The 1954 French flap:

THE SAUCER COURIER (CONTINUED)

An unknown craft gets stationnary at 2 m. of the ground and 100 m of a farmer of Entraigues

A farm labourer also saw the object

Entraigues (C.P.).

Mr. Louis Ollier, farmer in Entraigues, worked, Thursday after midday, in his field, in the district of Malgouverte, with tractor, when, between 17 and 18 hours, he saw a craft appear which seemed to him to have the shape of a lengthened spindle, "which colors, he says, "were clearly those of the rainbow ". The machine, which seemed 8 meters long approximately, was immobilized at a hundred meters of him and at less than two meters of the ground.

Mr. Ollier called a neighbor, domestic at Mr. Poutrot's, who worked not far from there and who also saw the apparatus rising quickly and to move towards Ventoux. They realized at this time that what they had taken for a lengthened spindle was an appreciably circular object. The object besides disappeared quickly.

Metz, Saint-Malo and Issoire overflown by "luminous discs"

Paris (A.C.P.)

The flying saucers once more honoured of their presence the most various areas of France: in Metz, in Saint-Malo, Issoire, the mysterious machines have been seen.

* * *

In Metz, Mr. Hellers claimed to have seen Saturday evening around 09:25 p.m., a luminous machine of oblong form that crossed the sky from East to West at a vertiginous speed. The object, of orange color and the size of a hen egg, slipped silently into space while leaving behind itself an incandescent trail. The witness evaluated the speed of this machine with approximately ten times that of a jet.

This testimony was confirmed by a sentinel of the air police station in faction on the height of Plappeville in the suburbs of Metz.

* * *

Dans l'Ille-et-Vilaine, in Paramé, a plaster stated to have seen Saturday evening, around 07:45 p.m., two luminous discs which went up and went down in the sky at an extraordinary speed. A third luminous disc seemed to follow a line parallel to the horizon, at a much slower pace than the two others. The discs, while moving away, left behind them a tail similar to that of a comet.

* * *

Lastly, the personnel of the airfield of Issoire-le-Broc and the chief pilot Hebaut, which was in flight, observed a shining craft of circular form which hovered during nearly two hours at very high altitude before moving very slowly towards the West.

THE SAUCERS CONTINUE
TO PASSIONATE THE OPINION

... and the carousel continues

Contrary to what happened last week, the "flying saucers" did not respect the Sunday rest and showed themselves everywhere, say many testimonies, in Italy, in France where a motorist, mistaken for a Martian, narrowly avoided a discharge of buckshot. It was a farmer from Sinceny, near Chauny, in Aisne, Mr. Maurice Ruant, who almost fell victim to this unfortunate mistake.

He was busy, late in the evening, troubleshooting his car in a meadow near his home when two shots from a shotgun were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed into the body of the vehicle, not far from the head of Mr. Ruant, who lodged a complaint.

The investigation established that the author of these shots was a neighbor, Mr. Faisan, who declared, protesting of his good faith: "I believed, seeing a figure moving in the light of two headlights, being in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my rifle, and, I fired."

To this incident, which annoyingly illustrates the psychosis of fear created in certain quarters by the "saucers", we must add the many reports indicating these in: Rome, where, it is said, a flying cigar was seen by many inhabitants of the St Jean de Latran district; Metz, where a witness saw his statements confirmed by a sentry at the air police station, at Paramé, in the Ile-et-Vilaine [sic], at the Mont Ventoux observatory, at the Issoire-le-Broc airfield where the observation of a saucer was made, one says, for almost two hours by ground staff and Chief Pilot Habau [sic], who was in flight.

Finally, again in Italy, reports of saucers have come from Varese, near Milan, Turin and Messina.

For Professor Antonio Eula, holder of the aerodynamics department at the University of Rome, "saucers" cannot be piloted by Martians.

"We do not know the mysteries of our solar system thoroughly, he told "Giornale d'Italia." Astronautics when it can be put into practice, will perhaps allow us to penetrate them "But we already know that beings similar to us cannot exist on the planets currently known. If there are, they can only be profoundly different. So it is absurd to speak of Martians capable of human activity."

In response to another question, Professor Eula said, he does not believe he is authorized to exclude, absolutely, that they can be "experimental devices intended for military use, and protected by impenetrable secrecy." In conclusion the professor declared: "If this last assumption corresponds to reality, the moment will come when the secret will be revealed, because no secret of a technical nature can be preserved indefinitely."

Vagrant, poacher or "Martian"?

