The 1954 French flap:

Prohibited hunting

Where we can see
MR. FAISAN
fire two cartridges
on a Martian

While Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny (Aisne), was busy, at dusk, repairing his car in one of his fields, two shots from a hunting rifle were fired in his direction and some pellets fell on his vehicle.

Mr. Ruant, who thought he had been the victim of a stray bullet, certainly did not believe that one could mistake his modest person for some Martian on a special mission and even less his capricious car for one of those flying saucers who never know any breakdown.

However, that was the explanation for these shots.

Mr. Faisan, who had noticed the light projected in the field by the headlights, approached in the company of Mr. Bonneton to see what was going on, not far of them.

As implausible as it may seem, the two men had never seen flying saucers. Hence an unpleasant inferiority complex which they were anxious to get rid of. This time, finally, they held their saucer and what is more, their Martian who had to be brought home dead or alive.

And this is how, in good measure, Mr. Faisan fired two cartridges at the man of the planets.

The man of the planets filed a complaint and Mr. Faisan, for lack of Martien, will undoubtedly bring home a fine "from down here."

NEAR CHAUNY

MISTAKING HIS NEIGHBOR
FOR A MARTIAN,
HE SHOOTS TWICE
AT HIM

Mr. Maurice Ruant, a farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne), almost fell victim to the panic caused to some by the appearance of saucers or other flying objects. He was busy repairing his car in a meadow near his home when two shots were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed onto the vehicle body, not far from his head. Mr. Maurice Ruant complained and the investigation immediately opened made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan. The latter said to the police:

"I thought, seeing a silhouette moving in the light of two headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my sotgun and I fired."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisant will be prosecuted.

ATTACK
FAILED...
... AGAINST A
FALSE MARTIAN

Saint-Quentin, October 16. - Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne) almost fell victim to the panic that is caused to some people by the appearance of saucers or other flying objects.

Last night, he was busy repairing his car, in a meadow near his home, when two shots from a hunting rifle were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed onto the vehicle body, not far from his head. Mr. Maurice Ruant filed a complaint and the investigation immediately opened made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots, who was neighbor to Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan.

The latter said to the police: "I thought, seeing a silhouette moving in the light of two headlights, that I was in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my gun and I shot."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted.

FAILED ATTACK
AGAINST
A FAKE MARTIAN

Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne) almost fell victim to the panic that is caused to some people by the appearance of saucers or other flying objects. Yesterday evening, he was busy repairing his car, in a meadow near his home, when two shots from a hunting rifle were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed onto the vehicle body, not far from his head. Mr. Maurice Ruant complained and the investigation immediately opened made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan. The latter told the police:

"I thought, seeing a silhouette moving in the light of the headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my rifle and I opened fire."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted.

THE DIEPPE REGION ALSO HIT

SAUCER, CIGAR
and "strange being"
appeared to a resident of Londinières

The news makes a common consumption of saucers and other flying machines, and rare are the regions that have not yet found in these appearances matter to dissertation.

Let us admit, however, that Normandy was so far not been very spoiled, and one is justified in asking whether the wisdom of the Normands, who can hardly be influenced and taken to the so-called, does not play a predominant role in this matter.

If we admit, of course, that visions of flying saucers fall into the realm of a too fertile imagination, of an individual or collective hallucination...

But here comes from Londinières information that can allow our province (which shows its desire not to be out-fashioned) to reach to the level of other regions that "have seen".

And all of a sudden, we have four saucers, a cigar and a strange being (1 meter 20, as it should be, so as not to break the spell), accompanied by phenomena which, they too, have nothing so new.

Mr. Henri Robert drove by car on the RN 214, at nightfall, between Mesnières and Londinières - where he lives - when, at Bagnolet, he saw four superimposed machines, orange colored, "seeming to be flying saucers", which moved 300 meters high. One of them broke off, went down and came zigzagging in front of his car before disappearing. At the same time, Mr. Robert had felt like a strong electric shock and the controls of his vehicle had been momentarily annihilated.

Hardly had he recovered from his surprise that, 3 km away, Mr. Robert saw in his headlights, in the middle of the roadway, a strange being of about 1 m. 20. This time it was his headlights that went out, then lit up again. The motorist then noticed, at the edge of the embankment, a machine three meters long, pointed at both ends and cylindrical.

The famous cigar in all the meaning of the term took "only a second" to disappear, all lights extinguished, in the direction of the North.

It was at one o'clock in the morning, Saturday, that Mr. Robert came to the gendarmerie at Londinières to tell what he had seen and felt. But his words were incoherent, his words without continuity.

Effect of the concussion of which he claimed to have been the victim a few hours earlier, or reaction caused by the piling up of saucers of another kind, and of a more common model, on some pedestal table.

The gendarmes went to Baillolet where they found nothing abnormal, this being confirmed by a new trip, Saturday morning, by day. No trace, no other witness of the phenomenon...

This did not prevent Mr. Robert, at 9 o'clock, to confirm his story.

Attack on a fake "Martian"

LILLE. October 16 (A.F.P.). M. Maurice Ruant, a farmer at Sinceny (Aisne), was busy repairing his car in a meadow when two shots were fired in his direction. The bullets crashed on the body of the vehicle, not far from his head. The investigation quickly found the author of the two shots, a neighbor, Mr. Faisant.

I thought, he said, seeing a figure moving in the light of two headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my rifle and fired.

