The 1954 French flap:

"I chased,
on a moped,
a flying saucer!"

A Calais resident, Mr. Claude Thelliez, 2 rue André Gerschel, in Calais-Nord writes to us:

"Let me get right to the heart of the matter, since it is a fashionable object that I am going to talk about to you: it is, in this case, a flying saucer.

"Let's say right away that, personally, without believing it, I am willing to admit its existence, nothing more!

"As you can see, there is a nuance!

In fact, France is the country of visions to which we can grant more or less credit: there have been, lately, the illuminated of Hedrequent, why would there not be the visionaries of the saucers when we know that France is the country of good wine and good food, we can wonder if in a moment of euphoria, we are not more inclined to indulgence?

In short, here is the little adventure that happened to us personally: Coming home quite late in the evening of October 13, I came across Calais-Nord on a small group of people peering at the sky with a questioning look and calculating the chances to see, finally, one of these famous saucers, because everyone knows that the Martians have a weakness for Calais-Nord: We have already recorded visions of this kind. So therefore, I approach this small group and seeing all the noses up, I did the same. Well! I had to admit the obvious: Up there, in the sky, towards the sea (we were on rue Royale), there was indeed "a luminous ball" of which, at times, the brightness faded without completely disappearing however, then suddenly resumed. "The craft" rose in the sky, descended and went at times from left to right. The next moment, the glow faded, leaving only a faint halo. All that was missing was the Martian! When suddenly, our interplanetary spacecraft dives towards the sea (we were always on rue Royale!). I tell myself then that the beach being an impeccable airstrip, "the craft had just landed" (the group dixit). Without further ado, I get on the moped (the Earthlings are more down to earth, if I may say so) and head for the beach. There, of course, no saucer. I would have been very surprised, and very satisfied too, to see one, only one, a very small one. After a while of waiting, I returned to town and found the group of spectators to which I submitted the following explanation: in the West Basin, a freighter was being unloaded and the interstellar craft was the classic light bulb of a few hundred watts which is at the crane boom. In the dark, not seeing the arrow, we only witnessed the movements of the bulb to which the "saucerists" gave all the characteristics of the saucer already seen by the little cousin of the boyfriend of the grocer's son of the block. Well! What more can I say, disappointment for some, confirmation for others, including myself, that the French really do have a fertile imagination. Here, I believe, an explanation of the saucers, seen from Calais-Nord, in the evening!

"Hoping that this little adventure will make people laugh.

"Please accept, Mr. Editor-in-Chief, the assurance of my highest consideration".