The 1954 French flap:

In the sky of Bayonne the "cigars" fly in formation

Bayonne, September 24. -- Residents of Bayonne claim to have seen, this afternoon very high in the sky, three mysterious objects, of light color. A policeman, Mr. Corrions, who was in the district of Les Halles, observed three motionless machines laid out in a triangle. "They had", he said, "the shape and the dimension of a rugby ball and appeared to be at a considerable height."

Passers by stated to have seen the same luminous objects from other locations.

The gendarmes
are looking for a
"Martian" in the
Limousin maquis

From the Moselle to the Bidassoa, the "Martian" offensive is developing. It is now by squadrons that saucers and cigars fly over the territory. We counted up to six at a time, yesterday, above Lantefontaine-les-Baroches, in Lorraine. Several dozen workers saw them.

"We first saw," they said, "two 'cigars', then four more craft joined the first two. All of them stood perfectly still for a moment and finally disappeared instantly."

Their statements are confirmed by several other people.

In Bayonne, yesterday afternoon, three were seen. A peacekeeper, Mr. Corrions, who was in the Halles district, observed these three motionless craft, arranged in a triangle and slightly oval in shape. They were, he said, the size of a rugby ball and appeared to be at a considerable height.

In Le Puy, only one cigar, but the end was, it seems, glowing.

In Clermont-Ferrand, the same probably left behind a pink trail; in Langeac (Haute-Loire), it was a white glow.

In Epinal, it is no longer a cigar but a yellow saucer, "surrounded by a paler ring".

In the Charente-Maritime, three fishermen and a customs officer saw the other night a formation of three saucers which was scouring, while that with binoculars, yesterday afternoon, in Villebois-Lavalette (Charente), Mrs. Faubert and Miss Forgeron clearly distinguished a "slightly conical" cigar.

In the Limousin, terror reigns. In Roches (Creuse), the children no longer dare to go to school alone: a man of strange appearance who is hiding in thickets was seen. Two young shepherdesses also saw him near Chamboulève (Corrèze). One wonders whether the "Martian" who, the other day, kissed a Bugeat farmer and left without saying a word on board his saucer, left a companion who wanders through the Limousin maquis. The gendarmes are looking for the "Martian", but have not yet encountered him...

"CIGARS"
FLY
IN FORMATION

Bayonne, 25. -- Bayonne residents claim to have seen Friday afternoon, very high in the sky, in a northeast direction, three mysterious light-colored objects sharp against the pure sky at that hour.

A peacekeeper, Mr. Carrions, who was in the hall area, observed these three motionless craft, arranged in a triangle, of slightly oval shape. They were, he said, the size of a rugby ball and appeared to be at a considerable height.

Passers-by said they saw the same bright objects in other places.

Nancy, 25. -- Several dozen "Sidelor" workers living in the Lantéfontaine-les-Baroches region (M. et M.), claim to have seen six flying cigars in the sky between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m..

"We first saw, they said, two" cigars ", then later four other craft came to join the first two. All remained motionless for a moment and finally disappeared instantly. These statements are confirmed by several other people... and an isolated one.

Le Puy, 25. -- Mrs. Chaumard, living in the Girette district in Le Puy, saw in the sky a craft having a shape like a cigar glowing at one end, silent and appearing motionless, she could observe the craft for almost a quarter of an hour, then the "cigar" suddenly disappeared while gaining altitude.

The sky of Auvergne
is also crossed
mysterious craft

Clermont-Ferrand, 25. -- Six residents of Langeac (Haute-Loire) saw a white glow move in the sky in direction South.

A resident of Gelles (Puy-de-Dôme), Mrs. widow Melle, claimed to have seen in the sky a luminous craft of a shape "like a cigar". The craft moved silently.

A resident of Clermont-Ferrand was picking mushrooms: he saw in the sky, at high altitude, a luminous trail "slightly colored in pink".

A FORMATION
of FLYING SAUCERS
NEAR LA ROCHELLE

La Rochelle, 23. - In Charron (Charente-Maritime), three fishermen and a customs officer declare having seen during a of these last nights, a formation of flying saucers moving very low and flying over the shore, before disappearing.

More saucers

More saucers to add to an already imposing pile!

It is a doctor from Le Puy who would have observed twice, above his city, a silent, round and shiny object.

In Charron (Charente-Maritime), three fishermen (moon fishermen, no doubt) and a customs officer would have seen a formation of saucers, moving very low, above the shore.

Bayonne residents claimed to have seen three mysterious objects, of light color.

Six flying cigars (note that they were not acrobats) would have crisscrossed the sky of Haute-Fontaine-les-Baroches (Meurthe-and-Moselle).