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted.

Thining he was dealing
with a "Martian", he fired
two shots with his shotgun

Lille, October 16.

Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne) almost fell victim to the panic that is caused to some people by the appearance of saucers or other flying objects.

Last night, he was busy repairing his car, in a meadow near his home, when two shots from a hunting rifle were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed onto the vehicle body, not far from his head. Mr. Maurice Ruant filed a complaint and the investigation immediately opened made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan.

The latter told the police.

"I thought, seeing a silhouette moving in the light of two headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my shotgun and I fired."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted.

Missed attack
against a false Martian

Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne) almost fell victim to the panic that is caused to some people by the appearance of saucers or other flying objects. Friday evening, he was busy repairing his car, in a meadow near his home, when two shots from a hunting rifle were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed onto the vehicle body, not far from his head. Mr. Maurice Ruant complained and the investigation immediately opened made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan. The latter told the police:

"I thought, seeing a silhouette moving in the light of the headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my rifle and I opened fire."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted.

Mr. Ruant, farmer with Sinceny (Aisne) was busy, in the night, in repairing his car, in a meadow near his home, when two blows of shotgun were aimed at his direction. Leads crushed on the body of the vehicle, not far from his head. Mr. Ruant pressed charges and the investigation opened at once made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor, Mr. Faisan. The latter last declared to the police force: "I believed, seeing a silhouette evolving in the light of two headlights, being in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my rifle and I shot." Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted, in spite of his good faith.

MISSED SHOOTING
AGAINST
A FALSE MARTIAN

Lille, October 16 -. Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, close to Chauny (Aisne) was close to become the victim of the panic which some of the appearance of the flying saucers or other objects causes. Yesterday evening he busy repairing its car, in meadow near his place, when two blasts of shotgun were fired to his direction. Leads were crushed on the body of the vehicle, not far from his head. Mr. Maurice Ruant pressed charges and the investigation opened immediately made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan.

The latter told the police forces:

"I believed, when seeing a silhouette evolving in the light of the headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my rifle and I shot".

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted.

Attack on a false Martian

Lille, 16 October. -- Mr. Maurice Ruant, a farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne), was almost the victim of the panic caused by the appearance of saucers and other flying objects. Last night he was busy repairing his car in a meadow near his home, when two shots were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed into the body, not far from his head. Mr. Maurice Ruant filed a complaint, and the inquiry immediately opened, permitted the rapid discovery of the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant. He told the police:

"I thought, seeing a silhouette evolving in the light of the headlights, being in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer, I went to get my rifle and I fired."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted.

Rene Mante

Near Chauny

Believing to be in the presence of a "Martian"

A FARMER FIRED
two gunshots at a neighbor

LILLE, October 17. - Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne), almost fell victim to the panic that is caused to some people by the appearance of saucers and other flying objects.

Friday evening, he was busy repairing his car, in a meadow near his home, when two shots from a hunting rifle were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed onto the vehicle body, not far from its head.

Mr. Maurice Ruant complained and the investigation immediately opened made it possible to quickly find the author of the shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan.

The latter told the police.

"I thought, seeing a silhouette moving in the light of two headlights, that I was in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my shotgun and I fired."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Ruant will be prosecuted.

Cigars and saucers

The flying saucers once again honored of their presence the most diverse regions of France: in Metz, in Saint-Malo, in Issoire, in particular, mysterious craft have been seen.

In Metz, Mr. Hellers claimed to have seen an oblong luminous craft cross the sky from East to West at breakneck speed. The object, orange in color and the size of a chicken egg, glided silently through space, leaving behind an incandescent trail. The witness estimated the speed of this craft to be approximately ten times that of a jet plane.

This testimony was confirmed by an air police station sentry on the height of Plappeville, in the suburbs of Metz.

In the Ille-et-Vilaine, in Paramé, a plasterer, said he saw two luminous discs going up and down in the sky at an extraordinary speed. A third luminous disc seemed to follow a line parallel to the horizon, at a much slower pace than the other two. The discs, moving away, left behind a tail like that of a comet.

Finally, the staff of the Issoire-le-Broc airfield and the chief pilot Hébaut, who was in flight, observed a brilliant craft of circular shape which hovered during nearly two hours at very high altitude before moving slowly towards the West.

The opinion of an Italian scientist

ROME, October 17. - Many Italians having observed "disks", "saucers", "cigars" etc... flying in the sky of the peninsula, the "Giornale d'Italia" interviewed professor Antonio Eula, holder of the aerodynamics chair at the University of Rome.

This eminent scientist about the possible origin of the so-called spacecraft from other planets, said in particular: "We do not fully know the mysteries of our solar system. Astronautics, when it can be put in practical use, will perhaps allow us to penetrate them. But we already know that beings similar to us cannot exist on the currently known planets. If they exist, they can only be profoundly different. Thus is it absurd to speak of Martians capable of human-like activities."

In response to another question, Professor Eula said he did not believe he was authorized to exclude, in an absolute manner, that it could be "experimental craft intended for military use, and protected by an impenetrable secret." In conclusion, the professor said: "If this last hypothesis corresponds to reality, the time will come when their secret will be revealed, because no secret of a technical nature can be preserved indefinitely."

"MAN FROM MARS" SHOT AT IN FRANCE

LILLE (France), Oct. 16. -- The "Marsian" craze in France nearly cost a farmer at Sinceny (north France) his life.

