 70 km/h. He returned there following Gilbert Camus' car, and noted that Camus drove at only 40 km/h, although he would "stick behind" his car to make him go faster. He is thus dubious about Camus driving so fast that night when he only drove 40 km/h that day. Lonchampt supposes that he actually did not go faster than 70 km/h during the encounter, "a speed much more normal to record all what he said he saw in his story."

[Ref. gl1:] CHARLES GARREAU ET RAYMOND LAVIER:

The authors indicate that their source is "Mystérieuses soucoupes volantes", published by the Lumières dans la Nuit group in 1973.

They indicate that on March 5, 1971, around 9 p.m., in Trénal in the Jura, Gilbert Camus, radioelectrician of Gevingey, was going back home from Savigny in the Saone-and-Loire via departmental road 30, a roadway that was dry with snow on the sides.

Driving at approximately 100 km/h, whereas it has just crossed the village of Trénal, a rather intense gleam draws its attention, and he initially thinks that it was the lighting of Condamine, but he realizes very quickly that it was not in the good direction but much on the right. While approaching, he noted that there were several sources of light, in the meadow, in front of a wood located at the edge of the road. They were rectangles of bluish color, not dazzling, and counts eight of them. Almost at the same time, he distinguished a kind of dome above these lights, which seemed metallic to him and which reflected the clearness of the moon. Its base was of about 15 meters and its height of approximately 8 meters, slightly lower than the top of the trees in front of which it was.

Rather stunned by this vision, he continues to drive, but about 30 meters further, three beings appear above the slope, of which he says:

"They walked on all four, like animals."

His fear becomes panic when he sees a score of other creatures in the meadow, the authors quoting him:

"I had just passed them when an intense gleam filled my car. From this moment, I was not aware any more of what I did. The car continued to run. I had the impression that it drove on its own, that I would have been unable to avoid an obstacle, an accident. Its speed had fallen to 20 km/h in less than 100 meters, as if there had been a breakdown of ignition. And a little further, I realized that the hood had become fluorescent. This anomaly did not last. Little by little, without me intervening, the engine resumed its normal operation."

He arrived home a few minutes later, and while taking his clothes off, he was surprised to see that his shirt carried strange marks in form of rectangles of 3 centimeters by 6, and some of 2 centimeters by 4, seven or eight of them, of a yellow gold color, very brilliant, like phosphorescent. These marks grew blurred at the end of five to six minutes, but three or four days later, rectangles of same dimensions, of "chocolate" brown color, appeared on its undershirt. Those were tough and disappeared only at the end of four washings in the machine.

Gilbert Camus had also noted when washing his car that the painting had deteriorated and left green traces on the rags, he thus ceased washing it, fearing that the painting would go away.

The next day after his encounter he went back on the location with his son, and in the meadow at the edge of the wood they found a very clear semicircular trace. Whereas for several days the temperature had been of approximately -20°C, the water which was in contact with this trace was not cold and in the neighborhoods, snow had partially melted on a space of some 20 square meters. There were also strange prints of footsteps of forty centimeters length approximately here and there, and the plants seemed to have suffered.

Charles Garreau notes that at the time, he had lengthily discussed the case with the regional investigators of the Lumière Dans La Nuit group, Jean Tyrode and Pierre Lonchampt. He had considered that Gilbert Camus might have seen a group of soldiers in night operations, and he had asked them to check with Lons-le-Saulnier, with Besançon, and with the camp of Valdahon if exercises had taken place that night, and the answer had been negative.

[Ref. wb1:] DAVIF F. WEBB AND TED BLOECHER:

In their catalog these ufologists note that on March 5, 1971 at 1:10 a.m, radio technician Gilbert Camus was driving to his shop in Savigny, Jura department, France. He was between Trénal and Condamine when he noticed lights ahead on the right side of the road. As he approached, he saw that these were on a line of eight bluish luminescent rectangles on the ground in a marshy meadow beside the road. Above them, he could distinguish, in the moonlight a flattened hemispherical dome, apparently of dark metal, about 25 feet high and 50 feet wide.