A strange being, half-man half-monkey, had a nap in the shade of the tall trees

Paris. -- The flying saucers continue their infernal round, but it seems that the French are not alone any more about "celestial visions". The majority of the news relating to the mysterious machines came indeed from Italy during the weekend.

It is the testimony of two farm woman of the Livry-sur-Seine (the Seine-and-Marne) which must however hold the attention in the first place. It is interesting in the sense that they saw a "Martian", but no craft...

Sharp eyes, but no ears

They walked in the wood of Uzelles, Saturday afternoon, when they saw a strange being laying across a path. In spite of their fright, they took the time to look at him close enough to give a description.

He had the size of a man, but his body was covered with abundant hairs of chestnut color. He had a round and hairy head, but no ears and excessively sharp eyes.

"He made a gesture to us with his arm twice, they added, but as we were not reassured, we did not dare to pass in front of him and we made a detour of almost two kilometers to avoid him."

Two children who were with the farm woman also gave a very precise testimony and description.

Alerted, the farmers armed themselves with their shotguns and made a search, but in vain.

Two visions among so many more

In the Ille-et-Vilaine, in Paramé, a plaster workman stated to have seen, Saturday evening, around 07:45 p.m., two luminous discs which went up in the sky at an extraordinary speed. A third luminous disc seemed to follow a parallel line in the horizon, with a pace much slower than the two others. The discs, while moving away, left behind a tail similar to that of a comet.

Lastly, the personnel of the airfield of Issoire-le-Broc and the chief controler Hébaut, who was in flight, observed a shining machine of circular shape hovering during nearly two hours at very high altitude, before moving slowly towards the west.

Four steps (of Martians) in the clouds

Close to Varèse, several motorists saw a disc of blue color, clearly detached on the background of the starry sky. After having stopped during a few minutes, it took again its vertiginous race towards the north, disappearing with a "typical" whirring sound. during the night, the strange luminous object appeared a second time in same celestial space.

From Turin, it is reported that several workmen of an establishment of the industrial park of Mirafiori saw a "luminous object" having the shape of a cigar, on the background of the sky. The "cigar" remained motionless in the sky during one hour, during which, according to the witnesses, it would have changed from time to time of shape and luminosity. The craft then disappeared by moving vertiginously towards France.

From Messina, finally, one learns that many people living on two banks of the strait separating the peninsula from Sicily saw a "luminous circle" motionless in the sky, at 2.000 meters. The machine, which was observed for ten minutes, came down quickly towards the sea to take again altitude three times. After these maneuvers, the "luminous circle" disappeared at a strong pace in the direction of Mount Etna, leaving a luminous trail behind.

The informed verdict of an Italian scientist

All these appearances were the topic of a statement to the press by professor Antonio Eula, holder of the chair of aerodynamics at the University of Rome.

This eminent scientist in particular affirmed: "We do not know entirely the mysteries of our solar system, but we know as of now that beings similar to us cannot exist on the currently known planets. If there are some, they can only be very different. Therefore it is absurd to speak of Martians capable of human activities."

And the professor concluded that one could not, in an absolute manner, conclude that they are "experimental craft intended for a military use and protected by an impenetrable secrecy".

Near Chauny

Believing to be in the presence of a "Martian"

A FARMER FIRED
two gunshots at a neighbor

LILLE, October 17. - Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne), almost fell victim to the panic that is caused to some people by the appearance of saucers and other flying objects.

Friday evening, he was busy repairing his car, in a meadow near his home, when two shots from a hunting rifle were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed onto the vehicle body, not far from its head.

Mr. Maurice Ruant complained and the investigation immediately opened made it possible to quickly find the author of the shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan.

The latter told the police.

"I thought, seeing a silhouette moving in the light of two headlights, that I was in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my shotgun and I fired."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Ruant will be prosecuted.

Cigars and saucers

The flying saucers once again honored of their presence the most diverse regions of France: in Metz, in Saint-Malo, in Issoire, in particular, mysterious craft have been seen.

In Metz, Mr. Hellers claimed to have seen an oblong luminous craft cross the sky from East to West at breakneck speed. The object, orange in color and the size of a chicken egg, glided silently through space, leaving behind an incandescent trail. The witness estimated the speed of this craft to be approximately ten times that of a jet plane.

This testimony was confirmed by an air police station sentry on the height of Plappeville, in the suburbs of Metz.

In the Ille-et-Vilaine, in Paramé, a plasterer, said he saw two luminous discs going up and down in the sky at an extraordinary speed. A third luminous disc seemed to follow a line parallel to the horizon, at a much slower pace than the other two. The discs, moving away, left behind a tail like that of a comet.

