The 1954 French flap:

Near Toulouse, in a meadow

A "Martian" deposits
two printed sheets
in Annamese dialect

THE German professor Oberth, rocket specialist, affirms that Martians or Uranides are "plants endowed with reason". It's possible. But if their appearances multiply, it is humans who will lose their heads.

Mr. Olivier, a former aviation pilot, attended, yesterday evening, he said, the landing of a saucer, in a vacant lot, near his home, rue des Sontaines, in Toulouse.

- It was a spherical, reddish colored object. It came out of it a sort of diver, small, with a very large head and huge eyes.

"I saw him like that," he added, drawing the mysterious visitor with chalk on his door. He was shining like glass...

"I did not believe in it, specifies Mr. Perano, who accompanied Mr. Olivier, but I saw it like I see you..."

After a minute, the diver returned to his saucer which took off vertically without noise and quickly disappeared.

It is a few kilometers from Toulouse, too, in Léguevin, that a mechanic, Mr. Jean Marcy, saw, in a meadow, a luminous disc, orange yellow in color, which took off on its approach.

At the place where it had landed, he discovered, on the grass... two sheets of glossy paper, which he gave to the gendarmerie. The two sheets are written in KuocNu, an Annamite dialect. We read the words of Vietminh, Vietnam, Prince Buu Loc. It also talks about an arrival in Marseille on January 12, 1954. The two sheets paginated 9-10 and 59-60 looked not to have stayed on the grass for long. A translator will examine them more closely.

"Look, but don't touch"

This is all very strange. Much stranger than the appearance, near Châteaubriant (Loire-Inferieure) of a Martian with a soft, full gray hat, descended from a phosphorescent cigar in front of little Gilbert Lelay (13 years old) to whom he reportedly told in French: "Look, but don't touch..." According to the child, he held in his hand "a ball which launched purple fires" and climbed back into his machine, slamming the door. In the past, those under the age of fifteen were content to see fairies or ghosts.

But in Montluçon, an employee of the station who is well over the age of belief in fairy tales, says that he saw a metallic object placed a short distance from a diesel tank intended for the supply of railcars. Next to the torpedo-shaped craft, which could be four meters long, was a man covered in hair. Unless he was wearing a rather long coat. Mr. Laugère, surprised, asked him what he was doing. The stranger replied in unintelligible terms, but the railwayman seemed to distinguish the words "diesel", however.

Mr. Laugère did not want to listen to more. While he was going to get his comrades, the craft took off and disappeared.

SAUCERS, CIGARS, ETC.

The pilots of a mysterious machine were interested
in Vietnamese matters

Mr. Jean Marty, 42, mechanic, resident of Léguevin, declared that he had seen, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, land in the middle of a field, an orange disc measuring 6 to 7 meters of diameter and 2.50 m. high.

Mr. Marty was working around 10:30 p.m. in his workshop, located on the road to Toulouse, in front of a field, 1.5 km away from Lèguevin. Looking up he saw the luminous object. Intrigued, he got out, crossed the road, and headed for the disc, which rose into the air, silently, vertically and disappeared at a prodigious speed. Mr. Marty then went to the middle of the field to check the place where the craft had landed. He did not notice any trace but found there, lying on the grass, two sheets of glossy paper, white, covered with block letters.

The pages, commercial size type, were not soiled, nor damp, nor wrinkled, but absolutely crisp, as if they had just been torn from a new brochure. Mr. Marty handed them over to the gendarmerie. They were examined by a former soldier who spent many years in Indochina and who lives in retirement in Lèguevin, Mr. Maggy. He stated that it was a text in Kuoe-Nu, an Annamese dialect, and that this text dealt with issues of interest to Viet-Minh and Viet-Nam.

The text would be recent, but could only be imperfectly translated. It was specified that these were pages numbered 9-10 and 59-60 of a brochure reproducing in offset a typewritten document. The sheets were entrusted to the military authority. Previously, one was able to take pictures which will be entrusted to a translator.

