The 1954 French flap:

A luminous and silent "bottle bottom" above Orly and in the sky of Paris

The most disconcerting testimony, this week, on the flying saucers, comes from the Paris area: from Orly. Saturday October 16, Misters Raymond Capelle and Charles Birest, after dining at 09:35 p.m., came out from Mr. Capelle's, 8, street of the Puy-de-Dome in Orly, when they saw in the sky a mysterious machine. Slipping by from East to West, this machine, in the shape of a "bottle's bottom", rotated and left behind a luminous orange, yellow and blue trail, long of thirty times approximately the diameter of the machine. At its passage, this luminous trail entirely lit the street. After a few seconds, the machine disappeared behind a house. Mr. Capelle is employed with the "traffic" service of Air France in Orly. During five years (four years in Indo-China, one year in Orly), he belonged to the gendarmerie of the air. He identifies any type of apparatus with the noise of its engine. "I cannot be mistaken, he said. It is not a jet plane, this machine did not make any noise, it is what gives it its supernatural character". Mr. Birest, employee with the U.S.A.F., worked at the Orly airfield for thirty years. He confirms in all manner Mr. Capelle's testimony. This machine was also observed by the many Parisians and suburbians who located the passage from the Stock Exchange to Neuilly. Three C.R.S. also saw it above Lagny.

Observed by hundreds of witnesses

A STRANGE CRAFT CROSSES THE SKY OF ILE-DE-FRANCE

Melun. -- Hundreds of witnesses, living the communes of the areas of the Bray-sur-Seine, Lagny, Moret and Thoméry say they have seen, Thursday evening, a strange phenomenon: a machine of oval shape, orange yellow color, measuring more than twenty meters, at 300 meters of altitude.

The machine remained motionless during a certain time and disappeared at a vertiginous speed.

One of the witnesses, Mr. André L..., a weather specialist, who lives in Thoméry, estimates that the speed of the machine was about 10.000 kilometers per hour, quite simply. Mr. L... specified:

"I am absolutely certain, because I know this matter well, that this was neither a plane nor a weather balloon."

Tickle, tickle...

A motorist of Cherbonnières (Charente-Maritime), drove on the road of Souzou in company of his three year old son, when he felt on all the body ticklings similar to electric discharges which were accentuated as his car advanced.

The child, who felt the same annoying sensation, started to cry. Soon the engine of the car stopped and the headlights died out. At the same time, a sharp gleam passing from a sharp red to the orange color dazzled the motorist who could nevertheless distinguish a craft, motionless in space during a few moments. Then, the latter soon disappeared. At once afterwards, the driver was able to restart the engine of his car.

Same phenomenon in Critreuil-la-Magdeleine (Charente), where Tuesday around 8 p.m., Mr. Sion had the headlights of his car extinct and his battery emptied by a red ball of two meters in diameter, which rose from road causing a violent displacement of air volume.

In Italy, saucers and cigars are reported everywhere, while in Sweden, a "disc in rotation" was seen in various points of the area. It was said to be a meteor.

"Stacks" of saucers in the sky of Ile-de-France

"One of them was moving at 10.000 km/h", a witness estimates

Paris. -- The gentle sky of Ile-de-France has been criss-crossed over the past twenty-four hours by many mysterious craft.

All of them did not appear until dark, but the witnesses brought a lot of details and they are now on the long list of "those who have seen it". In Bray-sur-Seine like in Lagny, in Moret like in Thomery, many inhabitants have seen at nightfall, an oval-shaped craft, of orange-yellow color, measuring more than 20 meters at 300 or 400 meters of altitude. Precision: the 20 meters would be the real measure of the object and not its dimension as it appeared to them.

The craft remained stationary for some time and disappeared at a dizzying speed. It could only be a Martian!

One of the witnesses, Mr. André L..., a weather expert, estimated that the craft was traveling at ten thousand Kms-hour approximately. So he must have, at the same time, a good view and a precise idea of the speed. Mr. L... specified: "I am absolutely certain of what I am saying, because I know the question well." But no one doubts it.

