Nimes Courbessac Airfield entity encounter — 1954

The familiar 1954 Nîmes-Courbessac entry describes a yellow cigar-shaped object on the ground, with helmeted figures visible through bright openings. The earlier account quoted from Jimmy Guieu is materially different: it places mason Félix Fize and fellow workers near a construction site in mid-October 1952 and describes an aerial pass. The discrepancy concerns both year and event type. It cannot be treated as a single securely dated landing simply because later catalogues repeat that form. In the earlier version, a whitish cloud approached from the direction of Marseilles around 7 p.m. When its side became visible, the workers interpreted it as a metallic yellow-silver, cylindrical or cylindro-conical object with a rounded front, roughly thirty metres long and six in diameter. Mist obscured the ends, especially the rear. Three large, brightly illuminated openings supposedly revealed five or six figures visible to the waist, wearing khaki clothing, helmets and large goggles. The object continued toward Le Vigan, with a slight rustling sound; the local observation was said to last around fifteen seconds. Jean Terrasson’s investigation and illustration form the reported source trail, but the original witness statements have not been recovered here. Seeing such occupant detail during a short pass at an estimated 600–800 metres altitude remains an important observational limitation. Vallée’s catalogue later contains both a 1952 Le Vigan entry and a 1954 Nîmes entry with landed wording. The plate follows the earlier airborne version, labels the year dispute, and leaves the window figures as helmeted silhouettes rather than resolving faces or presenting a verified landing.