He was trying to repair his car last night when a neighbour, taking him for a Marsian, fired two shots at him with a hunting rifle. They whizzed past his head and struck the body of the car.

The farmer, Mr. Maurice Ruant, complained to the police who soon identified the huntsman as Mr. Faisan.

Explaining what happened, the latter said: "When I saw a silhouette moving in front of the headlights, I thought it was a Marsian repairing his flying saucer. I went for my gun and opened fire".

Despite his good faith, Faisan will be prosecuted. - U.P.I. - A.F.P.

Having mitaken his neighbor for a
Martian, a cultivator shoots
two gunshots at him

Lille, 17. -- Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne), almost fell victim to the panic that is caused to some people by the appearance of saucers or other flying objects.

Last night, he was busy repairing his car in a meadow near his home, when two shots were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed onto the vehicle body, not far from his head. Mr. Maurice Ruant complained and the investigation, immediately opened, made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots: a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan.

The latter said to the police:

"I thought, seeing a silhouette moving in the light of two headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my gun and I fired."

IN THE SOMME

Mr. Percheval, an agricultural worker employed in the harvesting of beets, near Amiens, clearly saw a disc which turned on a vertical plane and which began to descend slowly. When the craft was 30 meters above the ground, that is, less than 200 meters from the location of another farmer, Mr. Nicket, the craft, which was in the shape of a ball, stopped. Jets of steam of all colors came out on all sides, which lit up the sky, sometimes purple and even red and yellow. The spectacle was said to be magnificent. The ball remained motionless for ten minutes, then began to spin quickly, rose at full speed, and disappeared.

Also in the Somme department, livestock brokers, Mr. and Mrs. Dumeige, and Mr. Lourdel, were driving in an automobile truck when they saw a very bright gleam which seemed to land in a meadow, not far from the road. Mr. Dumeige, who was driving the truck, stopped his vehicle and went down on the road, with his wife and Mr. Lourdel. The trio then saw very clearly near the craft six or seven small beings who advanced in line. The spectacle frightened the stockbrokers so much that they immediately got back into their cars and continued on their way at full speed.

MYSTERIOUS CRAFT
continue to furrow the skies of France

Testimonies accumulate coming each day to bring some new detail either on the saucers, or on the flying cigars.

Whereas Saturday evening, several witnesses in good faith, including M. Béranger, Mayor of Saint-Laurent-du-Var, regional councilman, had seen above Nice, a disc of orange color, this time above Cannes, several people observed a luminous machine of yellow color with a green tail. But the most interesting witness was to be brought by an employee of the municipal receipt of Antibes, Mr. Casella, resident of Biot, who, returning home in the evening, was face to face with an enormous mechanical machine measuring 7 to 8 meters in diameter posed in the middle of the road. The witness who was on a bicycle approached the craft until almost touching it but then the latter rose vertically and, with a soft whistling sound, disappeared in the sky.

In the sky of Provence, in Venergues, several vintagers saw a craft of lengthened form like a cigar, one of them stated, and of white and blue color, a second specified. A third vintager indicated that the rocket appeared to emit luminous beams.

At Le Puy, a brilliant object was observed between 17:30 and 18:35 by the weather station of Puy-Chaudrac. The machine looked like a straight ["vertical" probably] olive with at the top, a kind of black antenna. The chief of the station specified that he believed being in the presence of the planet Jupiter, but the sudden disappearance of the object proved that he had made a mistake. The same phenomenon was seen by the center of meteorology of Ruyères (Cantal). One can bring closer these testimonies to that of thousands of residents of Tulle who, towards 15:30, saw in the sky, in the south south-eastern direction, a large shining and motionless dot. It seemed transparent and had the shape of a cylinder whose two ends were conical.

Attack missed against a false Martian

Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, close to Chauny (Aisne), failed to be victim of the panic which causes to some people the appearance of the flying saucers or other machines. He was busy repairing hiss car, in a meadow near his home, when two gunshots were fired in his direction. Bullets crushed on the hull of the vehicle, not far from his head. Mr. Maurice Ruant pressed charges and the investigation at once open allowed to quickly find the author of the two shots who was neighbor to Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faizan.

The latter told the police force:

"I believed, when seeing a silhouette moving in the light of two headlights, I was in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my rifle and I shot."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faizan will be prosecuted.

Man From Mars?

No, It's Maurice

LILLE, France (UP) -- Maurice Ruant got out of his stalled auto to examine the motor and was narrowly missed by pellets from two shotgun shells.

An excited neighbor explained: "When I saw a man standing in the light of a machine I thought it was a Martian repairing his flying saucer."

Man Shoots at Motorist He Thought a Martian

LILLE, France (UP) -- Maurice Ruant got out of his stalled auto to examine the motor and was narrowly missed by pellets from two shotgun shells.

An excited neighbor explained: "When I saw a man standing in the light of a machine I thought it was a Martian repairing his flying saucer."

FIRED ON AS 'MARTIAN' FOE

LILLE, France, Oct. 18 (UP) -- Maurice Ruant got out of his stalled auto to examine the motor and was narrowly missed by pellets from two shotgun shells.

An excited neighbor explained: "When I saw a man standing in the light of a machine I thought it was a Martian repairing his flying saucer."