When he got closer to the object he saw three "animals" on all fours climbing up the road bank. Their heads were level with his windshield so they "must have been of great stature." Their heads were shaped like an ant's with "a rounded lobe flanked by two other lobes swelling out like cheeks." He saw no faces. In the meadow he could see about 20 more of these beings, some upright and others on all fours. His car had just passed them when it filled with a bluish white light from behind, as if a "ray" had been projected at him. He lost control of the car, which spontaneously slowed down to about 12 mph, then recovered its initial speed when he reached the outskirts of Condamine.

Later, when he took off his clothes he found on his shirt, below the belt line, several golden yellow rectangles about 1" by 2". These disappeared after a few minutes. Three days later similar chocolate brown rectangular marks appeared on his undershirt, and these persisted through 3 or 4 washings.

The paint began to come off his car when he washed it. Most surprisingly, he found himself cured of a liver ailment, which until then had been giving him excruciating headaches.

A semi-elliptical imprint was found in the meadow the next day about an inch deep, with a long axis of about 36 feet. Inside the circle dandelions, abundant elsewhere in the meadow were absent, and where it crossed a drainage ditch the ice in the ditch had melted, and the water still seemed warm. At the edge of the woods beside the ground marks a large tree branch was freshly broken off. In the snow were footprints like those of "shoes without heels", some as big as 16" long.

The authors indicate that their source is "M. Tyrode and Fernand Legarde."

[Ref. rp1:] RENE PACAUT:

Ufologist Rene Pacaut indicates that the witness, Gilbert Camus, a quiet man and a conscientious radio-engineer of Savigny-en-Revermont in the Saone-et-Loire, in March 5, 1971 at approximately 01:00 a.m., is driving his Peugeot 404 car, under a clear sky and ice-cold temperature of -20°C.

He approaches a straight-line portion of the road between Gevingey and Condamine and then sees strange gleams that come from a meadow on the right of the road, in a place with no houses.

He was astonished and wondered whether he was dreaming, when he noticed that these lights were laid out regularly at ground level, close to a small wood. He almost immediately realized that these lights came from an enormous apparatus which emitted metallic gleams; which he thought that the base measured some twenty meters in diameter, with a cupola over it of approximately ten meters in height.

At this time, his car slowed down although he had not used the brakes, and the engine misfired. When he arrived at the height of the metallic apparatus, he saw, at the edge of the road very close to a tree, three beings who climbed the slope. He did not manage to determine if they were standing or on all fours, but he is certain that they were of big size, because their heads were at the level of the pane of his door. He indicated that the beings had "hideous heads, surmounted of manes."

His car continued to advance on its own impetus but he however had the time to see that in the meadow close to the apparatus, some twenty more "monsters" were standing, kneeling or on all fours.

An intense bluish gleam then invaded the car "as someone shot at it" and when his car speeds up again, its hood becomes fluorescent during a few seconds.

Arrived at his place very disturbed, he noted that there are small phosphorescent spots in the shape of rectangles on his shirt, which persist only during a few minutes. He also noticed brown spots on his undershirt, which went away only by washing.

The following day, accompanied by his son and soon followed by a crowd of curious people, he went on the spot of his sighting and noted that the snow which covered the meadow had melted on several square meters at the spot where the UFO was posed. In spite of the very sharp cold, the ice of the brook which crosses the site had also melted on two meters. The meadow was trampled by foot prints; which measured approximately forty centimeters, and a recently broken branch hung of a nearby tree. A few days later, he noted that the painting of his car started to peel off.

Rene Pacaut specifies that the witness had reported his experience to the gendarmes [police force attached to the military], then to ufologists such as Jean Tyrode, and then personally confirmed his account to him.

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Albert Rosales indicates that the case occurred between Trénal and Condamine, in the Jura, France, on March 5, 1971 at 01:10 a.m. Gilbert Camus, a radio technician, was driving to his shop in Savigny, when he noticed lights at the right side of the road ahead. As he approached, he saw that these were on a line of eight bluish luminescent rectangles on the ground in a marshy meadow beside the road.

