The 1954 French flap:

FLYING CIGARS AND OTHER MYSTERIOUS MACHINES IN THE FRENCH SKY

LODEVE. -- The mysterious machine commonly called "flying Cigar", reported in the Puy de Dôme and the sky of Rome was seen Saturday, September 18 at 7 p.m. very precisely, by three residents worthy of faith of Lodève, in the North of the department of Hérault, as it moved at 1.500 meters of altitude approximately. The object was goings towards the South.

The witnesses were able to observe during nearly five minutes a pointed front, towing a brightly lit sphere of fire red color and moving without noise roughly at the speed of an ordinary plane.

On their side, returning from a patrol during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, two gendarmes of Chateauroux, Misters Courtaud and Péninon stated to their chief that they had seen between 9:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. above la Fleuranderie, commune of Montierchaume (Indre), a luminous machine immobilized in the sky, at a height of approximately 1.500 meters, then two others of greenish color at a greater altitude. The three mysterious objects, after having veered at right angle, reportedly took the direction of the North-West, South-east.

Mr. Louis Moll, guard-pastoral in Oberdorf (the Moselle), stated to have seen, Sunday, around 9:15 p.m., an intense gleam coming from space and touching the ground in the east of Tromborn.

This gleam, similar to that of a neon tube, the guard added, and coming from an object of rather vast proportions, changed color. It became reddish and Mr. Moll claims to have seen "black spots" moving silently.

The object, motionless during nearly 40 seconds, started to rotate and carried out an almost vertical rise, taking the aspect of an orange ball and being flattened before disappearing at a vertiginous speed, in the south-eastern direction. The total duration of the phenomenon was one minute approximately.

The authorities who recorded this declaration, opened an investigation.

A "flying cigar" above Banyuls-sur-Mer?

PERPIGNAN. -- In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, three young boys from 16 to 17-year-old, who walked on the pier of the Banyuls-sur-Mer harbor (East. Pyr.) saw in the sky a flying object going at high speed and from which red and green flames seemed to leave.

A little frightened, the boys went to tell their adventure to various consumers who were at the terrace of a coffee shop. But those searched the sky in vain they did not see any trace of the mysterious machine.

SAUCERS AND CIGARS CLOG IN THE SKY

... and cause a traffic jam in England

Cigars, orange balls, green discs, phosphorescent globes: since Sunday, it's been a continuous parade of flying saucers of all models. You can see them everywhere: in the East, in the West, in Lorraine, in the Parisian suburbs, in England. Actress Michèle Morgan believes she saw two of them the other night above the Invalides.

Do they take off from Mars or do they come out fully armed with the imagination of spectators obsessed with tales of anticipation and the revelations of "skeptical" journalists? We still don't know. But we hesitate to qualify as jokers those who report these "apparitions" when among them are - this is the case near Châteauroux - two gendarmes in uniform and in the exercise of their functions.

The two gendarmes, MM. Courtaud and Peninon, were on patrol the other night in Montierchaume, when they saw a luminous machine immobilized in the sky, then two others of greenish color, at an altitude of about 1,500 meters.

A country keeper, M. Louis Moll, from Obersdorf [sic] (Moselle) also assures us that he saw Sunday in the sky "a weird thing" that arose near the village of Tromborn.

- The craft, he said, looked a bit like a small bus. It then took on the appearance of an orange ball.

It is also a phosphorescent ball, but red this times and followed by a luminous trail, that a butcher of Saint-Fargeau, Mr. Rabot, saw yesterday evening around 8 a.m. near Ponthierry, a few kilometers from Melun.

Mr. Rabot thought he was seeing things and fled to find his neighbor, Mr. Binet, who came out with his wife. Both saw the saucer like him, as it continued to move for a few minutes.

In the Hérault, it is a flying cigar "towing" a fiery red gobe, that three residents of Lodève saw the other evening.

It was also seen yesterday, in the Vendée, by about thirty people, in Sigournais and Saint-Prouant. It was purple blue and shaped like a carrot... "topped of a sort of disc".