In Melun itself, several young girls, coming out of an evening class, claim to have seen in the sky, a similar craft which, after stopping for about ten minutes, would have gone up very rapidly in the sky.

Meanwhile, a luminous ball resembling a car headlight appeared six times to two industrialists of Melun who were traveling on the national road Melun-Rubelles. The appearance of this luminous spot caused every time a very wide flash illuminating the area.

Finally, several riders from a horse racing center in La Rochelle say they saw a character escape from their park. "He was strange," they said. "It could only be a Martian." These are witnesses who are not devoid of a certain sense of humor.

Tickle, tickle...

Much more disturbing, if not funny, is the testimony of a motorist of Cherbonnières (Charente-Maritime). He was driving along the road to Souzou with his son, aged three, when he felt tingling like electric shocks all over his body which increased as his car moved on. The child who felt the same discomforts, began to weep. Soon the engine stopped and the headlights went out. At the same moment a bright glow "changed" from a bright red color to an orange color.

Blinded, the motorist was able, however, to distinguish a stationary machine in space for a few moments, then the latter disappeared soon. Immediately after that, the driver was able to restart the engine of his car.

Italian disk

Numerous discs, saucers and flying cigars have, moreover, been seen in the Italian sky, above Milan as well as Perugia or Bologna.

The most precise testimony was taken in Naples, where two workers who were in the suburb of the city, clearly distinguished a craft, circular in shape, moving in the sky at about eight hundred meters, in a northeasterly direction. The phenomenon lasted three minutes and both workers were able to specify that the metal carcass of the disc was painted red and that a white smoke came out of it.

... and Swedish fireball

Finally, a luminous object having, according to certain witnesses, of the appearance of a rotating disc, and according to Others that of a violently lit aircraft, was seen over several cities in the center-west of Sweden. The object was surrounded by sparks. It is assumed to be an aerolite of exceptional brightness.

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APPEARANCE IN THE SKY OF ILE-DE-FRANCE

A very large number of witnesses, residents of the communities of the areas of Bray-sur-Seine, Lagny, Moret, Thomery stated to have seen at the fall of night, a strange phenomenon: a craft of oval shape, of orange yellow color, measuring more than 20 meters, at 300 or 400 meters of altitude, let us specify; the 20 meters are said to be the real measurement of the object and not its dimension such as it appeared to them. The machine remained motionless during a certain time and disappeared at a vertiginous speed.

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Very numerous witnesses, living in the regions of Bray-sur-Seine, Lagny, Moret, and Thomery, saw a strange phenomenon at nightfall: an oval-shaped craft of yellow-orange color, more than 20 meters in diameter, at an altitude of only 300-400 meters. (N.B.: this 20 meters is given as the actual size of the object, not its apparent size.) The machine remained motionless for a while, then disappeared at breathtaking speed.

One of the witnesses, M. André L... meteorological specialist, who lives in Thomery, estimates the speed of the craft as being of the order of 10,000 km/hr. (6000 mi/hr, nearly 2 mil/sec.) M. L... stated: "I am absolutely certain, since I am quite familiar with this subject, that what was seen was neither an aircraft nor a weather balloon."

THE TEST OF THE METEOR. October 16, as if it was purposely, a splendid meteor crossed the north of France towards 09:30 p.m.. It was observed on a score of departments by thousands of people, from the Allier to Lorraine and from the Swiss border to Paris. Naturally many witnesses believed to have seen a Flying Saucer and said so. The newspapers printed "Flying Saucer in Orly", or "in Montididier", or "in Metz." But once again the description made by all these weak brains appeared of a remarkable honesty.

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The innumerable gathered testimonys show indeed that even when the witnesses called "Flying saucer" the observed object, their description is identical on 200.000 square kilometres where the visible phenomenon was visible: an "orange ball followed by a trail", a "large luminous ball with a tail", a "flying egg followed by a trail", a "bottle's bottom with a trail of thirty times its diameter", etc. The same phenomenon is uniformly described.

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