Mysterious craft were also reported above Epinal and Le Puy.

Certainly, the skies of France are very populated...

The Passer-By spends his time scanning the horizon. He even caught a painful stiff neck.

Fortunately, the English have just developed a flying "cage-bed", which will be of great service to saucer researchers.

A word of advice to those who find themselves in the presence of a "saucer" or a "cigar": be very... "diplomat"!

THE PASSER-BY

"CIGARS" FLY
IN FORMATION

Bayonne. -- Bayonne residents claim to have seen, Friday, very high in the sky, in North-East direction, three mysterious objects of clear hue, sharp on the pure sky at that hour.

A peacekeeper, Mr. Corrions, who was in the Halles district, observed these three motionless craft, arranged in a triangle, of slightly oval shape. They were, he said, the size of a rugby ball and appeared to be at a considerable height.

Passers-by said they saw the same bright objects in other places.

On the other hand, several dozen "Sidelor" workers living in the Lantéfontaine-lez-Baroches region (M.-et-M.), claim to have seen six flying cigars in the sky between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.

"We first saw, they said, two "cigars" then, after, four other craft joined the first two. All remained motionless for a moment and finally disappeared instantly. These statements are confirmed by several other people.

A formation of saucers
flying near La Rochelle

In La Charron (Charente-Maritime), three fishermen and a customs officer declare having seen, during one of these last nights, a formation of flying saucers moving very low and flying over the shore before disappearing.

FROM THE MOSELLE TO THE BIDASSOA

WITNESSES SAW
"SAUCERS" AND "CIGARS"
FLYING IN FORMATION

Saucers and cigars now crisscross the sky in formation! At least that's what fishermen from La Rochelle and residents of Bayonne say.

The first declared to have seen, during one of these last nights, a "formation" of flying saucers evolving very low and flying over the village before disappearing.

The second claimed to have seen, Friday afternoon, very high in the sky, in a northeast direction, three mysterious objects, clear in color, sharp on the pure sky at that hour.

A peacekeeper, Mr. Corrions, who was in the Halles district, observed these three immobile craft, arranged in a triangle, of slightly oval shape. They were, he said, the size of a rugby ball and appeared to be at a considerable height.

Passers-by said they saw the same bright objects in other places.

In Auvergne, testimonies are pouring in from all sides.

Six residents of Langeac (Haute-Loire) saw a white glow moving in the sky towards the south.

A resident of Gelles (Puy-de-Dôme), Mrs. widow Melle, claimed to have seen in the sky a luminous craft of an elongated shape "like a cigar". The machine moved silently. A resident of Clermont-Ferrand was picking mushrooms: he saw in the sky, at high altitude, a luminous trail "slightly colored in pink".

In addition, several dozen of "Sidelor" workers living in the Lantéfontaine-les-Baroches region (M.-et-M.) claim to have seen six flying cigars in the sky between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., Friday.

"We first saw, they said, two "cigars", then after that four other craft came to join the first two. All of them stayed for a moment perfectly still and finally disappeared instantly. These statements are confirmed by several other people.

"CIGARS"
FLY IN FORMATION

Bayonne, 21 Sep. -- Some residents of Bayonne claim to have seen this afternoon, very high in the sky, in a northeast direction, three mysterious objects of light tint, cutting on the pure sky at that hour.

A peacekeeper, Mr. Corrions, who was in the Halles district, observed these three immobile craft, arranged in a triangle, of slightly oval shape. They were, he said, the size of a rugby ball and appeared to be at a considerable height.

Passers-by said they saw the same bright objects in other places.

Nancy. -- Several dozen "Sidelor" workers living in the Lantéfontaine-les-Baroches region (M.-et-M.), claim to have seen in the sky six flying cigars, between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.

"We first saw, they said, two "cigars", then later four other craft came to join the first two. All remained motionless for a moment and finally disappeared instantly. These statements are confirmed by several other people.

Le Puy, 25. - Mrs. Chaumard, living in the Girette district in Le Puy, saw in the sky a craft having a shape like a glowing cigar at one end, silent and appearing motionless, she could observe the craft for almost a quarter of an hour, then the "cigar" suddenly disappeared while gaining altitude.

New invasion of flying cigars in the sky of France
Witnesses claim: "They had the dimension of a rugby ball"

Bayonne, September 25. -- Residents of Bayonne claim to have seen, this afternoon, very high in the sky, in the north-eastern direction, three mysterious objects of light color, contrasting on the pure sky at this hour there.

A policeman, Mr. Carrions, who was in the district of the Halles, observed these three motionless machines, laid out in triangle, of slightly oval shape. They had, he said, the dimension of a rugby ball and appeared to be at a considerable height.