An industrialist of Origny-en-Tiérache (Aisne), Mr. Chovel, said today that he also saw, the other night, an orange disc which moved a hundred meters above the trees, at a dizzying pace.

Traffic jam

There will soon be a cigars and saucers traffic jam in the sky. Meanwhile, traffic was interrupted yesterday for an hour in Blackpool (England) by onlookers who contemplated a "round white object" swaying in the sky... and which, according to the authorities of the nearby aerodrome, may just be a simple weather balloon.

"FLYING CIGAR"
AND OTHER OBJECTS...

Lodève, 23. -- The mysterious craft commonly called "flying cigar" reported in Puy-de-Dôme and in the sky of Rome was seen Saturday September 18, at 6 p.m. very precise by three trustworthy inhabitants of Lodève, in the north of the Hérault department, when it was operating at around 1,500 meters of altitude. The object was heading south.

Witnesses were able to observe a tapered bow for almost five minutes, towing a brightly lit fire-red globe and moving silently at approximately the speed of an ordinary plane.

- o-

Châteauroux, 23. -- Returning from tour during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, two gendarmes from Châteauroux, MM. Courtaud and Peninon declared to their chief to have seen, between 9:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m., above La Fleuranderie, commune of Montierchaume (Indre), a luminous machine immobilized in the sky at a height of about 1,500 meters, then two others of greenish color at a greater altitude. The three mysterious objects, after having veered at right angles would have taken the direction North-West, South-East.

- o-

Nancy, 23. -- Mr. Louis Moll, country guard in Oberdorf (Moselle), said he saw, Sunday at around 9:15 p.m., an intense gleam coming from space and touching ground east of Tromborn.

This glow, like that of a neon tube, added the guard, and coming from an object of fairly large proportions, changed color. It became reddish and Mr. Moll claims to have seen "black dots" move silently.

The object, motionless for almost 40 seconds, started to rotate and made an almost vertical ascent, taking the appearance of an orange ball and flattening before disappearing at a dizzying speed, in the South-East direction. The total duration of the phenomenon was approximately one minute.

The authorities that recorded this statement have opened an investigation.

... in the sky of France

Will the "flying saucers'
file be opened?

The file on flying saucers was considerably enriched in a few days. Since the appearance of the "flying cigar" in the sky of Rome, which moreover gives rise to an official investigation, many witnesses, reliable, have made concordant accounts on identical observations which they made a little everywhere above French territory.

The famous actress Michèle Morgan, herself, noticed above the Esplanade des Invalides two "luminous globes" of which she claims that they were neither an optical illusion nor a known type of craft.

In a written question to the Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, Mr. de Léotard, deputy for the Seine, requests that a scientific investigation be opened and that the public be informed.

"Flying bus"
in the Moselle

At 9:15 p.m., Sunday evening, Mr. Louis Moll, country guard at Oberdorf (Moselle), saw, he says, a mysterious craft landing in the neighboring village of Tromborn:

"It was, he said, the shape of a small bus. For 40 seconds, watch in hand, I observed it when it had just landed, I thought I saw black dots move inside the craft, which was lit. Then the "bus" rose vertically without noise and disappeared.

Saucers
in the Seine-et-Marne
in the Indre
and in the Hérault

Wednesday, around 8 p.m. a butcher of Ponthierry (S.-et-M.), Mr. Rabot, was driving by car on the national road n° 7, when he saw a craft of spherical shape, luminous, from where escaped also bright smoke.

Mr. Rabot stopped in front of the house of Ponthierry's trainer, who went out with his wife. For long minutes, the trio observed the craft, which made back and forth movements, then disappeared in the clouds at full speed. Mr. Rabot and the trainer are known in Ponthierry as very serious people.

Two gendarmes, MM. Courtaud and Peninon, returning from tour on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, said they saw in the sky, above the town of La Fleuranderie (Indre), a luminous craft immobilized at 1,500 meters of height approximately.

Finally, three residents of Lodève, perfectly trustworthy, claim to have seen a "flying cigar" above the city conform to the description of the one who moved on September 18 in the sky of Rome.