The investigation opened by air security, following this discovery revealed that it was simply two sheets from a brochure published by the services of Prince Buu Loc and probably left in Léguevin by the Vietnamese who came to have a picnic.

Vietnamese students are in fact particularly numerous in Toulouse, and Léguevin, located about twenty kilometers away and near the wooded regions of the Gers, offers Toulouse residents a sought-after destination for a walk during the weekend.

The brochure in question dated January 12, and the information it contains, underlines the military authority, does not present any character likely to lead to new developments in this affair. In fact, it is about the entry of ships into Indochinese ports and the arrival of fish!

Landing of a spherical
craft in Toulouse

A small-sized diver, with a large head in relation to the body, two enormous eyes, such is the description just made by a Toulouse resident, Mr. Olivier, of a mysterious character, descended from a spherical craft that had just landed at 7:35 p.m. on a vacant lot.

Mr. Olivier, owner of the Javel Neto establishments, rue des Fontaines, in Toulouse, was accompanied by an employee, Mr. Pérano, and a young boy about 15-year-old. All three saw the luminous craft of spherical shape and reddish color land, then saw the character coming towards them whose diving-suit, according to witnesses, shone like glass.

"I did not believe it, adds Mr. Pérano, but I saw it as I see you. It comes as a shock."

In a very short time, about a minute, the diver regained the luminous sphere which flew vertically silently and disappeared in the sky at a prodigious speed, leaving a fire trail.

The pilot covered in hair
demanded gasoil

An employee of the station of Montluçon, Mr. Langère, allegedly made contact Sunday evening with a mystery individual coming out of a torpedo-shaped craft.

Mr. Langère left his job and crossed the S.N.C.F. railway when he saw a metal craft posed at a short distance from a gasoil tank, intended to supply railcars. Next to the craft was a man all covered in hair, unless he was wearing a very long-haired coat. M. Laugère, surprised, asks him what he was doing. The stranger answered him in unintelligible terms, but the railwayman seemed to distinguish the words "gasoil."

Mr. Langère asked him nothing more and went to alert his comrades.

A "cigar" in the Marne

Going to a music rehearsal, in Sainte-Menehould (Marne), young André Léger, 18, saw on the road a dark mass resting on skis which took off as he approached, making a humming sound.

The "flying cigar" was about 1.30 m high and 3 meters in diameter.

This vision left a strong impression on the young man.

THE "SAUCER"
are moving
in the South of France now

and "Martians" were seen
in Toulouse and in the Gard

TOULOUSE, October 14. - Mr. Jean Marty, 42, resident of Leguevin (Haute-Garonne), said that he had seen in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, a luminous disc measuring 6 to 7 meters in diameter and 2 m. 50 in height land in the middle of a field, the disc was orange.

Mr. Marty worked around 10:30 p.m., in his workshop located on the road to Toulouse, in front of a field, 1,300 km from Leguevin. Looking up, he saw a light jet.

Intrigued, he went out, crossed the road and went towards the disc which then rose in the air, noiselessly, vertically, and disappeared at a prodigious speed.

Mr. Marty went to the middle of the field to check the place where the object had landed. He did not find any trace there but found, posed on the grass, two sheets of glossy paper, white, covered with printed letters.

The sheets were neither soiled, mor damp, nor crumpled, but absolutely clean as if they had just been torn from a new brochure. Mr. Marty handed them over to the gendarmerie. They were examined by a former soldier who spent many years in Indochina and who lives in retirement in Leguevin, Mr. Maggy. He declared that it was a text in kuoc-nu, Annamite dialect, and that this text dealt with questions concerning Vietminh and Vietnam. It was later established that they were extracts from a Vietnamese newspaper, probably deposited there by Indochinese who camped there. There are, indeed, in the region of Toulouse, many Indochinese.

Continuation in 2^nd page under the title

THE SAUCERS

THE SAUCERS

(Continued from the 1^st page)

On the other hand, oily traces were found this morning in several places on a vacant lot located in a suburb of Toulouse.

According to the statements of three witnesses, a mysterious craft piloted by a character dressed in a diving suit, would have landed on this ground yesterday at 10:35.

