Case · C-028
Cussac 1967: two children, a sphere and small figures; the GEPAN investigation
Near Cussac, Cantal, Auvergne · France · Aug 29, 1967
On land Civilian witnesses
Unexplained
- What happened
- On August 29, 1967, two siblings aged 13 and 9 who were watching over livestock told adults and gendarmes that they had seen four small dark figures near a spherical object, which then rose, becoming very bright, and disappeared. In April 1978 the GEPAN of CNES carried out a retrospective investigation on site, with interviews, measurements and reconstructions, and concluded that the witnesses had watched the departure of an occupied vehicle of a completely unknown type. The report, long not public, was released with redactions in 2005.
- Proposed explanation
- Éric Maillot and other skeptical researchers consider the details compatible with a light turbine helicopter, probably an Alouette II; the 1978 GEPAN report had ruled out the helicopter hypothesis.
- Official investigation
- Gendarmerie; GEPAN of CNES (retrospective investigation of 1978)
Official documents
- Enquête sur l'observation du 29.08.67 de Cussac (Cantal) – rapporto GEPAN con traduzione inglese (edizione Sign Oral History Project, 2026) · GEPAN (CNES) · 1978
Sources
- D. Rossoni, É. Maillot, É. Déguillaume, “UFOs: An Assessment of Thirty Years of Official Studies in France”, Skeptical Inquirer, 2009 (PDF) (analysis, skeptical)
- D. Rossoni, É. Déguillaume, É. Maillot, “Les OVNI du CNES”, chapter 10: Cussac (1967) (PDF) (analysis, skeptical)
- Wikipedia (en) – Close encounter of Cussac (other)
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