THE SAUCERS CONTINUE
TO PASSIONATE THE OPINION

... and the carousel continues

Contrary to what happened last week, the "flying saucers" did not respect the Sunday rest and showed themselves everywhere, say many testimonies, in Italy, in France where a motorist, mistaken for a Martian, narrowly avoided a discharge of buckshot. It was a farmer from Sinceny, near Chauny, in Aisne, Mr. Maurice Ruant, who almost fell victim to this unfortunate mistake.

He was busy, late in the evening, troubleshooting his car in a meadow near his home when two shots from a shotgun were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed into the body of the vehicle, not far from the head of Mr. Ruant, who lodged a complaint.

The investigation established that the author of these shots was a neighbor, Mr. Faisan, who declared, protesting of his good faith: "I believed, seeing a figure moving in the light of two headlights, being in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my rifle, and, I fired."

To this incident, which annoyingly illustrates the psychosis of fear created in certain quarters by the "saucers", we must add the many reports indicating these in: Rome, where, it is said, a flying cigar was seen by many inhabitants of the St Jean de Latran district; Metz, where a witness saw his statements confirmed by a sentry at the air police station, at Paramé, in the Ile-et-Vilaine [sic], at the Mont Ventoux observatory, at the Issoire-le-Broc airfield where the observation of a saucer was made, one says, for almost two hours by ground staff and Chief Pilot Habau [sic], who was in flight.

Finally, again in Italy, reports of saucers have come from Varese, near Milan, Turin and Messina.

For Professor Antonio Eula, holder of the aerodynamics department at the University of Rome, "saucers" cannot be piloted by Martians.

"We do not know the mysteries of our solar system thoroughly, he told "Giornale d'Italia." Astronautics when it can be put into practice, will perhaps allow us to penetrate them "But we already know that beings similar to us cannot exist on the planets currently known. If there are, they can only be profoundly different. So it is absurd to speak of Martians capable of human activity."

In response to another question, Professor Eula said, he does not believe he is authorized to exclude, absolutely, that they can be "experimental devices intended for military use, and protected by impenetrable secrecy." In conclusion the professor declared: "If this last assumption corresponds to reality, the moment will come when the secret will be revealed, because no secret of a technical nature can be preserved indefinitely."

SAUCERS, CIGARS, ETC.

A "cylinder"
landed on a road
of Seine-Inferieure

Cigar-saucers etc. still populate the skies of France...

Some of these craft would have even, once again, made contact with our land.

While driving through the town of Baillolet on the National Road 314, Mr. Henri Robert, veterinarian in Londinières (S.I.), saw four craft moving on top of each other, about 300 meters high.

Mr. Robert claims that one of them zigzagged in front of his automobile, that he felt a strong electric shock and that the engine of his car stopped.

The vet then saw on the road a strange fugure, about 1.20 meter-tall. The headlights of his car went out; when they reignited, a cylinder about three meters long took off from the embankment and headed north.

Mr. Robert told the gendarmes of Londinières about his adventure.

Two residents of Toulon, MM. Repellini and Ottaviani claimed to have seen, Thursday evening, a saucer land in the Chemin long district near Hyères.

The general intelligence air brigade went to Toulon and heard the two witnesses at length, they drew a detailed sketch of the mysterious craft.

The inspectors then went to the place where the two witnesses said they saw the saucer land. They noted a large circular trace where the grass is burnt.

A cultivator
shot a "fake Martian"

Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne) almost fell victim to the panic caused to some by the appearance of saucers or other flying objects. Saturday night, he was busy troubleshooting his car, in a meadow near his home, when two shotgun shots were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed into the body of the vehicle, not far from his head.

Mr. Maurice Ruant filed a complaint and the investigation immediately opened made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan.

The latter told the police:

"I thought, seeing a figure moving in the light of two headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my rifle and fired."

Written question about
the "saucers"

Following numerous appearances of flying objects of unknown type, currently reported in all regions of France, Mr. René Dejean, deputy of Ariège (socialist) addressed to the President of the Council a written question asking him in particular:

"Whether or not a service has been created to collect the existing documentation on this matter and to study the nature and origin of the said devices.

- If the information currently collected and gathered makes it possible to absolutely exclude the hypothesis of devices piloted or controlled by living beings of unknown species and origin.

- If the government has, on the contrary, sufficient information to attribute the production of these machines to the industry of a foreign State.

- If, in the latter case, the international agreements signed by France have already allowed consultations on the use of such devices in a possible conflict."

"Don't shoot the Martians...!"

ASKS A GERMAN THEOLOGIAN

A German theologian, Professor Philippe Dessauer, invites us, in the Catholic magazine "Wort und Warheit", not to shoot the pilots of flying saucers if we happen to meet them.

The warning is timely. Saturday, a farmer from the Aisne, in a car failure on the road, suffered two shots: seeing car headlights a villager had mistaken it for a flying saucer and the driver for a Martian. He had a hunting rifle and he fired...

The saucers continue to move. Two residents of Toulon claim that they saw, near Hyères, a mysterious craft of which they drew a sketch. General Intelligence inspectors went to the landing site and noticed a circumference inside which the grass was burned.

Covered in brown hair

Two employees at the Orly airport, MM. Raymond Castelle and Charles Sirets, told the Air Police that they had seen on the night from Saturday to Sunday, around 9:30 p.m., a flying saucer crossing the Orly sky from east to west, "like a jet plane". Arriving above the town of Paray-Vieille-Poste, that is to say on the edge of the west-east runway, the mysterious craft, which, according to witnesses, was moving at an altitude of 300 meters, immobilized for about ten seconds by turning on itself and emitting rays which were intensely reflected on the ground.