The Air police questioned these three people, including an industrialist, who maintained their statements by specifying that the mysterious individual, measuring approximately 1 meter 20 exceeded the craft of the head and must have, consequently, bend to enter it.

One of the witnesses assured that the "saucer" was surrounded by iridescent reflection and emitted around it a slight mist. He added that having wanted to approach, he had been held at twenty meters by a paralyzing force and that, when the spacecraft rose in the sky, he was violently thrown to the ground.

"Martians" in the Gard

NIMES, October 14. - Several hunters in the town of St-Ambroix (Gard), recently saw seven tiny beings whose shape vaguely recalled that of a body human. When they tried to approach, the beings rushed towards a phosphorescent machine, which flew away immediately.

At the place where the occupants of the "saucer" were, the hunters discovered on the ground a certain number of seeds of bizarre appearance, which they had examined by seed producers. The latter were unable to classify them in a known species.

Flying saucers

(CONTINUED FROM OUR FIRST PAGE)

A mysterious
individual
comes out of a torpedo

Montluçon, 14. -- The saucer file has been further increased by several testimonies, the most important of which seems to be that of an employee of the railway station of Montluçon, Mr. Langère, who made contact on Sunday evening with a mysterious individual who had emerged from a torpedo-shaped craft.

Mr. Laugère was leaving his job and was crossing the tracks near the S.N.C.F. bridge, when he saw a metallic apparatus posed a short distance from a diesel tank intended to supply railcars. Beside the apparatus, which had the shape of a torpedo and might have been four meters, stood a man covered with hair, unless he was dressed in a rather long-haired coat. Mr. Laugère, surprised, asked him what he was doing. The stranger answered him in unintelligible words, but the railwayman seemed to distinguish the words "diesel."

Mr. Laugere asked him no more and went off to alert his comrades. No sooner had he gone a hundred meters than he saw the craft rise vertically without any noise. It soon disappeared from his eyes. Only the fear of the irony of his comrades had prevented him until yesterday, Wednesday, from telling his adventure.

***

Melun, 14. -- A second testimony was collected from a young 17-year-old man, Marc Germain, living in Pontault, who declared to the police station of this locality that had seen, this night, during approximately half an hour, a craft which was a flying saucer in his opinion. This craft was in the sky at an altitude of 200 or 300 meters and had the shape of a very bright disc. It remained motionless for 3 minutes then set off at breakneck speed, leaving behind a trail of fire. The young man declared to himself that he had not rather alerted the police station, because he had insisted on staying there in case the saucer would land.

***

Limoges, 14. -- In Saint-Marc de Lombaud (Creuse), residents of Vallières saw in the night from Monday to Tuesday, a white ball which was moving in the sky. The ball changed color, disappeared and reappeared before finally disappearing.

***

Evreux, 14. -- Also, an update has just been made today by a person about the "saucer" which was seen above the region of Saint-André, at the border of the departments of Eure and Eure-et-Loir, Saturday around 6:30 p.m.

Mrs. Omonis, from Groth-Soret said the object was just a balloon. "A design," she said, "appeared to be painted in red color on the top of the balloon and ropes held the basket."

The flying saucers
drivers interested
in Vietnamese questions

Toulouse, 14 -- Mr. Jean Marty, 42, mechanic, living in Leguevin (Haute-Garonne), stated that he had seen in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday land in the middle of a field a luminous disc measuring from 6 to 7 meters in diameter and 2.50 meters in height. The disc was of orange color.

Mr. Marty was working around 10:30 p.m. in his workshop located on the road to Toulouse, in front of a field, 1 kilometer 500 meters from Leguevin. Looking up, he saw the luminous object. Intrigued, he got out, crossed the road and walked towards the disc which then rose into the air, silently, vertically, and disappeared at a prodigious speed. Mr. Marty went to the middle of the field to examine the place where the craft had landed. He found no trace but found laying on the grass, two sheets of glossy white paper covered with block letters.