Passers by stated to have seen the same luminous objects in other places.

In the Meurthe et Moselle

Several tens of workmen of "Sidelor" living the area of Lantefontaine-les-Baroches (Meurthe et Moselle) claim to have seen in the sky, six flying cigars, between 04:30 and 05:30. "We initially saw, they stated, two "cigars" then four other apparatuses came to join the two first. All remained perfectly motionless one moment to finally disappear instantaneously." These statements are confirmed by several other people.

In Le Puy

Mrs. Chaumard, living in the La Girette district in Le Puy, saw in the sky, a machine having the shape of a cigar, reddish at an end. Silent and appearing motionless, she managed to observe the machine during nearly a quarter of an hour, then the "cigar" suddenly disappeared by taking altitude.

In the sky of the Auvergne

Clermont Ferrand. -- Six residents of Langeac (the Haute Loire) saw a white gleam moving in the sky in direction of the ground.

A resident of Gelles (the Puy de Dôme), Mrs. widow Melles claims to have seen in the sky, a luminous machine of lengthened form "of the cigar kind". The craft moved silently. A resident of Clermont Ferrand gathered mushrooms: he saw in the sky at high altitude, a luminous trail "slightly pink colored".

Rugby players, training in the Vichy stadium, saw a flying cigar.

Near La Rochelle

La Rochelle. -- At La Charron (the Charente Maritime), three fishermen and a customs observer state to have seen, during one of these last nights, a formation of flying saucers moving very low and flying over the shore, before disappearing.

The sky of France is furrowed by "cigars" and "flying saucers"

Paris. September 25. -- From several localities of France, the appearance of "cigars" or "flying saucers" in the sky is reported.

Thus in Charron (the Charente-Maritime), three fishermen and a customs officer state to have seen during one of these last nights, a formation of flying saucers evolving very low and flying over the shore before disappearing.

In Bayonne, inhabitants claim to have seen, very high in the sky, three mysterious objects of clear color, contrasting with the sky. A police officer, Mr. Corrions, observed these three motionless machines, laid out in triangle, of slightly oval form. "They had, he said, the dimension

Flying saucers

of a rugby ball and appeared to be at a considerable height."

In the Meurthe-and-Moselle, several tens of workmen of "Sidelor", living the area of Lantefontaine-les-Baroches (M.-and-M.). claim to have seen six flying cigars between 04:30 and 05:00 in the sky .

"We initially saw, they said, two "cigars", then afterwards, four other craft came to join the two first. All remained motionless one moment for finally disappearing instantaneously."

In Le Puy, Mrs. Chaumard, resident of the district of La Girète, saw in the sky a machine having the shape of a cigar reddish glowing at an end, silent and appearing motionless. She managed to observe the machine during nearly a quarter of hour, then the "cigar" suddenly disappeared by taking altitude.

The same observations were made by six inhabitants of Langeac (Haute-Loire) and several inhabitants of Gelles (Puy-de-Dome) or Clermont-Ferrand.

In this area, rugby players training at the Vichy stadium saw a "flying cigar".

In the Aveyron

From Villefranche-de-Rouergue in the Aveyron, it is reported that an owner of Vabre-Tézac, Mr. Marre, saw a yellowish mass of color which moved away towards the south, without leaving behind any trace of smoke.

The attention of Mr. Marre had been drawn by the noise of an engine.

Other inhabitants of the locality also heard, from the inside of their house, the same noise, but not having come out, they did not see the weird "mass."

Saucers - cigars and fireballs

After the flight of saucers over the White House the investigation revealed that radar sets were mistaken.

Thousands of people have actually seen the "bright objects" wander in the sky in a puzzling manner. Certainly, on September 28, the "saucer" seen above Mt. Revard by Dr Martinet and fifteen other people was a flock of starlings. The good doctor admitted his mistake the next day when an aviator, Michel Guyard, came to reveal that he also was intrigued by this glittering whirl, but that as he approached it with his plane he merely frightened peaceful birds - as a result, the perfect disc they formed was disrupted.

It is impossible, however, to explain other reports of observed phenomena as collective hallucination... although it is fair to note at first that these "saucers" appeared with extremely diverse aspects.

In the few hundred and fifty cases we have been cataloged in France, they looked round or oblong balls of fire, matt or bright, big or small, blue, green, red, yellow or white, naked or surrounded of a ring, noisy or silent, producing sparks (or smoke) or leaving no wake, when they did not have the form of discs, cigars or half cigars.

They were seen day and night, although their occupants preferred the troubled hours of dusk. They were especially seen evolving in every manners: slowly or quickly, horizontally or vertically, in a straight line or in a broken line.