Our collaborator Paul Gérin saw the same phenomenon, at the same time, in Moret-sur-Loing, 40 kilometers south of Orly. It was, he tells us, a vulgar "shooting star" of exceptional brightness, which crossed the sky from east to west, at an apparently considerable height, and which disappeared on the horizon.

This rare, but not unprecedented phenomenon lasted a few seconds, it must have been seen throughout the Paris region.

As for the Martians, three have been reported for forty-eight hours. Two women claim that they met one in the Seine-et-Marne; but according to their description (it was covered with brown hair), it is not impossible that it is a common orangutan escaped from a zoo. A Seine-Inférieure veterinarian, Mr. Robert says he saw another one near Dieppe.

BELIEVING TO BE
IN THE PRESENCE
OF A "MARTIAN"
a farmer shoots
two gunshots
on a neighbor

Laon, 18. - Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne) almost fell victim to the panic that is caused to some people by the appearance of saucers and other flying objects. Last night, he was busy repairing his car in a meadow near his home, when two shots from a hunting rifle were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed onto the car's body, not far from his head.

Mr. Maurice Ruant filed a complait and the investigation immediately opened, made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan, odd name [=pheasant] for a hunter.

The latter said to the police:

"When I saw a figure moving in the light of the headlights, I thought I was in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my gun and I fired."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted.

LILLE, 17. -- Mr. Maurice Ruant, a farmer in Sinceny, close to Chauny (Aisne), was nearly a victim of the panic caused to some people by the appearances of saucers.

Sunday night, he was busy repairing his car in a field near his home when two shots of a hunting shotgun were fired in his direction. The shot crashed into the vehicle body, not far from his head. Maurice Ruant filed a complaint and the investigation opened immediately made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots; who was a neighbor to Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisant.

The latter told the police:

"I thought, seeing a silhouette moving in the light of two headlights, being in the presence of a Martian repairing a flying saucer. I went for my gun and I fired it."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted.

Gone with
THE WIND

Now an impulsive gentleman fires a shot at a peaceful motorist repairing his engine. And that, under the pretext that, in the night, in the light of the headlights, he took him for a Martian! Bad joke, sir, very bad joke against which it is necessary to speak out firmly.

It is a fact that many people see Martians, but it is no less general and no less proven fact that, according to all testimonies, Martians behave with perfect courtesy, even with emphatic cordiality. There are only handshakes, hugs and signs of friendship. The school teacher from Oléron who met two Martians ladies reports that they were very elegantly dressed in a small travel suit, gaited and gloved. With exquisite good grace, they wrote a thought (illegible) and a signature (no less illegible) on the teacher's album, then left him in the best possible terms. And a restless man would have fun shooting guns at such friendly and peaceful visitors!

We have enough problems on our hands, Monsieur le gunman, without making new ones with the Martians. The dynamic government should urgently distribute a guide to nervous people on how to behave towards visitors who arrive in saucers. No panic, no rushed gesture, the courtesy of a smile, and, on occasion, a fruit juice from the local bar. No untimely curiosity either. A little Martian-style gift, if need be, a bauble, a handkerchief, a scarf... but after asking, with a smile, for the Martian husband's consent.

These, it seems to me, are simple and safe principles. They have the advantage of the month of not exposing motorists who have broken down to be ducked by an earthman in the grip of a global chauvinistic crisis.

Do not shoot
at the Martians

Martians are easygoing people, it's well known. In the Massif Central, they kiss the peasants.

Elsewhere, they cuddle the kids, courteously approach gatekeepers, talk in Javanese to old ladies walking around the countryside, or drop leaflets printed in Vietnamese (?)

All of this has been taught to us in great detail by a certain mass media.

And here is a distressing news reaching us: in the Nord, a farmer fired two hunting cartridges at his neighbor who was repairing a car in the light of his headlights... The neighbor had, during the night, a Martian head, and his car looked like a saucer. The shooter was aiming poorly. Fortunately. But finally, this is quite worrying.

The Martians are, until now, discreet people and good neighbors.

They don't look belligerent.

But their saucer may well contain terrible weapons.

So please, no provocation. Don't shoot the Martians.

AND YET IT TURNS

Martians all over France

If the saraband of flying saucers over France remains at the current rate, we will have a hard time finding a Frenchman who has not seen such a "craft" in the near future. Indeed, every day, dozens of discs are reported across the country. Not content with having seen them move in our sky of Framce, eyewitnesses told to have seen, with their own eyes, weird apparatuses land, from which ame down no less weird living beings, oddly dressed, very polite, but who were little talkative, unless they speak an incomprehensible language. These mysterious hosts returned to the air almost immediately, silently and vertically.

So, very recently, Mr. Labassière and his wife, who were returning from Saintes (Charente-Maritime), saw a kind of scale waddling at low altitude. The scourge was dazzling green; one of the trays was red and the other orange. After taking an immobile position, these two plates detached to land in a field. Two small beings then left each ball and, after crossing each other, changed craft. The two craft then returned to their original place and the phenomenon disappeared in a dazzling flash.