The "flying cigar" section
and other objects in the sky of France

Lodève, September 23. -- The mysterious craft commonly called "flying cigar" reported in the Puy-de-Dôme and in the sky of Rome was seen on Saturday, September 18, - 7 p.m., very precisely - by three trustworthy inhabitants of Lodève, in the north of the Hérault department, when it was operating at an altitude of around 1,500 meters. The object was heading south.

Witnesses were able to observe a tapered bow for almost five minutes, towing a brilliantly lit fiery-red globe and moving noiselessly at about the speed of an ordinary airplane.

***

Châteauroux, September 23. -- Returning from tour during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, two gendarmes from Chateauroux, MM. Courtaud and Péninon declared to their chief to have seen between 9:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. above La Fleuranderie, commune of Montierchaume (Indre), a luminous craft immobilized in the sky, at a height of approximately 1,500 meters, then two others of greenish color at a greater altitude. The three mysterious objects, after having turned at right angles, would have taken the direction northwest, southeast.

***

Nancy, September 23. -- Mr. Louis Moll, country guard in Oberdorf (Moselle), said he saw on Sunday around 9:15 p.m., an intense glow coming from space and touching the ground east of Tromborn.

This glow, like that of a neon tube, added the guard, and coming from an object of fairly large proportions, changed color. It became reddish and Mr. Moll claims to have seen "black dots" moving silently.

The object, motionless for almost 40 seconds, started to rotate and made an almost vertical ascent, taking the appearance of an orange ball and flattening before disappearing at a dizzying speed, in the southeast direction. The total duration of the phenomenon was approximately one minute.

The authorities that recorded this statement have opened an investigation.

"Cigars" and other flying craft still move in the sky

PARIS. -- The mysterious machine commonly called "flying cigar" reported in the Puy-de-Dôme and in the sky of Rome was seen Saturday, September 18, at 7 p.m. very precisely, by three trustworthy residents of Lodève, north of the Hérault, as it moved around 1,500 m of altitude. The object was heading south.

The witnesses were able to observe for about 5 minutes a tapered front, towing a fiery red-lighted globe and moving approximately at the speed of a regular plane.

Seen by the gendarmes

Returning from a patrol during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, two gendarmes of Châteauroux told their chief that they saw, between 09:15 p.m. and 09:45 p.m., above La Fleuranderie, municipality of Montierchaume (Indre), a luminous machine immobilized in the sky at a height of about 1,500 m., and two others of greenish color at a greater altitude. The three mysterious objects, after turning at right angles, would have taken the direction north-west, south-east.

And a country guard

Finally, Mr. Louis Moll, country guard in Oberdorf (Moselle), said he saw on Sunday at 09:15 p.m., an intense glow coming from space and touching land east of Tromborn.

This glow, similar to that of a neon tube, added the guard, and coming from an object of rather large proportions, changed color. It became reddish and Mr. Moll claims to have seen "black dots" move silently. The object, motionless for almost 40 seconds, started rotating and climbed almost vertically, looking like an orange ball and flattening before disappearing at a vertiginous speed, in the Southeast direction. The total duration of the phenomenon was about a minute.

FLYING SAUCERS (continued)

Two gendarmes and a rural guard saw in their turn mysterious machines

Lodève, 23 September. -- A mysterious "flying cigar" reported in the Puy-de-Dôme and in the sky of Rome was seen Saturday, September 18 at 7 p.m. by three credible residents of Lodève, north of the department of the Hérault, as it moved at 1,500 meters of altitude approximately. The object was heading south.

The witnesses were able to observe it for nearly five minutes a tapered front, towing a globe brightly lit, fire red and moving noiselessly at the speed of an ordinary plane.

Châteauroux. -- Returning from a patrol during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, two gendarmes of Chateauroux told their leader that they saw, between 9:15 p.m. and 09:45 p.m., a luminous device immobilized in the sky at a height of about 1,500 meters, then two others of greenish color at a higher altitude. The three mysterious objects, after turning at right angles, would have taken the north-west, south-east direction.

Nancy. -- Mr. Louis Moll, a rural guard in Oberdorf (Moselle), said he saw Sunday around 9:15 p.m., an intense glow coming from space and touching earth, east of Tromborn.