The pages, commercial size type, were not soiled, neither damp, nor wrinkled, but absolutely crisp as if they had just been torn from a new brochure. Mr. Marti handed them over to the gendarmerie. They were examined today by a former multilingual soldier who spent many years in Indochina and who lives in retirement in Leguevin, Mr. Maggy. He declared that it was a text in Kuoc-Nu, an Annamese dialect, and that this text was about issues of interest to the Vietminh and Vietnam.

The text would be recent but could only be imperfectly translated. It was specified that it was the pages numbered 9-10 and 59-60 of a brochure reproducing in offset a typewritten document. The sheets were entrusted to the military authority. One was previously able to take pictures that would be entrusted this morning to a translator.

A "mysterious
craft"
intrigues the military

Metz, 14. -- During the Metz fair-exhibition, a military projector, installed at the army stand, swept, every evening, the Metz sky with its light beam. Sunday evening, the servants of the apparatus saw, at an estimated height of more than 10,000 meters, a luminous circle which remained motionless above their heads for several hours. The radar set, also mounted at the army stand, tried in vain to capture the unusual circle in its device.

A local newspaper having reported the facts, the governor general commanding the 6th military region, ordered an investigation which, so far, has not been successful. General Navereau awaits the report of Commander Cottel, responsible for the army stand.

According to the first information gathered yesterday, it seems impossible that the projector installed at the Metz fair could have catched any object so high up. Indeed, this projector only has a range of 6,000 meters, a distance at which, on a very clear day, it would perhaps make it possible to distinguish something. The circle of light captured in the projector beam could be explained by the presence, at a great height, of a swirling cumulus cloud illuminated by the moon, full at this time, and hidden behind a curtain of clouds. One remains skeptical, in the meantime, anout the presence of a round object which would have been, it was estimated, 50 meters in diameter, and which would have remained perfectly still for several hours.

However, the military services are continuing their investigations and will draw the conclusions of this case as soon as they are in possession of Commander Cottel's report.

The daily (and varied) chronicle of the saucers

The Martian spy's secret papers
were just leaflets
abandoned in the wind

Paris. -- The flying saucer file has been further augmented by several testimonies, one of which comes from an inhabitant of Leguevin (Haute-Garonne) made the gendarmes and military authorities think for a few hours that they were in the presence of no more and no less than a case of espionage!

Mr. Jean Marty, 42, rushed to the gendarmerie brigade on Wednesday morning to tell law enforcement officials about his strange discovery.

"I was working yesterday evening in my workshop, on the edge of the road to Toulouse, when I saw, not far from Leguevin, a kind of luminous disc which seemed to float in the air. I then ran towards it because it was no more than 5 meters from the ground, but as soon as I approached it rose silently, vertically and disappeared.

"Intrigued, I approached the place where it must have landed and my attention was suddenly drawn in the middle of the fields by two sheets of white glossy paper covered with printing letters. I picked them up carefully: here they are."

"But, it's Chinese!"

The gendarmes leaned, intrigued, on the pieces of evidence. The business-size sheets were neither soiled, nor damp, nor wrinkled, but of absolute neatness, as if they had just been torn from a new brochure.

"But it's Chinese!" exclaimed one of the gendarmes. Fortunately, Leguevin counts among its inhabitants a brave retired soldier and polyglot, Mr. Maggy. One went to consult him, he was formal: "It is a text written in an Annamese dialect, Kug-No. The pages are numbered 9-10 and 59-60: they come from a brochure reproducing in off-set a typewritten document. But beware, concludes Mr. Maggy gravely, I do not understand everything: it is about the Vietminh and Vietnam".

This peremptory assertion was enough to trigger a real investigation, the gendarmerie entrusting to the military authority the two sheets revealing undoubtedly an important case of espionage between the Martians, the Indochinese and the French.

Don't leave your papers lying around

Air security took charge and ran it smoothly. A duly qualified translator was summoned who, after a few moments of scrutiny, barely suppressed an irresistible urge to laugh. "These sheets come from a brochure published by the services of Prince Buu-Loc; they were undoubtedly left in Leguevin by Vietnamese who came there for a picnic!..."