In Livry-sur-Seine, two farmers saw a strange being the size of a man, without ears, but whose body was covered with abundant brown hair. He gestured for them to approach, but panicking, the two men fled with all their legs.

In Saint-Ambroix, in the Gard, several hunters claimed to have seen various small "Martians" who vaguely resembled human beings. They were flying in a phosphorescent machine. The hunters collected, at the place where the "Martians" had landed, curious seeds that no one has yet managed to identify.

Dreams, hallucinations, bad jokes? Difficult question to decide for the moment. But if some are convinced of the arrival of the Martians on our planet, if others shake their heads, incredulous, there are some who have this obsession with flying saucers almost play a bad trick on them.

This is particularly the case for Mr. M. Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne). In the evening of October 17, he was busy repairing his car in a meadow near his home, when two shots were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed onto the body of his vehicle, not far from his head. Mr. Ruant filed a complaint, and the investigation immediately opened made it possible to quickly find the author of the shots: a neighbor, Mr. Faisan, who believed "seeing a silhouette moving in the light of the headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian busy repairing his flying saucer."

Less "saucerophobic" than Mr. Faisan, Mr. Raymond Rodel, president of the "Martians welcome Committee", promised the first of them who would come to the capital a series of festivities in his honor, including a lunch at Maxim's, a reception at the Paris City Council and an audience at the Elysée. In addition, 1 million francs would be paid to whoever, the first, can prove irrefutably having seen a Martian.

Obviously if, believing to meet an inhabitant of the planet Mars and you ask him: "Are you Martian?" he answers you: "No, I'm French", as happened to one of our compatriots, you can forget the bonus.

France, Too, 'Invaded' By Martians

Paris (UP) -- A flying saucer epidemic has Frenchmen seeing men from Mars.

The other evening in the Lorraine village of Walscheid a terrified band of youngsters stampeded homeward to report that the men from Mars had landed in a villager's garden. Womenfolk dashed into the village church, hoping for Divine sanctuary.

The men grabbed scythes, clubs, and the few available guns and marched against the Martians. They marched to the garden. There stood the invaders, half human size, heads glowing motionless. Turned out they were big-blossomed chrysanthemums the resident had covered with brilliant cloth against the frost.

The Standard Model

When the big scale visitation from the outer reaches began, the flying saucer was the standard model. Since then luminous cigars, frying pans, discs, watermelons and even bells have hurtled through the French skies in increasing numbers.

Within the week the villagers of Momy (Basses-Pyrenees) took to the fields with makeshift weapons to deal with a flying saucer freshly arrived. They found a hollow pumpkin with a candle burning inside.

Two nights earlier a farmer in the Bordeaux area stopped to repair his car on a lonely road, and narrowly missed death when a resident mistook him for a celestial invader and fired both barrels of his shotgun at him.

Ten days ago Gilbert Lelay told his parents at Chateaubriant that a little Martian stepped from a flying cigar and readily gave him permission to look at it, but warned him not to touch it.

Near Toulouse, a mechanic, Jean Marty, 43, informed police he saw an orange saucer land near his home. It soon zoomed away into the night, but Marty found two sheets of paper on the ground, covered with cryptic markings which none could deny might be Martian literature.

The weekly magazine Express offered a reward of 10,000,000 Francs ($28.570) to the first person bringing a real live Martian to its office.

The more scholarly newspaper Le Monde, lamenting on the rash of flying saucers, mourned in print for "the days of our well beloved sea serpent."

Three candidates to the
MILLION.

SHOOTING AT THE MARTIAN!

[Insert:] "You'll see that one of these days, the Martians will walk in Chauny" one said while laughing to Mr. Faisant. And this honest farmer of the Aisne had shaken the head with an understanding nod. "I have what it takes to receive them!", he had retorted simply. Mr. Faisant had reinstated his home. He had sat down near the window, the eyes staring on the shade which drowned the meadows and the wood little by little. Suddenly, he trembled...

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

[Caption of the 3 pictures:]

Mr. Faisant: "There was so much talk about it!"

"I was leaning on my rear wheel, says M. Ruault, when I heard whistling."

"Immediately after, a gunshot! ... My car's body is sifted with bullets."

FIRE! ON THE MARTIAN CONTINUATION OF THE 1

A glow filtered through the bushes - then disappeared.

"Is it the Martians?" Mr. Faisant wondered. And this idea haunted him all day.

So when, in the evening, the peasant saw the light move again, he no longer had any doubt: "It's Martians who have landed!"

Mr. Faisant rushed to his neighbor: "Bonneton," he said to him with bulging eyes and a trembling voice, "there are Martians in the pasture." "What are you saying?" "There's a flying saucer that landed." "You have to go see!" shouted the neighbor Bonneton. "Wait, I'm going to get my shotgun... You never know..."

The two men crossed the road. On a small dirt road, a dark mass spread out above the ground; a weird glow circulated around. "It's the saucer," whispered Mr. Faisant to his companion. And he added: "I see the Martian... he's built like a real monster". They were about 120 meters from the mysterious visitor. "I'm going to whistle", declared Mr. Bonneton "if it moves, you shoot!"

He did as he said. The shadow moved. A shot rang out in the night...

After that the two friends ran back to their farm where they padlocked themselves. Can't be too careful, right!