How to sort all this?

The jet fighters hunted in vain

Could there be so many different saucers with so many different origins? If they come to us from outer space, are there so many other inhabited worlds... and who are interested in us?

In truth, nothing precise could be learned of the reported sightings and often witness of the same phenomenon does not agree among themselves as to the size, shape and color of the object. So we are at the same step as the Americans in 1952, when the new radar set installed just a few days ago in Washington detected flying "saucers", finally placing the matter in the field of science. This device could not be wrong and played the role of arbitrator in an unexpected but worrying manner.

Specialists on duty assured the survey in their new premises, when one fine morning the watchman was startled: a luminous echo appeared on the screen although no aircraft was reported. They first thought - it had happened - that a commercial aircraft had violated regulations of air navigation and was flying over the forbidden zone of the White House. They alerted "Shooting Star" squadrons, which took off immediately. But the "object" fainted before the arrival of the jet fighters. Thus the thing had fled at such an unimaginable speed, showing by that the existence of these objects zigzagging at thousands of kilometers an hour before dissolving in the sky. The emotion climbed and it was officially decided to strengthen monitoring devices. The order was not useless, because a few days later, a new alert was given.

Jet fighters take off and rush at the full power of their reactors to the spot of the sky indicated by their radio, but arrived there, they announced again: - The sky is empty.

"For God's sake, do not shoot on the saucers!"

This time radar men jump on their feet. The bright spot is on their screen, indisputable and provocative. The small spots of the "Shooting Star[s]" come close to covering it. Saucers, cigars and fireballs.

- Attention, you are in contact, scream the radar experts. But the fighters rush at 800 km/h in a still desert sky, with perhaps at this place a slightly milky transparency.

Are the famous "objects" merely ectoplasm?

Once again public opinion is moved. Letters reach the U.S. Air Force to ask "not to irritate the visitors." "For God's sake, do not shoot at the saucers" implores a correspondent. Technicians, of course, do not believe in ghosts. A new commission is appointed. For six months, aerodynamic engineers, astronomers, meteorologists and scientists of all disciplines having some possible connection with the "saucers" study dozens of cases. And their conclusion sudden bursts, amazing but indisputable, freeing America of a part of its fear, by revealing the radar, too, was wrong. Each time a ghost image scored the fighters, meteorologists found in altitude, the presence of a layer of cold air between two layers of warm air. The density (and index of refraction) of air varying with the temperature, this "sandwich" had acted like a mirror to the radio-electrical airwaves and airplanes were guided, after a descent as fast as the rise, towards sheds or metal structures on the ground. The phenomenon can also reflect the sun in the day and the moon and the lights of a city at night. Often, the picture is double or triple, each separation surface playing a distinct role; "Saucers in pairs."

Certainly temperature inversions do not explain everything. But US experts feel that they were responsible for nearly 80% of the reported luminous apparitions beyond the Atlantic, and many mysterious machines seen in France can probably be allotted to them.

It may be noted, in chronological order, two parallel gleams in Antibes, in August 1949, two silver balls in Poitiers, May 10, 1952, two white discs at Roche-sur-Yon, twelve days later, "numerous red saucers" flying in zigzag, two by two, on October 17, 1952 in Oloron-Sainte-Marie (the radar of Mont-de-Marsan perceives its echo like its American brothers). Many other cases could be cited to the most recent: last September 24 three oval objects were reported in Bayonne, three in Charente-Maritime and six "cigar" evolving two by two in Lantefontaine, Lorraine.

Cases of isolated phenomena are even more numerous. - What! cry the disappointed "pro-saucerists", so, it was only this? Honestly see that we find in this category of events most characteristics reported by the "witnesses": blurry lights, sometimes surrounded by a halo, appearance and disappearance (with the complicity of clouds or because of the fading of lighting conditions) and above developments as capricious as fast. The surface of separation of two air layers are not still, of course; it empties and oscillates under the influence of currents in the atmosphere and the image is rejected from one corner of the sky to another.

Very thin cosmic dust

It is regrettable that comments are usually too vague to allow the technician to decide with authority; but only immaterial manifestations may be gifted the dizzying, instantaneous speeds, lent to "saucers" in which most cases. Whatever their origin, terrestrial or extraterrestrial visitors, they would be subject to the laws of the universal gravitation (and consequently the acceleration), that all the planets in all galaxies undergo. Whatever the power of their machinery and engineering, "Saucers" could not overcome their own weight. And all the magnetic currents or other cosmic rays they are deemed to use may make immaterial beings. But the meteorologists still have in their arsenal the noctilucent clouds that Vestine and Störmer think to be composed of very fine cosmic dust from outer space. These meteors are at 75 or 80 kilometers high, becoming brighter as the night goes on and present their maximum brightness at about midnight. The very serious "International Atlas of clouds "indicates that they may be driven by the powerful air currents prevailing in these altitudes, at speeds of 50 to 250 meters per second, or 180 to 900 kms. Let's recall in our turn that it only takes a small cumulus, although classic, but hidden in the night, so that the "saucer" vanishes and reappears.