This glow, similar to that of a neon tube, added the guard, and coming from an object of rather large proportions, changed color. It became reddish and Mr. Moll said he saw "black spots" move silently.

The object, motionless for nearly 40 seconds, rotated and ascended almost vertically, taking on the appearance of an orange colored and flat ball before disappearing at a dizzying speed in the south-east direction. The total duration of the phenomenon was about one minute. The authorities, which have recorded this statement, opened an investigation.

According to several witnesses...

Flying cigars, luminous machines and other mysterious apparatuses evolve in the sky of France...

Lodève, September 23. -- The mysterious apparatus, commonly called "flying cigar" reported in the Puy de Dôme and in the sky of Rome was seen last Saturday September 18 at 7 p.m. very precise by three residents worthy of faith of Lodève, in the north of the department of the Hérault whereas it evolved at 1.500 meters of altitude approximately. The object moved towards the south.

The witnesses managed to observe during nearly five minutes a pointed front, towing a brilliantly lit sphere enlightened in fire red and moving without noise roughly at the speed of an ordinary plane.

They were three

Returning from a patrol during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, two gendarmes of Chateauroux, Misters Courtaud and Peninon stated to their chief to have seen between 09:15 p.m. and 09:45 p.m., above of Fleuranderie, community of Montierchaume (the Indre), a reddish luminous machine, immobilized in the sky at a height of approximately 1.500 meters; then two others of greenish color at greater altitudes. The three mysterious objects, after having veered at a right angle had taken the north-western to south-eastern direction.

Black dots

M. Louis Moll, rural officer in Oberdorf (the Moselle), stated to have seen Sunday around 09:15 p.m., an intense gleam coming from space and touching the ground in the east of Tromborn.

This gleam similar to that of a neon tube, added the guard, and coming from an object to the rather vast proportions, changed color. It became reddish and Mr. Moll affirms to have seen "black dots" evolving silently.

The object, motionless during nearly 40 seconds, was put in rotation and carried out an almost vertical rise, taking the aspect of an orange ball and becoming flattened before taking the direction of the south-east at a vertiginous speed. The total duration of the phenomenon was one minute approximately.

The authorities which recorded this statement opened an investigation.

"Flying cigar"
and other objects
in the sky of France

The mysterious craft commonly known as a "flying cigar", reported in the Puy-de-Dôme and in the sky of Rome, was seen on Saturday, September 18, at 7 p.m. very precisely, by three trustworthy residents of Lodève, in the north of the department of Hérault, while it was moving approximately 1,500 meters high. The object was heading south.

The witnesses were able to observe for almost five minutes, a tapered front, towing a brilliant globe lit with red fire and moving silently at approximately the speed of an ordinary plane.

Also, two gendarmes from Châteauroux, said they saw between 9:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m., above the commune of Montierchaume (Indre) a luminous craft, immobilized in the sky at a height of approximately 1,500 meters, then two others of greenish color.

Finally, the country guard in Oberdorf (Moselle) said he saw Sunday around 9 p.m. an intense gleam coming from space and touching earth east of Tromborn (Moselle).

SO THAT THE PUBLIC MAKES UP THEIR MINDS

A member of parliament asks that the "flying cigars" are chased

Paris. -- The appearance of "flying saucers" and "flying cigars" intrigues the public opinion. This is at least what Mr. Léotard, deputy of the Seine thinks, whom has just asked on this matter a written question to the Secretary of State to the Armed Forces (Air).

The member of Parliament asks:

"1) Whether instructions were given so that these phenomena are systematically and scientifically observed;

"2) Whether these "saucers" or "cigars" could be chased to be better observed, so that the public knows exactly if it is a matter of collective autosuggestion to dissipate, or if it is necessary to take account of these phenomena, from the security and national defense point of view."

"Apparition" in the Hérault

Reported in the Puy-de-Dôme, the Allier, in Lorrain[e] and in the sky of Rome, the mysterious craft were also observed in the Hérault, Saturday, at 7 p.m., by three Lodève residents.