A few moments later, a man, both furious and distraught, entered the police station:

"I've come to file a complaint, he exploded, they wanted to kill me! My name is Ruault Maurice. I'm 25 years old. My clerk Pierre Bouitillier came to tell me earlier: "There's a cow in an accident in the meadow of the Chemin de Soude." I then took my traction [Citroën Traction Avant car] to rush there. But when I arrive in the dirt road, my rear wheel is stuck! I get out of the car, I take my flashlight: the cow was dead, nothing to do, I go back to my traction, but with this dirt of mud, it's impossible to start it again, the car was slipping... Then, I hear a whistle. I stand up and blam! There's a gunshot that bursts. No doubt, there's someone who has wanted to assassinate me; the car was riddled with pellets..."

It took the Chauny gendarmes eight days to clear up this murky affair. "Possible that I shot Mr. Ruault believing he was a Martian, recognized Mr. Faisant. But if, on Monday, it was him who was in the pasture, I'm sure that the day before, it was a man out of a flying saucer!"

For such is the power of persuasion...

Between us...

HUNTING 1954

No more rabbits at all...

In the 1954 hunting season...

But some take comfort with the Martians!

Suc as this Mr. Faisan [Pheasant]! A name that makes hunters' mouth water.

The other day, he thought he saw a Martian, returning from the hunt. And fired... It was only a modest earthling. Fixing his car by the glow of his headlights...

Luckily it wasn't really a Martian ...

It would have been enough to create a diplomatic incident with Mars.

And start the war of the worlds.

Between us

1954 HUNTING

No more rabbits at all...

And less hares.

On the 1954 hunting board...

But some console themselves with the Martians!

Like this Mr. Faisan [=Pheasant]! A name that puts water to the mouth of hunters.

The other day, he thought he saw a Martian, after returning from the hunt. And fired... It was only a modest earthman, repairing his car in the light of its headlights...

Luckily still he wasn’t really a Martian....

Enough to create a diplomatic incident with Mars.

And start the war of the worlds.

Between us...

No more rabbits at all...

And less hares.

On the 1954 hunting board...

But some console themselves with the Martians!

Like this Mr. Faisant [=Pheasant]! A name that puts water to the mouth of hunters.

The other day, he thought he saw a Martian, after returning from the hunt. And fired... It was only a modest earthman, repairing his car by the light of his headlights...

Fortunatetly it wasn't really a Martian...

That could have created a diplomatic incident with Mars.

And start the war of the worlds.

THE FLYING SAUCERS: A COMPLEX

You have ... or you don't have the saucer complex!

Much more than a question of belief, it's a matter of logic.

But we have to believe that common sense is no longer the fundamental quality of the average Frenchman, since several tens of thousands of apparently healthy individuals buy "France-Poire" [=joke about the France-Soir newspaper] only to document themselves on flying saucers!

This is a good sign of ... let's say ... gullibility!

Because, apart from the fact that "France-Poire" is certainly not the paper to choose to get valid information on anything, it takes a commendable application in stupidity to think for a single moment that the inhabitants of any planet could consider Earth as a possible vacation spot. We have what it takes - as moral monsters - to deter the rest of the Universe...

As implausible as it sounds, there are people out there who believe it! As in the Bible. As in the Christ of Montfavet! The flying saucers have a merit however...: thanks to them, to the legend with which they are haloed, the nuts go out of their shells! The saucers allow us to unmask, to identify all that our sweet France has of crazy, hallucinated, repressed and mentally challenged people. They are given the opportunity to manifest themselves, they use it, profit from it, abuse it. They believe it, they see it, their poor disturbed heads are filled with saucers of all formats, bearded and unbearded Martians, green or red rays of light. It's Jules Verne for weak brains. All these people are ready for the asylum, for a drug shot... and the subscription to "France-Poire"! One even cites cases of collective dementia.

The rotten press is there, well there, creating the psychosis of fear, of the occult! Too bad if the degenerates get excited! What does it matter to defeat the primary scums of the poor buggers! You have to create the myth of the saucers, it rises the sales! Let us flatter the public's lower instincts, organize the ignoble publicity hype, on this enormous joke!

So they all buy it together, the poor sods from the provinces and elsewhere! Panic, cowardice, anxiety, all cowardly reflexes are unleashed. Without shame.

Very recently a character shot at his neighbor who was cleaning his car and who had been caught in the beam of headlights for a moment!

He mistook him for a Martian! In the suburbs of Paris (at Les Lilas) a group of idiots called "France-Poire" (naturally). They had just seen a large object land in the area! Quick check: it was only a police car which searched the wasteland with its headlights, to unmask tramps, prowlers...

By the way! What did the police want with them, with these tramps, these prowlers? Provide them with accommodation, work? Give them the means to become men again? We are not told...

Never mind, to equate our cops with Martians is to do them a lot of honor! And it is lack of courtesy for the "others"!

From every corner of the province, testimonies are pouring in. A peaceful army of bearded and hairy Martians occupies our smallest villages. The French hamlet which, at present, would not have had its saucer, would be dishonored!

There is no particular social category to classify saucer voyeurs in. It concerns the roadmender, the garage owner, the grocer and the local idiot... as well as the notary. Sometimes it is the mayor himself who poses as a visionary. And he is left in office... But the privileged, the lucky guys, they are still the cops! It's as we tell you: the Martians, not disgusted for two cents, easily sympathize with the gendarmes and the country guards!

There it is... the prestige of the uniform!

