The 1954 French flap:

The Courier of the Somme

The opinion of an astronomer on the "saucers"

Mr. d'Halluin
who from his Warloy-Baillon observatory
scrutinizes the sky each evening
never detected a mysterious object

The interest that a large part of the population has in the unknown craft which - supposedly - have been furrowing our skies for several nights, prompted us to seek the most authoritative opinion on the subject, that of a astronomer, one of those silent scholars who spend their time scrutinizing imperceptible points lost in the vastness of the heavens.

So we went to Warloy-Baillon to question the "pioneer of the infinite", that is Mr. d'Halluin, whose seriousness and erudition constituted for us and for our readers the surest guarantees.

When we uttered the fateful word - saucer - from the start of the conversation - our interlocutor smiled. He obviously expected that the topic of the interview would roll over this point of burning topicality. Every day, moreover, in Warloy-Baillon, he is questioned about the so-called interstellar craft.

Mr. d'Halluin therefore replied, as he has no doubt already done many times, that he never personally had the opportunity to observe what ordinary people designate by the term saucer. "And yet," he added, "every evening, weather permitting, I am in my little observatory, to study the stars. In addition, during the course of the day, I very often have my nose in the air for mundane weather observations."

Asked about the opinion of astronomers in general, Mr. d'Halluin replied that it appeared that none of his colleagues had hitherto reported "unusual objects" in the sky. Specialist magazines mention nothing [*] and even seem to completely ignore the subject... except in the humor page!

But from there to asserting that this is a repetitive hoax, hallucinations, or fanciful interpretations, there is a big step that our interlocutor refuses to take. He, an astronomer, saw nothing, but he does not doubt the word of his Picardy fellow citizens. He admits a host of hypotheses: smoke or combustion waste from jet planes, secret aircraft of earthly powers, sounding balloons, etc...

As for the sidereal origin of the "objects" seen, Mr. d'Halluin is skeptical, even very skeptical. The stories of hairy Martians wearing orange hats make him smile.

But as a true scientist, he does not limit his horizon (it fit to say) and admits that living beings can exist on other planets, known or unknown to us, or even being part other solar systems. There is no definition of an infinite limit... [sic]

Be that as it may, the distinguished astronomer does not seem at all alarmed at the idea of a Martian invasion.

"If the Martians wanted to come to our place, he jokes, they should have done it sooner, because their planet by definition of limit to the infinite relative [sic]!) at the end of June and at the beginning of July I also observed it in my telescope, quite badly, I recognize it, because it appeared at a low height above the horizon line.

"If you want to admire it all at your ease come in September 1958 because it will be even closer to us and more vertically. Having a weaker layer of atmosphere to cross, we will therefore see it better.

As for Venus, our neighbor, it comes to meet us and the distance that separates it from us will be at a minimum on November 14, in a few days."

We then consider the hypothesis of the "electron saucers" which starred in these columns two days ago.

There, Mr. d'Halluin is formal: the sun can, indeed, emit masses of electrons, but this phenomenon is only observed when the dazzling star has dark spots... what happens every eleven years! And currently we are in a quiet period.

Tranquility also seems to reign everywhere in the intersidereal spaces and if he did not read his "Courrier Picard" every day, Mr. d'Halluin would be surprised to learn during this interview, that some people note a indescribable commotion and that gigantic scenes of home arguments make all the "saucers" spin around there.

***

So, Thursday morning, a resident of the Sainte-Anne district, in Amiens, saw, she told us, a dazzling disc moving in the sky at high altitude.

- In Carrepuis, MM. Loffroy mayor and Mr. Butin schoolteacher, saw yesterday, at 0:20, a red ball moving in the sky towards Amiens.

Also, two workers from the Delprat company, from Albert, coming, one from Marcelcave, the other from Ignaucourt, were going to their work the day before yesterday at Moreuil, around 7 a.m., when, passing through the wood of Moreuil, they were surprised to see a luminous globe at a certain height in the sky yellow in color about 2 meters in diameter.

The latter, after having remained in the air for a few minutes, suddenly dove towards the ground, disappearing behind the treetops leaving a phosphorescent trail in its path.

The two men, previously skeptical, are now convinced "that there is something".

And the saucer file is still growing.

A FEW MORE
SAUCERS

A few saucers have still been seen in the Picardy sky during the last 48 hours. Two workers from the Delprat company, from Albert, passing through the wood of Moreuil, saw a yellow globe which remained motionless in the sky then suddenly plunged towards the ground, leaving a luminous trail.

In Amiens, in the Saint-Anne district, a dazzling disc was spotted moving in the sky of the city. Finally, yesterday Saturday morning, several people and in particular traders living near the gendarmerie, also saw a disc move at high altitude. The phenomenon was said to have lasted 10 minutes. But when the gendarmes, alerted, looked, the saucer had disappeared...