The witnesses were able to see, during five minutes, a fuselage towing a fire red shining illuminated sphere moving without noise, roughly at the speed of an ordinary plane.

The testimony of two gendarmes

In addition, returning from a round during the night, two gendarmes of Chateauroux, Misters Courtaud and Peninon, stated to their chief that they saw, between 09:15 p.m. and 09:45 p.m., above Lafleuranderie, a commune of Montierchaume (Indre), a luminous machine immobilized in the sky at an altitude of approximately 1.500 meters, plus two others of greenish color at a greater altitude. The three mysterious objects, after having veered at a right angle, reportedly took the north-western - south-east direction.

AND NOW THE "FLYING BUS"

PARIS, Friday. -- A Rural Guard, M. Louis Moll, said yesterday he had seen a "flying bus" bedecked with "neon lights" descend from the night sky and land near the Lorraine village of Tromborn.

"A great light came down out of the sky. It had the form of a little bus and seemed to have neon tubes around it. There seemed to be little black objects moving around in the lighted machine. After 40 seconds it took off vertically and disappeared trailing orange jets. During all the time I heard no sound."

Another report in the recent series of stories of strange sights in the sky over France came from the town of Origny en Thierache in the north.

M. Robert Chovel, an industrialist, said he and two of his relatives "suddenly found ourselves looking at an enormous orange disc which seemed suspended a few hundred meters above the trees."

He said it remained still for a time "then disappeared."

At Chateauroux two policemen said they saw a luminous machine hovering at an altitude of about 5000 feet then two other machines of a greenish color at a greater height.

In the Southern Department of Herault several witnesses reported seeing what appeared to be a "flying cigar" towing a fiery red ball at a high speed.

Michelle Morgan the actress claimed she saw two flying saucers over Les Invalides, in the centre or Paris.

A French Deputy has submitted a written question to the Secretary of State for Air asking whether the aerial phenomena are being studied so that the public can be told "what is going on". -- N.Z. P.A. - Reuter.

FLYING CIGARS IN THE FRENCH SKY

The mysterious craft, commonly called flying cigar, announced in Puy de Dôme and in the sky of Rome, was seen on Saturday September 18, at 07:00 P.M. very precisely, by three worthy of faith inhabitants of Lodève, in the north of the department of Hérault, whereas it evolved at 1500 meters altitude approximately. The object moved towards the south. The witnesses could observe it during nearly five minutes a tapered fuselage, towing a shiny lightened fire red sphere and moving without noise, roughly at the speed of an ordinary plane.

Two gendarmes saw it... And submitted a report with their chief.

On returning pf a patrol during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, two gendarmes of Chateauroux, Mr. Coutaud and Mr. Peninon, stated to their chief that they have seen, between 09:15 P.M. and 09:45 P.M., above Fleuranderie, village of Montierchaume (Indre), a luminous machine hovering still in the sky, at a height of approximately 1500 meters of altitude, then two others of greenish color at a greater altitude. The three mysterious objects, after having turned at a 90 degrees angle, are said to have taken the noth/west to south/east direction.

The forest service officer was there...

Mr. Louis Moll, rural officer in Oberdorf (the Moselle) stated that he saw, on Sunday (19/0/1954) around 09:15 P.M., an intense gleam coming from space and touching the ground in the east of Tromborn. This gleam was similar to that of a neon tube, he added, and coming from an object of quite vast proportions, and changed color. It became reddish and Mr. Moll claims to have seen black points evolving silently. The object, motionless during nearly 40 seconds, went into a rotation and carried out an almost vertical rise, taking the aspect of an orange ball and flattened before disappearing at a vertiginous speed in the south/east direction. The total duration of the phenomenon was one minute approximately.

What does Secretary of State for the Air think about it?

These evolutions of mysterious machine of which an increasing number people are or believe being the witnesses however start to intrigue the opinion. Therefore Mr. de Léonard, deputy for the Seine, has just asked the Secretary of State to the Air, in a written letter: 1) If orders were given so that these phenomena are systematically and scientifically studied; 2) If these saucers or cigars could not be chased so that they are better observed, so that the public knows exactly if it is a matter of collective autosuggestion to dissipate, or if it is necessary to take account of these phenomena with the point of view of safety and National Defense.