Vietnamese students are, in fact, particularly numerous in Toulouse, and Leguevin, located about twenty kilometers and close to the regions [?] of the Gers, offers Toulouse residents a sought-after destination for a walk during the weekend.

As for the ultra-secret text, it deals with the arrival of fish in Indochinese ports!

Morality: don't leave your papers lying around!

The shock of a Toulouse industrialist

The Toulouse region seems, moreover, to be a favorite terrain for saucer pilots, because this espionage affair had barely been closed when Mr. Olivier, an industrialist in Toulouse, once again stirred up the authorities.

Wednesday, at 7:35 p.m., in a suburb of the city, Mr. Olivier saw a scuba diver of about 1 meter with a big head and two huge eyes which descended from a spherical craft in a wasteland. The figure came towards him and his suit shone like glass. After a minute he returned to his craft and had to bend over to climb into it. It disappeared into the sky at prodigious speed, leaving a trail of fire.

"It's been a shock," concluded Mr. Olivier, still under the influence of emotion.

The Martian of Montluçon only knows one expression: gas-oil!

Mr. Laugère, a railway worker at the Montluçon station, waited several days to tell his story because he was afraid that his comrades would make fun of him. But as he saw in the newspapers that an encounter with a Martian was no longer so exceptional, he decided to speak.

His story goes back to Sunday night. Mr. Laugère was crossing the tracks near the S.N.C.F. bridge, on the "Le Cher" river, when he saw a metallic craft placed a short distance from a diesel tank intended to supply the railcars. Next to the craft which had the shape of a torpedo and could be four meters long was a man all covered with hair unless he was wearing a rather long hairy coat.

Mr. Laugère, surprised, asked him what he was doing. The stranger replied in unintelligible terms, but the railway worker seemed to make out the words "diesel".

The railwayman wanted to return to the station to raise the alarm, but barely had he gone a hundred meters when he saw the craft rise vertically without noise.

The daily (and varied) chronicle of the saucers

The secret papers of the Martian spy were only flying leaves abandoned to the wind

Paris. -- The record of flying saucers was further increased by several testimonies, one from a mechanic from Léguevin (the Haute-Garonne), let the gendarmes and the military authorities think for a few hours that they were in presence neither more nor less of a case of espionage!

Jean Marty, 42, rushed Wednesday morning to the gendarmerie brigade to inform the representatives of the law of his strange discovery.

"I was working last night in my studio, on the roadside of Toulouse, when I noticed near Léguevin a kind of luminous disk that seemed to float in the air. It Was not more than 5 meters from the ground, but as soon as I approached, it rose noiselessly to the vertical and disappeared."

"Intrigued, I approached the place where it had to land and my attention was suddenly drawn to the middle of the field by two sheets of white glossy paper covered with printed letters, and I picked them up carefully."

"But, it's Chinese!"

The gendarmes leaned over, intrigued, onto the pieces of evidence. The sheets, commercial-type, were neither stained, nor damp, nor wrinkled, but of absolute clarity, as if they had just been torn from a new brochure.

"But it's Chinese!" exclaimed one of the gendarmes. Fortunately Léguevin counts among its residents a brave soldier in retirement and polyglot, Mr. Maggy. It was a text written in an Annamese dialect, the Kuoc-Nn. The sheets are numbered 9-10 and 59-60, they come from a brochure reproducing an off-set, A typewritten document, but be careful, Mr. Maggy concludes gravely, "I do not understand everything, it's about Vietminh and Vietnam."

This peremptory statement was enough to trigger a genuine investigation, the gendarmerie handing the two sheets revealing no doubt of an important espionage affair between the Martians, the Indochinese and the French, to military authorities.

Do not lose your papers

It was air safety that took the matter into its own hands and did it fast. A duly qualified translator was summoned, who, after a few moments of examination, made it difficult to find an irresistible desire to laugh. "These leaves come from a brochure published by the services of Prince Buu-Loc, they were undoubtedly left in Leguevin by Vietnamese who came... to picnic!" The Vietnamese students are particularly numerous in Toulouse, and Léguevin, located about twenty kilometers away and close to the wooded areas of the Gers, offers to Toulouse a sought after walking area during their weekends. As for the ultra secret text, it deals with fish arrivals in the Indochinese harbors! Morality: do not let your papers around!

