Beaucourt-sur-l’Ancre: Cyclist encounters small beings
On May 10, 1957, a Hungarian refugee cycling near Beaucourt-sur-l’Ancre, France, was dazzled by a strange object and approached by four short figures with a bright light. He fled to a home where others observed the beings and a glowing craft emitting alternating rays for 20 minutes before it departed.
Background
Incident
Shortly after 22:45, Michel Sekete (or Fekete), a 29-year-old Hungarian refugee, encountered a dazzling appearance of an unknown craft while cycling in Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre, Somme, France. Four figures, about 1.2 to 1.5 metres tall, approached in a threatening manner; one carried a bright lamp that obscured any detail.
Witnesses and Observations
Sekete fled to a nearby house, where the occupants looked out and saw the figures 90 metres away. The object emitted alternating red and white (or yellow) beams of light. They watched for around 20 minutes until 23:15, when the object lifted off at a 45-degree angle.
Sources and Significance
Reported in the "New York Daily News" (May 12, 1957) and in Loren E. Gross's UFO history for 1957. Supplemented by contemporaries such as Lepot and Chatelain, who described a luminous sphere and small silhouettes; sceptics suspected a lantern, but the several witnesses tell against this. A significant early case with a close encounter and group observation.