The 1954 French flap:

The Martians
had nothing to do with it!

Repeating their exploits from the film "The day the earth stood still", would the "Martians" now intend to cause blackouts in our electrical circuits?

Some people from Dijon believed they were the witnesses of such an offensive, Sunday evening, around 7:30 p.m., when a blackout suddenly plunged the entire northern part of the city into darkness.

At the same second, they thought they saw a lightning disk in the direction of Hauteville.

"It was the saucer that did it!" they exclaimed! In other words "Saucer-shortcut!"

The reality is much more down to earth: it was about a shortcut surge, which occurred near the café des Amandiers, in Fontaine-les-Dijon, which had caused, under a voltage of 15,000 volts, a sort of blinding luminous explosion, the glow of which was felt even on the road to Ruffey.

Power was restored a few minutes later.

About a strange phenomenon
in the sky of Dijon

Following our article on Wednesday, relating the appearance of a strange luminous phenomenon in the sky of Dijon, Sunday at 7:25 p.m., several readers confirmed the report that was made to us by Mr. Louis Balland, residing rue Balzac.

M. Roger Ducret, residing in the Rue de la Sabliere, writes to us:

"I was returning to Dijon by car on the road to Saint-Apollinaire and my wife by my side had the same vision. In the descent that follows the cité Billardon and after having passed the works that are currently on the left side of the road, we saw a very bright white light, changing to steel blue color before extinguishing.

We did not see any displacement, the appearance was too fast, and lasted only 2 or 3 seconds at most. This does not mean that there was no displacement, the phenomenon having appeared to us at its end and after we overcame an obstacle.

As for the direction, this light appeared on our right, which would correspond quite well with the direction of the bridge of Ruffey relative to our road.

I would add that when we got to the height of the fair, the street lighting went on. We thus noticed the end of a breakdown that we had not noticed.

The Maladière neighborhood was not the only one that had blackened out, as the Place Darcy, the boulevard Sévigné, and the bell were also in the darkness (but not the Station district).

For our part, we did not have the feeling it was a celestial phenomenon, but rather of an electric and terrestrial phenomenon."

On the other hand, Mrs Moser, residing in rue Général-Fauconnet, gives us the following information:

"On your article "A strange phenomenon in the sky of Dijon" I can affirm that the statements of Mr. Louis Balland can be taken into consideration, but the breakdown took place a second before this phenomenon appeared. The lights mixed in the following order: purple, red, yellow, and green, overlooking a wide expanse, I do not know the name of the quarter (I am not from Dijon), but it was towards the Langres road. Another person, Mr. K... O..., enrepreneur, saw the same "fire" on the side quoted by Mr. Balland.

***

It seems that the reported phenomenon can be related to the short circuit which occurred at the same time and which deprived of electricity a part of the city for a few moments. This short circuit, which happened near the Cafe des Amandiers, at Fontaine-les-Dijon, had a voltage of 15,000 volts, caused a blinding light comparable to a violent flash.

A BRIGHT CRAFT IN NOIRON-SUR-SEINE

On the other hand, from Noiron-sur-Seine, we are told:

"Last Friday, around 4:45 a.m., three workers of the Emballages Company in Mussy-sur-Seine (Aube) were waiting for the bus which leads them daily to their workplace.

Suddenly, in the direction of the north, they perceived a luminous device of rather golden color, and somewhat oval in shape, about the size of the moon. The machine made two turns on itself while remaining at the same height and continued its course before disappearing on the horizon giving the impression of falling.