- But, protesting the "pro-saucerists" you still have demolished only simplistic and disappointing sightings with this argument. They can rest assured there are other answers, more varied and also safe, to the most amazing events.

Barrels, discs, pots, headlights and flying balls are on the verge of dethroning the saucers and other cigars.

The time is gone, by far, when an ordinary "saucer" crossed the blue sky at high pace and disappeared over the horizon leaving a bluish trail. Since then, there were "cigars" which, together with their shape, generally took shimmering colors allowing witnesses not be wrong.

All this is outdated, if we judge by the recent observations made in France by people whose good faith may not be in doubt. The mysterious craft that arouse so much controversies and are poised to discord in many families between those who believe and those who disbelieve it, now take extremely varied and pleasing forms. As to colors, they turn from red to yellow through orange to any possible colors and halftones. Thus we have seen over the last twenty-four hours in the sky of France, several discs, a large headlight, a big ball, a pot, a crescent, and a barrel, a big star, not to mention the "saucers" and other "cigars" whose enumeration would be too long.

From Normandy...

The disks attracted the attention both of a Le Havre taxi driver, over Deauville, and a Lyon journalist south of the Basilica of Fourvière. In both cases, they were red-orange colored and shiny. They disappeared after ten minutes. The big headlight was moving over Aurec-sur-Loire (Haute-Loire) at high speed by issuing a orange-red light beam also. "When it disappeared", witnesses, Mr. and Mrs. Teyssier, of Saint-Etienne, said, "a second craft, similar to the first and appearing to follow it disappeared in the same direction."

In Epinac-les-Mines (Saône-et-Loire), drivers, puzzled, stopped at the roadside to follow the slow and graceful maneuvers of a big ball of light whose color, unfortunately, is not specified.

... to the Auvergne

The pot and the crescent troubled the tranquility of many northerners. The first, in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, turned on itself and freed a reddish glow. The second, in the sky of Lievin, hovered for a few minutes before splitting in two. That is when the upper part was standing still as the other landed in a field between two haystacks, then suddenly flew to join again the part remained in the air!...

It was night in Montecreau -Villebois-Lavalette (Charente) when Mr. Jean Allary, 22, saw by the light of the headlight of his motorcycle, a kind of 1.80-meters-high barrel and nails of golden nails! It swung on the roadside and fled when the witness approached. The next day, at the place indicated by Mr. Allary, witnesses spotted traces of about seven meters in length in the grass by the roadside.

It is the Clermont-Ferrand residents who, today, had the last word with the big star changing from the white to green and yellow to red, which, driven by a rotary movement, left behind an orange plume Monday night at 7 p.m. in the sky of Clermont-Ferrand.

Scientific controversies...

These celestial phenomena result, we have said it, in heated controversy. Thus a Professor of the University of Bonn, Joseph Meurès, said during a conference: "The book by American author Key Hoc [sic, Keyhoe] on flying saucers is not even worth the paper on which it is printed." Mr. Duneau Fletcher, vice president of the Astronomical Association of Kenya has another opinion: "The existence of saucers" is not to question, he believes, very experienced observers have seen them across the globe. And Mr. Fletcher gives his little idea on the question: "Visitors from another world observe the Earth and probably map it."

And merry pranks

These scholarly remarks do not prevent pranksters have fun with it at the expense of their fellow citizens. The police came and ended the hobby of a pensioner of Beuvry-les-Bethune who made gears three meters in diameter with sheets of paper very carefully glued and fitted at their base of a small receptacle containing a clump of tow soaked with a flammable liquid. Once he set fire to the tow, the "saucer" was in the sky and disappeared with the wind with yellow, orange and red lights. Alas! the truth was discovered when a gear began to set fire to a haystack...

September 24 [1954]

during the afternoon: Bayonne (Basses-Pyrénées): 3 lum.elliptical.obj

The same considerations apply to any attempt to establish the permanent and extended character of some of the lines, as envisaged in a subsequent article by Michel (1). In this he suggests that the Bayonne-Vichy line, established for September 24, 1954, is such a line and supports his statement by pointing out that the line passes through a number of regions in which large numbers of sightings later occurred. This is admittedly indicative of the extended character of the line, but not conclusive. A far more valid demonstration would be to find, within one or more of the regions concerned, during a limited time-period, a 3-pt., 4-pt., or 5-pt., ... line which was manifestly identical with the Bayonne-Vichy line. So far as I know, this has not been done.