The shock of a Toulouse industrialist

The region of Toulouse seems, moreover, to be a ground of predilection for the saucers pilots, because this "case of espionage" was scarcely classified that Mr. Olivier, industrialist in Toulouse, put again the authorities on the move. Wednesday, at 7:35 p.m., in a suburb of the city, Mr. Olivier saw a diaphragm of about 1m20, with a big head and two enormous eyes, which descended from a spherical gear posed in a vacant lot. The character came to him and his diving suit shone like glass. After a minute, he returned to his apparatus and had to bend to climb into it. He disappeared into the sky at a prodigious speed, leaving a trail of fire. "This is quite a shock," concluded Mr. Olivier, still under the thrill of emotion.

The Martian of Montluçon knows only one expression: diesel!

M. Laugère, a railwayman at the station of Montlucon, waited several days to tell his adventure, for he was afraid that his comrades would laugh at him. But as he saw in the newspapers that an ecnounter with a Martian was not so exceptional, he decided to speak. His story dates back to Sunday evening, Mr. Laugère crossed the tracks near the bridge of the S.N.C.F. on the river "Le Cher", when he saw a metal machine placed at a short distance from a reservoir of gas oil intended for the feeding of railcars. By the side of the apparatus, which had the form of a torpedo, and might have measured four meters, stood a man entirely covered with hair, unless he were dressed in a coat with long hair! Mr. Laugere, surprised, asked him what he was doing. The unknown replied in unintelligible terms, but the railwayman seemed to distinguish the words "diesel". The railwayman wished to return to the station to give the alarm, but scarcely had he made a hundred yards when he saw the apparatus rise vertically without noise.

France, Too, 'Invaded' By Martians

Paris (UP) -- A flying saucer epidemic has Frenchmen seeing men from Mars.

The other evening in the Lorraine village of Walscheid a terrified band of youngsters stampeded homeward to report that the men from Mars had landed in a villager's garden. Womenfolk dashed into the village church, hoping for Divine sanctuary.

The men grabbed scythes, clubs, and the few available guns and marched against the Martians. They marched to the garden. There stood the invaders, half human size, heads glowing motionless. Turned out they were big-blossomed chrysanthemums the resident had covered with brilliant cloth against the frost.

The Standard Model

When the big scale visitation from the outer reaches began, the flying saucer was the standard model. Since then luminous cigars, frying pans, discs, melone and even bells have hurtled through the French skies in increasing numbers.

Within the week the villagers of Momy (Basses-Pyrenees) took to the fields with makeshift weapons to deal with a flying saucer freshly arrived. They found a hollow pumpkin with a candle burning inside.

Two nights earlier a farmer in the Bordeaux area stopped to repair his car on a lonely road, and narrowly missed death when a resident mistook him for a celestial invader and fired both barrels of his shotgun at him.

Ten days ago Gilbert Lelay told his parents at Chateaubriant that a little Martian stepped from a flying cigar and readily gave him permission to look at it, but warned him not to touch it.

Near Toulouse, a mechanic, Jean Marty, 43, informed police he saw an orange saucer land near his home. It soon zoomed away into the night, but Marty found two sheets of paper on the ground, covered with cryptic markings which none could deny might be Martian literature.

The weekly magazine Express offered a reward of 10,000,000 Francs ($28.570) to the first person bringing a real live Martian to its office.

The more scholarly newspaper Le Monde, lamenting on the rash of flying saucers, mourned in print for "the days of our well beloved sea serpent."

One also remembers the testimony of Mr. Jean Marty, mechanic at Leguevin (Hte-Garonne), who on October 14, 1954, observed the landing and then the take off of a disc in a field and found on the ground, near the place where the machine had landed, "two sheets of glossy paper covered with printed letters in Indo-Chinese characters" and baptized at once: "vietnamese tracts"...