Above them, he could then distinguish, in the moonlight, a flattened hemispherical dome, apparently of dark metal, about 25 feet high and 50 feet wide. When he arrived near the object, he saw three "animals" on all fours, climbing up the road bank. Their heads were level with his windshield, so they "must have been of great stature." Their heads were like an ant's head, with "a rounded lobe flanked by two other lobes swelling out like cheeks." He saw no faces. In the meadow, he could see about 20 more of these beings, some standing upright and others on all fours.

His car had just passed them, when it was filled with bluish white light from behind, as if a "ray" had been projected at him. He lost control of the car, which spontaneously slowed down to about 12 mph, then recovering its initial speed as he reached the outskirts of Condamine.

Later, when he took his clothes off, he found on his shirt, below the belt, several golden yellow rectangles about 1 by 2 inches; which disappeared after a few minutes. Three days later, on his undershirt, similar chocolate brown rectangular marks appeared, which persisted through three or four washings. The paint began to come off his car when he washed it.

Most surprisingly he found himself completely cured of a liver ailment, which had given him excruciating headaches previously. In the meadow, the next day, a semi-elliptical imprint was found, about an inch deep, with a long axis of about 36 feet. Inside this trace the dandelions, elsewhere abundant in the meadow, were absent, and where the trace crossed a drainage ditch, the ice in the ditch was melted, and the water actually seemed still warm.

At the edge of the woods beside the trace, a large tree branch was freshly broken off. In the snow footprints like those of "shoes without heels" were seen, some as much as 16 inches long.

Albert Rosales indicates that his sources are "M. Tyrode and Fernand Legarde."

[Ref. wd1:] THE WITNESS' DAUGHTER:

Testimony Number: FR0182
Date written: December 31, 2006
Date received: December 31, 2006
Date published: January 6, 2007
Original language of report: French
Reported using: email
Unreleased information: Name, firstname, email address, phone number
The witness' daughter email:
Subject: ufo report
Date: December 31, 2006
From: [name.firstname]@[mail].fr

31.12.2006

hello
I have just discovered the testimony of gilbert camus on UFOs, dated 03/05/1971. I knew the witness well since I am his daughter and I was still living with my parents; his store was in savigny in revermont (71) with a secondary store in gevingey (39)
can you tell me how you knew these detailed information? Do you have a copy of his statement? if so, I would like to have a copy of it; because two years ago, I wrote to the gendarmerie to get one from them, but the statements are kept for only 20 years;

I remember only the luminous rectangles on the undershirt, not on the shirt
when he passed at the level of this craft a "monster" shot at him what made him drive "freewheeling"; the engine restarted after having he exceeded the forest; the hood of the car became fluorescent and in the days which followed the painting started to fall off; the traces ont ground were visible; snow had melted at the site where the craft was and the ditch had very long footstep traces, not birds traces; people came to measure the radioactivity
He had headaches but I never heard him say that he had wished to die not to suffer anymore; then his liver did not made him suffer anymore and we thus deduces that his liver had been cured by this shooting; but his general health gradually worsened..... and he dies on 02/22/1974

It is a lie to say that "it was better to see him it the morning than in the afternoon"; I never saw him drunk; my father was a good man, very dedicated in his work, obliging, sensible, in good faith and who was very nice (too nice); he had defects like everyone does; I was always convinced that what he had said was true and I saw the undershirt; it is true that we should have had it expertised but nobody suggested it

Very often he said that he would have liked to meet Martians and that he would shake hands with them; but then he did not stop...

Can I subscribe to your nagazine? how to dot that? can someone become member of your association?

thanks for your answers
best regards and a happy new year

name.firstname@[mail].fr
[phone number]

IMAGES:

Above:The witness, Mr. Gilbert Camus.


Above:The witness, Mr. Gilbert Camus, near his Peugeot 404 car.

Points to consider:
This is a case where the UFO is on the ground and not seen landing or taking off; this might at first sight suggest some military tent, on the other end, no soldiers would mount a tent over a drainage ditch and the notion is at odds with almost the entire rest of the story, such as the huge light illuminating the witness in his car from the back.