France In Grip Of Flying Saucer Fever

From June GODDARD In Paris

FRANCE, the land of logic, is in the full grip of the fever of flying saucers and of little men in space helmets, who make friendly, if unintelligible, advances to startled peasants, or nail them to the spot with a hypnotic "green ray."

For the past 10 days there have been unnumerable flying saucer reports from peasants, doctors, milkmen, butchers, farmers, housewives, gendarmes, teachers, from the Channel coast to the Mediterranean, from the Pyrenees to the Ardennes, from Britany to Alsace.

According to all these witnesses, the sky over France is alight with sparkling yellow "saucers," bluish globes, "flying cigars," (Once as dramatically reported from Mulhouse in Alsace, surrounded by "12 little cheroots"), plain aluminum "saucers," luminous "cigars," 10 "saucers" which seemed to perform a sort of ballet in the sky, and sometimes just plain "mysterious machines."

Unlike earlier flying saucers, those reported hovering over France fly low, sometimes at about 600 ft, and do not flash across the sky, but remain in view for as long as 15 minutes, or remain apparently immobile.

They variously spit flames, form luminous curtains of light, change color, land and take off vertically without a sound.

MANY French scientists, hitherto skeptical on the flying saucer question, are reported to be somewhat shaken by the multiplicity of reports, and by the fact that some are group observations, or individual reports which tally with others received from adjacent regions.

On the subject of little men or Martians, they reiterate that astronomers have never made any observations which could indicate a high form of life on Mars.

They point out that Mars is a thousand million years older than the earth, and that, if life did once exist there, it probably disappeared in the pink icy deserts which appear now to abound on the planet.

The protagonists of the flying saucers and the little men from Mars have been greatly encouraged by an article in the serious journal, "Forces Aériennes Françaises" (French Air Forces) written by a young aeronautical engineer, Lieut. J. Plantier, and approved by an engineer-in-chief of the Air Ministry.

Lieut. Plantier does not take sides, but merely demonstrates theoretically and by mathematical study that all the phenomenal behavior attributed to flying saucers is perfectly explicable if such machines were using cosmic ray energy,

Lieut. Plantier shows that the reports that flying saucers remain motionless in the sky, accelerate from immobility to 10,000 m.p.h. in a few seconds without any noise, and that living beings can fly in them without being harmed by the acceleration, are completely logical if it is admitted that energy of cosmic rays has been harnessed and that machines can fly at the speed of light.

IRRESPECTIVE of the views of scientists, however, French men and women continue to report daily appearances of saucers and cigars and their encounters with the space men.

First reaction of the honest French citizen in the face of any unusual happening or danger - including, it seems, phenomena from outer space - is to inform the gendarmes.

Accordingly, in villages and towns, bold gendarmes have been "alerted" as the French Press has it, and have been kept busy checking reports and examining alleged flying saucer landing areas for "traces."

Two gendarmes at Chateauroux in Central France themselves saw three luminous green flying objects.

Their police training immediately asserted itself, and they stopped a motor car driver and a cyclist so that they too could look and bear witness. Then the gendarmes made out a full report.

The only tangible evidence to date of a landing is that produced by Mr. Marius Dewilde, a 28-year-old metal worker in the North near Valenciennes.

Mr. Dewilde, a young man with a hairline moustache, a long - and it must be admitted, humorous - face, said he first saw the "Martians" from his garden near the railway line.

"Two little beings, not more than three feet high," he reported, "each wearing a sort of diving suit with metal helmet, were standing near a 'flying cigar,' which had landed on the railway sleepers."

Mr. Dewilde had no chance to shake hands or welcome the visitors in the name of the Fourth Republic for, as soon as they saw him, they hypnotized him with a "green ray" while they leapt into their machine which, of course, took off vertically in a thick cloud of smoke without making a sound.