October 12 [, 1954]

[... other cases...]

? [=unknown hour]: Léguevin (17 km W.Toulouse--Hte-Garonne): orange lumin. disc on the ground, diameter 6/7 m, 2,50 m high

[... other cases...]

[... other cases...]

October 12, 1954: Léguevin (17 km ISL in the W. of Toulouse--Haute-Garonne): (lumin. orange disc on the ground/diameter

[... other cases...]

244) October 12, 1954, 10:30 p.m., Leguevin (France):

Jean Marty, 42, mechanic, was in his shop when he saw a luminous disk about 6.5 m diameter and 2.5 m thick, land. He tried to approach it, but the craft rose vertically and silently at an amazing speed. (P 62, P 63).

October 12, 1954, 10:30 p.m., Leguevin (France):

Jean Marty, 42, mechanic, was in his shop when he saw a luminous disk about 6.5 m diameter and 2.5 m thick, land. He tried to approach it, but the craft rose vertically and silently at an amazing speed. (Paris-Press, Libération, 15 oct. 1954, La Croix, 16 oct. 1954).

419 12 October 1954 2230 hrs

LEGUEVIN (FRANCE) Jean Marty (42), a mechanic, was in his shop when he saw a luminous disc, about 6.5m diameter and 2.5m thick, land. He tried to approach it, but the craft rose vertically and silently at amazing speed. (M244: La Croix, 16 0ct. 54)

LES ECHOS.

30 - ST-AMBROIX on 10/13/1954
31 - TOULOUSE LEGUEVIN night of 12 to 13.

Is Snowy White a "Martian"?

Seven bizarre-looking dwarves fly away in a phosphorescent apparatus near Nîmes...

NIMES, 14 -- Several hunters from the Saint-Ambroix commune (Gard) have recently seen seven tiny creatures vaguely reminiscent of a human body. When they tried to approach, the beings rushed towards a phosphorescent machine, which flew away immediately.

At the location where the pilots of the flying saucer were, the hunters discovered on the ground a certain number of weird-looking seeds, which they had examined by seedlings. They found it impossible to classify them in a known species.

"MARTIANS" ARE INTERESTED IN VIETNAMESE QUESTIONS...

TOULOUSE, 14. -- Mr. Jean Marty, 42, a mechanic, living in Leguevin (Haute-Garonne), said he had seen, in the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, in the middle of a field, a luminous disk measuring from 6 to 7 meters in diameter and 2 m. 50 in height; the disc was orange colored.

Mr. Marty was working around 11 p.m. 30, in his workshop located on the road to Toulouse, in front of a field, 1 km. 500 of Lèguevin. Looking up, he saw the luminous object. Intrigued, he came out, crossed the road and headed for the disc, which then rose in the air, noiselessly, vertically, and disappeared at a prodigious speed. Mr. Marty reached the middle of the field to examine where the craft had landed. He found no trace, but found, on the grass, two sheets of white glossy paper, covered with Indochinese a printed characters.

The investigation launched by the Aviation Security showed that it was simply two pages from a brochure published by the services of Prince Buu Loc and probably left to Leguevin by Vietnamese who came to make a picnic.

OILY TRACES

Oily traces were found this morning in several areas of a vacant lot located in a suburb of Toulouse.

According to the statements of three witnesses, a mysterious machine, piloted by a character wearing a suit, reportedly landed on this ground yesterday at 19:35 p.m.

The air police questioned these three people, including an industrialist, who maintained

- CONTINUED ON THE LAST PAGE

Francat No. 191 case 079 4-p.86

November 2, 1954

French Have Epidemic Of Disks

By Priscilla Buckley

PARIS, (UP). -- A flying saucer epidemic has Frenchmen seeing men from Mars.

The other evening in the Lorraine village of Walscheid a terrified band of youngsters stampeded homeward to report that the men from Mars had landed in a villager's garden. Womenfolk dashed into the church, hoping for divine sanctuary.

The men grabbed scythes, clubs, and the few available guns and marched against the garden. There stood the invaders, half human size, heads glowing motionless.

