1972 · Fish farm at the foot of the Cascades du Hérisson, near Doucier and Ménétrux-en-Joux, Jura, France (about 46.62N 5.87E)
Cascades du Hérisson: a fish farmer's silent disc (1972)
Autumn 1972: a 20 m disc hangs about 10 m above Georges Vuillien's fish ponds below the Cascades du Hérisson. · Illustration for uaptrail.com
When2 November 1972, 16:20
WhereFish farm at the foot of the Cascades du Hérisson, near Doucier and Ménétrux-en-Joux, Jura, France (about 46.62N 5.87E)
Backing1 independent
Evidencedocuments
On the afternoon of 2 November 1972 Georges Vuillien, a fish farmer from Doucier in the Jura, was alone at his ponds below the Cascades du Hérisson when a silent disc about 20 m across came down in a spiralling trail and hovered some 10 m up, about 70 m from him. After about five minutes it tilted, climbed slowly and then shot away 'like a cannonball', pausing high up for a few minutes before it vanished. Afraid of being taken, he fetched his shotgun from his car. Henri Putet of Le Progrès interviewed him the next day, called him a man of perfect reputation, and the paper ran the story on 4 November. Vuillien told the same story to the authors of a 1975 book, and French ufology journals investigated it. No natural explanation has been proposed in any source found.
Evidence, in date order (1)
- 9 Nov 2026Lumières dans la Nuit #124 and Phénomènes Spatiaux #34 (French ufology journals)documentfield-investigation coverage of the sighting, cited in the Hatch U database; not yet read Hatch U database, record 10214
How plausible · Moderate
A named fish farmer told the regional paper the next day, under his own name, of a silent disc hovering over his ponds in daylight, and told it the same way three years later; no second witness or physical trace is known yet.
- ●●Access He was at his own fish farm in daylight, with the object hovering 50 to 70 m away for about five minutes.
- ●●No gain sought A fish farmer; no book, fee or publicity sought that any source records.
- ●○Cost of speaking Gave his full name to the regional daily the next day and admitted he had been frightened enough to fetch his shotgun.
- ●○Consistent over time The 1972 press interview and the 1975 book interview agree on the core; sizes and distances vary as retellings do.
- ●○Restraint Describes his fear and shaking legs; claims no occupants, contact or message.
- ●○Character record The reporter called him a man of perfect reputation, not one to tell stories.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-11-09.
Claims
At 16:20 on Thursday 2 November 1972, in clear weather, Georges Vuillien, a fish farmer from Doucier, was alone at his fish farm below the Cascades du Hérisson when a white-silver trail like a jet's came down in vertical spirals and a classic saucer about 20 m across stopped about 70 m from him and hovered some 10 m above the ponds.firsthandSourced, unconfirmedGeorges Vuillien, interviewed by Henri Putet (Le Progrès, 4 Nov 1972, p. 6)
The disc had a cabin about 12 m across and 2 to 2.5 m high behind a shining rim that hid the interior. It made no sound and showed no visible propulsion. After about five minutes it tilted almost vertical and climbed, slowly at first and then 'comme un boulet de canon' (like a cannonball), stopped at what he judged 10,000 to 11,000 m for 3 to 4 minutes, looking as big as a grapefruit, and vanished.firsthandSourced, unconfirmedGeorges Vuillien, interviewed by Henri Putet (Le Progrès, 4 Nov 1972, p. 6)
Frightened, he fetched his shotgun from his car: 'j'ai craint d'être kidnappé' (I was afraid of being kidnapped).firsthandSourced, unconfirmedGeorges Vuillien, interviewed by Henri Putet (Le Progrès, 4 Nov 1972, p. 6)
Interviewed again for a 1975 book, he described transparent spirals coming down toward the ponds, then a matte-aluminium disc about 25 m across with a mirror-bright dome 2 to 3 m high and no openings, motionless about 10 m above the small chalet at about 50 m. No leaves moved, even when it left; it pivoted on a horizontal axis, rose about 50 m in 4 to 5 seconds, then shot up and stopped at 10 to 12 km for about three minutes. 'My legs were shaking, I had to sit down.'firsthandSourced, unconfirmedGeorges Vuillien, interviewed by Charles Garreau and Raymond Lavier (Face aux extra-terrestres, 1975, pp. 155-158)
Henri Putet, who interviewed him for Le Progrès, described him as a man 'dont l'honorabilité est parfaite et qui n'a pas l'habitude de raconter des histoires' (of perfect reputation and not in the habit of telling stories).firsthandSourced, unconfirmedHenri Putet (Le Progrès, 4 Nov 1972)
Larry Hatch's U database (record 10214) logs the case as a silent 28 m domed saucer descending to 7 m over a fish farm, rates credibility and strangeness 6 each, tags animals affected, and cites Phénomènes Spatiaux #34, Flying Saucer Review vol. 20 no. 6 and Lumières dans la Nuit #124.analysisSourced, unconfirmedLarry Hatch, U database
GEIPAN's public case export has no file on the sighting, and no gendarmerie report has been found; GEPAN was founded only in 1977.GEIPANanalysisSourced, unconfirmeddetective research program (GEIPAN export check, Nov 2026)
Where
Fish farm at the foot of the Cascades du Hérisson, near Doucier and Ménétrux-en-Joux, Jura, France (about 46.62N 5.87E)
44.5°N 121.9°W · region only
Similar cases · sharing people, threads, topics or era
People and organizations
- GEIPAN orgNo file (checked)
Sources
- Le Progrès (Lyon), Henri Putet, 'Fusil de chasse contre soucoupe volante', 4 Nov 1972, p. 6 (French transcription, Patrick Gross)
- Le Progrès, 4 Nov 1972: scan of the original clipping (Patrick Gross)
- Le Progrès, 4 Nov 1972: English translation (Patrick Gross)
- Godelieve Van Overmeire, chronology, entry 'November 2, 1972' (citing Garreau and Lavier, Face aux extra-terrestres, 1975, pp. 155-158)
- Larry Hatch, U database, record 10214
- GEIPAN public case export (no matching case)