It is regrettable that such an interesting case with several mentions of valuable physical traces and evidence does not have all the possible documentation available. For example, it would have been very easy to draw a map of the trace and the footsteps traces, with the measurements indicating the distance of the steps and thus potentially the moves of the alleged creatures and the length of their steps. Many details are left in the vague: how high on the tree's trunk was the broken branch? What was the distance between the trees on the side of the road? What was the timing of the different phases of the encounter? Where the missing yellow flowers ripped of the ground or was there simply naturally no flower there? All these questions could have been easily answered, but they are not.

It is all so regrettable that the marks of the clothes were not subjected to a thorough examination: the witness apparently washed away those on the undershirt whereas this was a strong piece of evidence that would possibly have allowed to demonstrate that the encounter was just as interesting as it seemed, or to demonstrate that these marks had nothing to do with the encounter.

Because such great opportunity to make some real science were not seized, we are left in doubt. However far-fetched the notion of some confusion is, however credible or not the witness might have been, many questions were left opened and the case unfortunately does not allow for a definite explanation one way or another.


The blue line is departmental road D30, between Trénal in the East and Condamine if the West. Mr. Camus said he drove from Trénal to Condamine.

The small wood is still visible, however, the "A" part was part of the wood at that time, although the trees have been chopped down now. The ellipse is the approximate location where the UFO trace was found, the yellow line is the ditch that this trace crossed. The yellow dots near the road is the place where he saw the beings and were the footsteps were found.


The sketch made by ufologist Jean Tyrode at the time.

List of issues:
Id: Topic: Severity: Date noted: Raised by: Noted by: Description: Proposal: Status:
1 Data Severe October 1, 2006 Patrick Gross Patrick Gross Gendarmerie record of witness statement not available. Waiting for CNES declassification program. Opened.
Evaluation:
Extraterrestrial visitors, or hoax, or confusion.

Sources references:
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

[jt1] * Report by Jean Tyrode in "Mystérieuses Soucoupes Volantes", book compiled by Fernand Lagarde and the ufology group Lumières Dans la Nuit, Albatros publisher, France, pp 108-115, 1976.
[gl1] * "Face Aux Extra-terrestres", book by Charles Garreau and Raymond Lavier, Delarge publisher, pp 150-151, 1975.
[wb1] * "HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports", case 1971-39, compiled by David F. Webb and Ted Bloecher, circa 1975.
[rp1] * "Ils Ont Rencontré des Extraterrestres", book by René Pacaut, Alain Lefeuvre publisher, France, pp 53-55, 1978.
[ar1] * "1971 Humanoid Sighting Reports", compiled by Albert Rosales, circa 2002, at www.ufoinfo.com/humanoid/humanoid1971.shtml
[wd1] * eMail to me from the daughter of the witness, December 31, 2006.
Document history:
Authoring
Main Author: Patrick Gross
Contributors: None
Reviewers:
Read and commented by the witness' daughter on December 31, 2006.
After posting link to report on the JDUFO mailing list, reader A.S. reports mistake "100 or 100 km/h", corrected to "100 or 100 km/h". See document history, version 0.2c.
Editor: Patrick Gross
Changes history
Version: Created/Changed By: Date: Change Description:
0.1 Patrick Gross October 6, 2006 Creation, [jt1], [gl1], [wb1], [rp1], [ar1].
0.2 Patrick Gross October 6, 2006 First published.
0.2b Patrick Gross January 6, 2007 Addition, [wd1].
0.2b Patrick Gross January 8, 2007 Addition of new paragraph to the summary: "In the end of 2006, the witness' daughter contacted me. She formally contradicts the allegations of alcoholism carried against her father and confirms the case, considering it regrettable that the Gendarmerie could not give her a copy of the her father's statement, telling that the official reports are only kept 20 years long."
0.2c Patrick Gross January 8, 2007 Correction, in the summary, "he drove at 100 or 100 km/h on the road" was erroneous, changed to "he drove at 100 or 110 km/h on the road".
0.2d Patrick Gross February 26, 2007 Additions, picture of Mr. Camus and picture of the car.
2.0 Patrick Gross October 16, 2011 Conversion from HTML4 to XHTML Strict.