Turned out they were big chrysanthemums the resident had covered with brilliant cloth against the frost.

When the big scale visitation from the outer reaches began, the flying saucer was the model. Since then, luminous cigars, frying pans, disks, melons and even bells have hurtled through the French skies in increasing numbers.

Within the week the villagers of Momy (Basses-Pyrenees) took to the fled with makeshift weapons to deal with a flying saucer freshly arrived. They found a hollow pumpkin with a candle burning inside.

Two nights earlier a farmer in the Bordeaux area stopped to repair his car on a lonely road, and narrowly missed death when a resident mistook him for a celestial invader and fired both barrels of his shotgun at him.

Ten days ago Gilbert Lelay told his parents at Chateaubriant that a little Martian stepped from a flying cigar and readily gave him permission to look at it, but warned him not to touch it.

Near Toulouse, a mechanic, Jean Marty, 43, informed police he saw an orange saucer land near his home. It soon zoomed away into the night, but Marty found two sheets of paper on the ground, covered with cryptic markings which none could deny could be Martian literature.

The weekly magazine express [L'Express] offered a reward of 10 million francs ($28.570) to the first person bringing a real live Martian to its offices.

The more scholarly newspaper Le monde, lamenting the rash of flying saucers, mourned in print for "the days of our well beloved sea serpent."

Estimates of "landings" in the saucer epidemic run as high as 100 in France and that may be not be anywhere near the true number. Amid all this fuss it was often the oddest story that got the most attention. Checking over a stack of news clippings, Nexus editor James Moseley singled out this one:

"In Haute-Garonne a gendarme reported watching a saucer land in a field and seeing a troop of Martians 'the size of ten-year-old boys' deploy through the trees. The saucer was gone when the villagers got to the scene, and so were the Martians, but some papers were discovered lying on the ground. Savants of the University of Toulouse were asked to study them to see if this might be a Martian declaration of war. After some anxious hours, the documents turned out to be written in a dialect of Indo-Chinese. They had been dropped by some Indo-Chinese students on a picnic two days earlier." 229.

• "Current Saucer Reports: French and Italian Landings." Book I. January 1955. p.2.

Case #022: 12/10/1954, P. 155 (Leguevin)

4085: 1954/10/12 22:30 5 1:14:00 E 43:36:00 N 3333 WEU FRN HGR 7:8

LEGUEVIN,FR:6-7M X 2.5M SCR LANDS:VERTICAL TAKEOFF/FANTASTIC SPEED:/r30p155

Ref#197 WEINSTEIN, D: French Newsclips 1954 Page No. 82 : RESIDENT'L

On this Day

October 12

[...]

1954 - Jan Marty, age 42, a mechanic, was in his shop in Leguevin, France when he saw a luminous disc land. It was about 6.5 meters in diameter and 2.5 meters thick. He tried to approach it, but the craft rose vertically and silently at an amazing speed. (Source: Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: A Century of Landings, p. 226).

Tuesday October 12, 1954

[...]

10:30 p.m. In Leguevin (France), Jean Marty (42-year-old, craftsman) is in the shop when he sees 1 luminous disc approximately 6,50 m in diameter and 2,5 m thickness, which lands. He tries to approach but the craft rises vertically in silence at an astonishing speed.

[...]

*Oct. 12, 1954 - Jan Marty, age 42, a mechanic, was in his shop in Leguevin, France at 10:30 p.m. when he saw a luminous disc-shaped object land. It was about 6.5 meters in diameter and 2.5 meters thick. He tried to approach it, but the craft rose vertically and silently at an amazing speed. (Source: Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: A Century of Landings, p. 226, case # 244).

October 12 1954. 2230hrs.

LEGUEVIN (HAUTE GARONNE : FRANCE)

A mechanic, Jean Marty (42) was in his shop when he saw a luminous disc about 6.5m in diameter and .5m thick, land. He tried to approach but the object rose vertically and silently at amazing speed.

• Vallee Case 242 citing La Croix 16 October 1954.