Let us now apply these relations to the famous BAVIC alignment of 24th September, 1954. on this day, from midnight to midnight, there were a number of 10 sightings, of which 6 lie on a line stretching from Bayonne to Vichy [...]

Appliquons maintenant ces relations au fameux tracé de BAVIC du 24 septembre 1954. Ce jour-là, de minuit à minuit, 10 observations ont été observées, dont six sur une ligne allant de Bayonne à Vichy [...]

Among the alignments Michel thought he had succeeded in tracing, one in particular catches the attention at first glance. We will take it as an example.

For the single day of September 24, 1954, the French press reported the following sightings, here listed with their classifications: Lantefontaine [Actually Sep. 23], Type IV; Le Puy [Actually Sep. 23], Type IV; Langeac [Actually Sep. 22], Type IV; Tulle [Actually Sep. 22], Type IV; Ussel [Actually Sep. 20], Type I; Gelles [Actually Sep. 17], Type IV; Vichy [exact day not known], Type IV; Lencouacq [Actually Sep. 23], Type I; Bayonne [Actually Sep. 23], Type III.

At least half these eyewitness accounts would be rejected if studied within the limits of the usual official criteria. The Type IV sightings in particular could be judged insufficiently documented. Moreover, the phenomena reported at Tulle and Lencouacq were seen by only one witness. The Gelles sighting was of a "luminous cigar-shaped machine crossing the sky at a quite high speed and without sound." Must we immediately exclude it as being a meteor?

It is clear that the problem is one of method. To reject a measurement made on a known and reproducible physical phenomenon is certainly permissible when a new measurement may improve the accuracy; but to reject a piece of testimony concerning an unknown phenomenon deprives us of a certain quantity of information about the phenomenon and implies that the lost quantity is negligible. But how can we tell whether it really is negligible, since the phenomenon is unknown?

What Michel does is this. He draws a straight line from Bayonne to Vichy (see Figure 12.) This line passes through Lencouacq, Tulle, Ussel and Gelles; of the nine groups of sightings, six are along one and the same straight line. Tracing the straight line from Le Puy to Tulle, we see that it passes through Langeac, No single standard phenomenon (release of a balloon, aircraft flight, etc.) will account for this arrangement. To convince ourselves of this, it is enough to look at the times. The Bayonne and Vichy sightings are dated some time in the afternoon. The Lencouacq sighting falls four hours later. The Gelles sighting is at the beginning of the night. The one at Ussel is still later, and the Tulle case is at 11 P.M. Furthermore, the Bayonne sighting involves a triple object, whereas the other reports speak of single phenomena.

THE BAYONNE-VICHY LINE

[...]

Let us take another day, the 24th of September. Nine observations that day. On the nine, six are on the same line going from Bayonne to Vichy.

[...]

6. Bayonne, afternoon: Many people watched three elliptical objects, metallic in appearance, hover in the sky, and then move away very rapidly.

BAVIC Line joining Bayonne and Vichy, in France (BAyonne - VIChy). Aime Michel discovered that 6 out of 10 sightings recorded in France on Septemberc 24th, 1954, lay on this line. It has been suggested that this line may be a permanent feature, of global significance so far as UFOs are concerned. This is because, when continued around the world the line runs through areas which have experienced intensive waves of UFO sightings. (See also "0rthoteny.")

Francis SCHAEFER.

ORTHOTENICAL STUDY OF "BRUTUS"

On September 24, 1954, six observations of Spacecraft of Undetermined Origin were found on a 485 kilometers long single line, a line connecting Bayonne and Vichy via Lencouacq, Tulle, Ussel and Gelles; readers who have followed the research of the past years in the orthotenic branch recognize the famous "BAVIC" line which resists all the examinations of the skeptics.

[...]

- Carte rep. A

(I): BAVIC (Bayonne - Vichy)

1. Bayonne [en réalité le 23]
2. Lencouacq [en réalité le 23]
3. Tulle [en réalité le 22]
4. Ussel [en réalité le 20]
5. Gelles [en réalité le 17]
6. Vichy [en réalité sans date précise]

"BAVIC" est un alignement orthoténique (journée du 24-9-1954, carte N° 1 de "MOC" d'Aimé Michel.)

WHAT ABOUT BAVIC IN ALL THIS!