Finally, the staff of the Issoire-le-Broc airfield and the chief pilot Hébaut, who was in flight, observed a brilliant craft of circular shape which hovered during nearly two hours at very high altitude before moving slowly towards the West.

The opinion of an Italian scientist

ROME, October 17. - Many Italians having observed "disks", "saucers", "cigars" etc... flying in the sky of the peninsula, the "Giornale d'Italia" interviewed professor Antonio Eula, holder of the aerodynamics chair at the University of Rome.

This eminent scientist about the possible origin of the so-called spacecraft from other planets, said in particular: "We do not fully know the mysteries of our solar system. Astronautics, when it can be put in practical use, will perhaps allow us to penetrate them. But we already know that beings similar to us cannot exist on the currently known planets. If they exist, they can only be profoundly different. Thus is it absurd to speak of Martians capable of human-like activities."

In response to another question, Professor Eula said he did not believe he was authorized to exclude, in an absolute manner, that it could be "experimental craft intended for military use, and protected by an impenetrable secret." In conclusion, the professor said: "If this last hypothesis corresponds to reality, the time will come when their secret will be revealed, because no secret of a technical nature can be preserved indefinitely."

NEITHER SAUCER... NOR CIGAR... NOR EVEN SIMPLE ASHTRAY...

BUT WAS THIS A BALLOON?

For several weeks, daily newspapers have been reporting, column lengthwise, phenomena that have remained unexplained until now, which would cause the most disparate objects to appear in the atmosphere.

This information is corroborated by witnesses who state to have seen, with their eyes "seen", these objects and even to have sometimes noted the presence of strange living beings who came down from Venus, Uranus or Mars. The latter, as soon as they landed, would hasten to flee at the approach of humans; others however would have had the familiarity to the point of wanting to kiss those who had met them, or even would have patted them on the stomach.

Curious phenomena of collective hallucination serious gentlemen have said, even when the observation had been made by a single witness. Demonic devices for the next last war those who have mercilessly amused themselves to frighten our poor old girlies have advanced. Inventions intended to strike the imaginations and to divert the attention from the political problems of the hour added the skeptics, who are the greatest number. And our good songwriters add their hilarious jokes to all these hypotheses.

But all this was happening far from us and our compatriots in the Massif Central, like our neighbors in the quarter of the Bastille, risked being put into another category of "phenomena": the category of "those who have not not seen it yet!"

Fortunately, fate has not allowed such humiliation and whereas in Paris our Génie de la Bastille has not yet been touched by any saucer, our compatriots, on the afternoon of the 15th of October, contemplate at leisure the luminous object that has showed itself from very high in the eyes of the inhabitants of our seven departments.

We have, in fact, received this week, from more than a hundred municipalities, the sometimes contradictory relations of this phenomenon observed everywhere. And despite all the interest they presented we could not publish them, due to lack of space and to avoid tedious repetitions.

Was it a saucer, a cigar, or any other craft suitable for garnishing or upsetting imaginations? Airmen, notably from Issoire and Aurillac, "went up there" to try to unravel the mystery. They do not seem to have succeeded. According to some reports, it was a passing balloon launched by the Millau Physics Institute for its scientific research, and announced the day before by a radio broadcast.

But here is a chief pilot at Aurillac aerodrome, who tried to approach the "phenomenon", published in La Montagne a report of his observations from which we extract the following conclusion:

"I thought that the hypothesis of any balloon should be ruled out because it would certainly have already been recovered, without taking into account the fact of its relative immobility of twelve hours. What is this phenomenon? By leafing through an aeronautical review, it seems that in 1904 a phenomenon of the atmosphere had allowed the formation of an enormous bubble of ai which passed alertnatively from the spherical form to the ovoid form and this at very high altitude."

So? Another disillusionment for the poor humans that we are? From so much noise made for several weeks around the mysterious machines there would remain only one large air bubble? And the Martians, Marsonins and other Venusians that some allegedly seen and almost touched?

As long as we have our feet on the macadam of Beaumarchais, and as long as we move between the terrestrial bolides that are the interminable lines of cars that crisscross our streets, as long as from the top of its glorious column, the Génie of the Bastille will protect us, we will not share the astonishment or the fears of those who have seen or believe they have "seen".

We are a bit like Saint Thomas who wanted to touch with his finger to be convinced.

HENRI ALRIQ.

about October 16 [, 1954]

[... other cases...]

? [=unknown hour]: Issoire-le-Broc (Puy-de-Dôme)

[... other cases...]