St.-Remy, FR being encounter — October 20, 1954

Construction worker Louis or Lazlo Ujvari reportedly encountered a stranger while pushing his bicycle along a road under repair near Saint-Rémy in October 1954. He was heading to an early shift around 2:30 a.m. The man carried a revolver and first spoke an unfamiliar language. When Ujvari tried Russian, a conversation began. The stranger asked whether he was in Spain or Italy, then sought directions toward Germany and Marseille. He disputed Ujvari's time against his own watch. Ujvari subsequently described a small, dark-gray object on the road, shaped like joined plates with a dome and corkscrew-ended antenna. The man wore ordinary-looking clothes, shoulder trim and a motorcycle-style helmet. After being dismissed, Ujvari rode away and stopped farther along the road. He reported a vertical light, a growing mechanical whistle, and the object's ascent before it accelerated toward Saint-Dié. The original local newspaper's Thursday reference supports October 21, while numerous catalogues give October 20. Later writers proposed a lost pilot, misperception or a prank by workers. The alleged hoax explanation was disputed by subsequent investigators and is not accompanied here by an established confession. Neither speaking Russian nor the unusual craft description identifies a nonhuman visitor.