And yes, BAVIC remains! because orthoteny, more or less consciously, has finally identified with this line. For this memorable day of 09/24/1954, it remains undeniable at the challenge of all the "certainties of chance", six places of observation (Vichy, Gelles, Ussel, Tulle, Lencouacq and Bayonne) are yet perfectly alined.

Unable to refute the alignment, many researchers tried to deny any meaning to it.

Now here is a series of articles that Daniel Vidal of Nîmes sent us. This young boy, well known to the VERONICA group had to carry out a long and painstaking research work in the archive of the newspaper "Midi-Libre" in order to be able to communicate to us these articles and we congratulate him.

- The sky of France is furrowed with "cigars" and "flying saucers"

Paris, September 25 - In several localities in France, there is the appearance of "cigars" or "flying saucers" in the sky.

Thus in Charron (Charente-Maritime), three fishermen and a customs officer declare having seen during one of these last nights, a formation of flying saucers moving very low and flying over the shore before disappearing.

In Bayonne, locals say they saw high up in the sky three mysterious objects of clear hue, sharply visible on the sky. A peace officer, Mr. Carrions, observed these three immobile craft set in triangle, of slightly oval shape.

"They had, he said, the size of a rugby ball and seemed to be at a considerable height."

In the Meurthe-et-Moselle, dozens of workers from "Sidelor" living in the region of Lantéfontaine-les-Baroches (M-and-M) claim to have seen six "flying cigars" in the sky between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.

"We first saw, they said, two "cigars", then after four other craft joined the first two, all remained motionless to finally disappear instantly."

In Le Puy, Mrs. Chaumard, living in the Trinité district, saw in the sky a craft in the shape of a cigar glowing red at one end, silent and motionless. She was able to observe the craft hovering nearly fifteen minutes, then the "cigar" suddenly disappeared while gaining altitude.

The same observations were made by six residents of Langeac (Haute-Loire) and several others from Les Gelles (Puy-de-Dôme) or Clermont-Ferrand. In this region, rugby players at the Vichy stadium, saw a "flying cigar".

In the Aveyron

From Villefranche de Rouergue in the Aveyron, an owner of Vabre-Tizac, Mr. Marre, is reported to have seen a yellow-colored mass moving southwards, without leaving behind any traces of smoke.

Mr. Marre's attention was drawn to the sound of a motor. Other inhabitants of the locality also heard the same noise from inside their house, but not having come out, they did not see the singular "mass". (Midi Libre 09/26/54.) (2-3)

One point in your argument about the 1954 wave, however, startled me. You write, on p. 24: "Does the BAVIC line, sole survivor of orthoteny, prove that anxiety propagates in a straight line?"

Alas! If we were able to believe for a while that BAVIC survived the general collapse of orthoteny, we must now make up our minds BAVIC has also joined the herd of lines explicable by chance alone, because from the initial six points, there are (latest news...) only three left!

At the time when I was writing my study: "Orthoteny: a disappointed great hope?", published in Inforespace #23 to 27, Pierre GUERIN had already informed me that the so-called case of USSEL had in fact taken place 7 km from the city center, located on BAVIC, and 4.3 km from the line [and October 20]: and one!

Subsequently, the Parisian ufologist M. Jeantheau, who undertook a study investigating the 1954 wave, discovered that the sighting of Bayonne had taken place on September 23 and not 24. Here is how the error occurred: the 24 is the date of publication of the local newspaper, found by Jeantheau, who published the original information, and the article specified: "yesterday, one observed..." The national dailies, which then picked up the news, and that Aimé MICHEL consulted, gave as date that of the local newspaper omitting the "yesterday": and two. Even more recently, Michel Jeantheau found that the case of TULLE was on the 22nd: and three! There are therefore 3 points left on BAVIC on September 24: Lencouacq [the 23rd and not the 24th], Gelles [the 17th], and Vichy [precise day unknown], which chance explains perfectly, since there are about fifteen observations in all that day. One can console oneself by noting that there remains all the same a mystery: by what diabolical chain of involuntary errors of dates and places was Aimé MICHEL led, in all good faith, to find an (imaginary) alignment of six points, high improbable? But the explanation of this series of coincidences that went in the same direction is a purely human phenomenon, and therefore no longer has anything ufological.

Subsequently, the Parisian ufologist M. Jeantheau, who undertook a thorough study of the 1954 wave, discovered that the observation of Bayonne took place on September 23rd and not on the 24th. Here is the error: the 24th is the date of publication of the local newspaper, found by Jeantheau, who published the original information, and the article stated: "yesterday, it was observed..." The national dailies, which then took up the news and that Aimé Michel consulted, gave as date that of the local newspaper by omitting the "yesterday": and that's two.

