The Marseilles Abduction of 1921

In 1921, an 8-year-old boy in Marseilles, France, experienced what would later be recognized as a classic alien abduction case - decades before the phenomenon had a name. The child, identified only as “Mr. G B” in later investigations, claimed to have been grabbed by humanoid figures wearing diving suit-type clothing and forced into what he initially thought was a tank. The encounter included missing time, involuntary transport, and beings who showed unusual interest in human emotions.

The Encounter

The Abduction

What the boy reported:

• Grabbed by humanoid figures
• Forced into a craft
• Initially thought it was a tank
• No escape possible
• Complete helplessness

The Beings

The entities were described as:

• Humanoid form
• Wearing odd diving suit-type clothing
• Multiple figures present
• Coordinated actions
• Non-verbal communication

Inside the Craft

The Child’s Experience

What happened inside:

• Boy began crying from fear
• His tears seemed to intrigue the beings
• They showed interest in his emotional response
• An opening appeared in the ceiling
• He could see outside through this aperture

Observation of Emotion

A significant detail:

• Beings fascinated by crying
• Human emotion apparently novel to them
• Studied his distress
• No attempt to comfort
• Scientific curiosity suggested

The Return

Missing Time

The temporal anomaly:

• Subjective time: approximately 5 minutes
• Returned to different location
• Far from where he was taken
• Had to walk most of the afternoon
• Hours of missing time

The Long Walk Home

After release:

• Found himself in unfamiliar location
• No memory of transport there
• Walked for hours to get home
• Arrived much later than expected
• Disoriented and confused

Family Response

Parents’ Reaction

When he told his parents:

• They did not believe him
• Story dismissed
• No investigation
• Child’s account discredited
• Typical family response for era

Psychological Impact

The aftermath:

• Traumatic experience
• Disbelieved by family
• No support available
• Memory persisted
• Carried story into adulthood

Analysis

Abduction Elements

Classic patterns present:

• Involuntary taking
• Non-human entities
• Unusual craft interior
• Missing time
• Geographical displacement
• Memory gaps

Before the Pattern

Significance of the date:

• 1921 - decades before abduction research
• No cultural template existed
• Child couldn’t have copied existing stories
• Genuine experience or genuine imagination
• Predates modern UFO era

The Missing Time Phenomenon

What It Suggests

The time discrepancy implies:

• Altered consciousness
• Possible memory suppression
• More happened than remembered
• Standard abduction element
• Phenomenon recognized later

Geographical Displacement

Equally significant:

• Transported significant distance
• No memory of journey
• Craft capability suggested
• Deliberate relocation
• Purpose unknown

Historical Context

1921 France

The setting:

• Post-WWI recovery
• No UFO awareness
• No abduction concept
• Child’s story unprecedented
• No frame of reference

Later Investigation

The case emerged:

• Investigated by researchers later
• Witness (Mr. G B) interviewed as adult
• Consistency of account noted
• Part of historical record
• Early abduction case recognized

The Question

In 1921, an 8-year-old boy in Marseilles was taken.

Grabbed by figures in strange diving suits. Forced into something he thought was a tank. He cried, and they watched him cry with what seemed like fascination - as if they’d never seen tears before.

Then he was returned.

But not where he started. Somewhere else. Far away. He had to walk for most of the afternoon to get home.

Five minutes of subjective time. Hours of missing reality.

His parents didn’t believe him.

Of course they didn’t. This was 1921. There was no word for what happened to him. No framework. No understanding. Just a child with an impossible story that no one wanted to hear.

But the story persisted. The child grew up. The memory remained.

Decades later, when researchers began studying abduction accounts, they found patterns. Missing time. Geographical displacement. Beings interested in human emotions. Involuntary medical-style examination.

The Marseilles case of 1921 had all of them.

Before Betty and Barney Hill. Before Whitley Strieber. Before abduction became a cultural concept.

An 8-year-old French boy was taken, studied, and returned.

In 1921.

Either the phenomenon has been happening far longer than we thought.

Or the human imagination has always worked in remarkably consistent ways.

Either way, something happened in Marseilles that year.

Something that still doesn’t have a satisfactory explanation.

Something that began with a child being grabbed.

And ended with a long walk home.

And a story no one believed.