Next day the gendarmes "alerted" at once by Mr. Dewilde and two inspectors of the Air Force police, found a series of strange regular marks on the railway sleepers, which could have been caused by the "saucer" in landing.

MOST intimate contact with the space men was reported by M. Antoine Mazaud, a farmer, aged 58, with a bushy grey moustache, who lives near Limoges in the Massif central plateau of France.

Mr. Mazaud alleges that a "Martian" about three feet high emerged from a "flying cigar" and began to talk in an unintelligible tongue. When he realized that M. Mazaud could not understand him, he kissed the farmer on the cheek.

Mr. Mazaud's argumentative fellow-countrymen, questioning this strange story, immediately wanted to know why a creature from another world should adopt the habit - not even universal on earth, they pointed - of kissing.

"It is surprising that he did not pin a medal on your chest and kiss you on both cheeks," they scoffed.

In view of this unsympathetic response to M. Mazaud's story, it is not surprising, therefore, that M. Yves David, a farmer of Chatellerault, concealed for some days the fact that he had been touched on the arm by a "space man" before being momentarily hypnotized by the "green ray" like Mr. Dewilde.

Mr. David was afraid of being laughed at, he said, but eventually asked a friend if anyone else had seen the space man. The friend spread the news and, of course, told the gendarmes.

Two women in the Yonne department gave independent reports of having seen a strange machine in a clearing with a pilot standing next to it. Neither stayed to investigate, however.

DAILY the stories continue. No Parisians have yet reported an encounter with a "Martian," although, as the wits point out, you would expect them to land on the "Champs de Mars" ("Field of Mars"), the esplanade in the front of the military school.

Cartoonists are fully exploiting the "Martian" and flying saucer season. One, in true Gallic vein, has drawn the classic wronged husband who returns home unexpectedly. He has thrown open the cupboard door to reveal a strange little figure in a spaceman's suit and helmet, and is saying to his guilty wife, cowering in bed: "And that, I suppose, you'll tell me, is a Martian."

Most celebrated flying saucer "spotter" to date in Paris is film star Michele Morgan, who reported seeing one near the Eiffel tower at about 10 p.m.

When Mademoiselle Morgan later complained of the flood of telephone calls from fans and friends who wanted to hear further details, her mother made the dry and essentially French comment:

"You lost a good opportunity that night to hold your tongue."

September 21 [1954]

?: Indre (misinterpretation of weather balloons)

9/29/54 (NR for 9/23/54).

Three UAP above Montierchaume (Indre).

Two gendarmes were driving between Déols and Céré (N. 20 exit N of Châteauroux at 9:05 p.m.: from NW to NE see a luminous mass advancing in jerks, the brightness of which was extinguished at intervals. Long observation. Then a second craft, same direction but lower and easier to observe. It was circular and seemed to turn on itself. Pale greenish light, estimated height: 1200 m. It moved in jerks, marking numerous stops. One of these stops lasted 1/4 of an hour above the village of la Fleuranderie (Castle it seems on Michelin 68, fold 8). A third craft was observed in the same conditions although it is higher. These observations had a duration 3/4 hour.

The two gendarmes checked their observation with a sales representative, and an agricultural worker living in Cornassay.

3826: 1954/09/23 21:10 45 1:42:40 E 46:51:40 N 3333 WEU FRN INR 7:8

N20 N/DEOLS,FR:COPS++:3 SCRS >>E in JUMPS:2nd/LO alt SPINS:1 STOP=15min!

Ref#230 LDLN CONTACT LECTEURS series '68-'72 Volume 4 Issue 4 : ROAD+RAILS

36/02 - 1954 September 22 - Fleuanderie -

Returning from tour during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, two gendarmes from Châteauroux, Messrs. Courtaud and Penimon, declared to their chief, having seen between 10:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m., above Fleuanderie [sic], commune of Montierchaume (Indre), a reddish luminous craft, immobilized in the sky at a height of approximately 1500 meters, then two others of greenish color at greater altitude. The three mysterious objects, after turning at a right angle, had taken a northwest direction towards [the] southeast.

Note: Other sources give the date as September 21, 1954.

(Source: Var-Matin Republique for September 24, 1954)