In 1972, "Flying Saucer Review" published an article by Aime Michel, called: "AN ENIGMATIC FIGURE OF THE XVI CENTURY", (1), an absorbing study of a Saint who was born in France in 1579 on the Bayonne-Vichy line. However, as J.C. Dufour said in a subsequent article, "THE BIRTHPLACES OF PROMINENT PEOPLE IN RELATION TO BAVIC" (2) this discovery proved very little; the connection with UFOs is obvious - the extraterrestrial is not - unless one accepts that UFOs are from outer space.

SATURDAY 25 AND SUNDAY 26 SEPTEMBER [Publication date]: CIGARS FLY IN FORMATION -

Bayonne - Bayonese claim to have seen this afternoon, high in the sky, northeast direction, three mysterious objects of light-colored hue, cut out on the pure sky at that time. A law enforcment officer, Me. Corrieres, who was in the Quartier des Halles, observed these three immobile craft, arranged in triangle, of slightly oval form. They had the size of a rugby ball and seemed to be at a considerable height. Passersby said they saw the same bright objects in [or from] other places.

September 24th.

Bayonne(Rasses-Pyrenees) 4:00?

A trio of elliptical bodies, metallic-like in the sun's rays, hovered over the city of Bayonne, France, on the 24th, visible to many people in the streets below. After hovering high up for a minute or two, the three objects made a rapid departure. 120.

In Bayonne (Basses-Pyrénées), several people, including Mr. Corrions, a peacekeeper, claim to have observed three motionless cigars arranged in a triangle.

Orthoteny

It is nice to remember that it is his friend, poet Jean Cocteau, who will suggest to Aimé Michel the idea of seeking an order in the observations of the "mysterious celestial objects" that appeared during the autumn of 1954.

To begin with, Aimé Michel painstakingly pointed out on a map the observations of October 14, 1954, made between 06:30 p.m. and 07:35 p.m.. His stupefaction will be great in discovering that five points seem to align perfectly. He then resumes all the observations, and reports them, for every 24 hours, on a map. Here again, everything seems to be ordered according to lines of which the most famous, that of September 24, 1954, will be known under the name of "BAVIC line", contraction of BAyonne and VIChy, which will align no less than six observations (Bayonne [in reality on the 23rd], Lencouacq [in reality on the 23rd], Tulle [in reality on the 22nd], Ussel [in reality on the 20th], Gelles [in reality on the 17th] and Vichy) [without precuse date].

3833: 1954/09/24 14:00 1 1:29:00 W 43:29:00 N 3332 WEU FRN PYA 6:A

BAYONNE,FR:NMRS OBS:3 MTLC OVOIDS HVR/TRIANGLE/1min+:AWAY RAPIDE:NFD:/r30p85

RefN° 3 VALLEE:UFO ENIGMA: Challenge/Science Page No. 71 : MONTAGNES

Encounters with Aliens On this Day

September 24

[...]

1954 - At sometime before 3:00 p.m. in Bayonne, Pyrenees-Atlantique, France three metallic ovoid objects hovered in a triangular formation for over one minute, then flew away fast. At 3:00 p.m. a fast silent cigar-shaped object crossed the sky slowly over the Vichy stadium, Allier, France and was seen by many. These are two of the defining sightings of the Bayonne to Vichy (BAVIC) orthotenic line discovered by Aime Michel and confirmed by Dr. David R. Saunders.(Sources: Aime Michel, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery, p. 76; David R. Saunders, Is BAVIC Remarkable?, FSR, Vol. 17, No. 4, July-August 1971).

[...]

Interestingly, Aime Michel points out in her [sic] book, "Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery," that only the caverns located on or close to BAVIC line (Bayonne to Vichy), a trajectory that he discovered by tracking straight line sightings in France.

Orthotenic lines of UFO activity were found on which numerous sightings occurred over a time span of many years. The most famous of these is BA VI C, originally a six-point line extending from Bayonne to Vichy, France. Although the six original sightings all occurred on September 24, 1954, subsequent study has revealed other cases of high strangeness occurring on other dates along the BA VIC line.

September 1954

Fri 24

6 observations of that day geographically lined from Bayonne to Vichy (including that of Ussel) 4.

4. Will be spotted by Aimé Michel, who will develop the othoteny [sic] theory, among others in his book Mystérieux Objets Célestes (MOC). Jacques Vallée will call the line BaVic, but will finally concluded to simple hazard.

[... other cases...]

September 24 [, 1954]: ufos are observed in six cities [in reality at least 11] (Bayonne, Lencouacq [in reality the 23rd], Tulle [in reality the 22nd], Ussel [in reality the 20th], Gelles [in reality the 18th], Vichy) [in reality with no precise day].

[... other cases...]