Bah.,. "THEY" will change their minds! Ultimately, there are only people whose job is to scan the sky (astronomers, observers) who, although equipped with powerful detection devices, have never seen a saucer! No chance! It doesn't do them any good in their profession! Soon, we will point the finger at "the man-who-has-never-seen-a-saucer". And he will be locked up in the mental house as long as he protests! So goes our planet...

Let us not forget the pranksters who have cheap fun; by inflating brightly painted balloons and sending them to wander in the atmosphere... and terrorizing all the crackpots of towns and villages.

The day we realize that the saucers - if there are any - are of purely terrestrial (and human) design they will no longer interest anyone. Or almost. It will only be science! What a disappointment for all the occult, for all the lunatics of the Mars complex!

In the meantime, the topic is gold for "France-Poire"! It will be pressed to the end. This stimulates sales and allows the ... "largest French newspaper" to put in the background - behind the saucers and the escort girls - the problem of world rearmament and social demands. For the government press, it is obvious that the favors of "Martine or Lolo" and the idyll of the Martian and the gendarme are much more important than unemployment and non-reconstruction!

We tell you, the saucers are useful for something...

René TERRIER.

Saucers Over France

Spotting of inexplicable objects in the skies over France is having a business sequel. Though some newspaper commentators have associated the spotting with excessive eating or drinking, three films with flying saucers as the main theme are to be made. One will tell a story of a reporter who tries to win a prize of $10.000 offered for the first photograph of a genuine flying saucer. The producers will follow some of the actual spotting that has been reported, including the case of a young photographer who spent a night away from his spouse during their honeymoon. He preferred to go saucer hunting with his camera.

Another remarkable authentic nocturnal incident to be included in the film will be the attempted shooting of a Frenchman by a friend who took him for a Martian. The producers intend to interview a hundred people who vow they have seen flying saucers, cigars, bananas, and other phenomena in thee skies.

France Abuzz Over Saucers

Craze Matches Witch-Hunting

PARIS (Reuters) -- Frenchmen have taken to the flying saucer craze with all the enthusiasm that their medieval forebears devoted to witch-hunting.

Not a day passes without reports from all over France of "flying saucers," "flying cigars," "flying mushrooms," and "flying bells" piloted by 20th century sorcerers.

Villagers seize shot guns and pitchforks and sally forth valiantly to meet any saucer reported landing nearby. Police spend hours following up reports.

Flying saucer stories and speculation about their origin fill the national press. They have even driven sex from the front pages of some popular weekly newspapers. One has offered a reward of 1.000,000 francs (about $2800) to the reader who sends in the first authentic photograph of a flying saucer.

The Mayor of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, a wine village of 1600 people has decreed that any flying saucer which lands in his village will be impounded.

Flying saucer stories come from all levels and ages of the population.

A select few claim that they have actually seen the creatures who pilot the saucers over France. They generally agree that the creatures, usually referred to as Martians, are shorter than human beings in size and appear to be very hairy. Most of these creatures, if they speak, utter unintelligible sounds, but some have made themselves understood in French and even Russian.

Thirteen year-old Gilbert Lafay [sic], of Chateaubriant, said that he saw in a field a flying saucer piloted by a man who spoke to him in French.

Baker's assistant Pierre Lucas of Loctudy claimed that he met a four-foot flying saucer pilot with a hairy oval face and eyes as big as crow's eggs.

A workman, Louis Ujvari, met a flying saucer pilot near Epinal who spoke Russian and asked how far it was from the German frontier.

---

Saucers with sirens

The saucers seem generally to be piloted by males. One exception was reported by a schoolmaster, Mr. Martin, who said he met two beautiful Martian girls on the island of Oloron [sic] off the French Atlantic Coast. They were about four feet, four inches, and wore leather helmets, gloves and boots.

The strange visitors from outer space are said to be equipped with "ray guns" which stop witnesses in their track with an electric shock effect and temporarily immobilize automobile engines, but no really unfriendly act by them has so far been reported.

Frenchmen are less well disposed towards their uninvited guests and some accidents have occurred in the hunt for Martians. At Sinceny, Jean Faisan fired two shots at his farmer neighbor, Maurice Ruan, who was repairing his car one night, narrowly missing his head but damaging the radiator.

Faisan explained that when he saw a figure illuminated by two lamps he thought he was in the presence of a "Martian repairing his flying saucer." He ran for his shotgun and fired.

In the village of Troussey, sugar beet gatherer Alexandre Ronneji, who had not had a haircut for several months, was manhandled by a crowd who mistook him for a hairy Martian.

At Tain-l'Hermitage, in central France, a wineyard worker decided that his neighbor, M. Neyret, looked "extraordinary" in the dusk and attacked him savagely, beating him so severely that one ear was torn off. Only then did he find that Neyret was not a Martian.

Press cartoonists and practical jokers are having a field day over the whole affair. Newspapers and popular weekly magazines fill their cartoon pages with saucer jokes.

---

Flying Saucer-ers

A worker at a Paris railway depot started his mates on a Martian hunt by capering about in a welder's helmet with a green light inside.

But the king of the saucer jesters was a retired miner of the village of Beuvry-Les-Bethunes, near Lille, who built some flying saucers in his backyard. He made his "saucers" out of gray paper on the fire-balloon principles and lit a paraffin-soaked rag at the base. The warm air lifted the "saucers", some of them over nine feet in diameter, and off they went with the wind showing orange and yellow lights from the flames.

Police found him out after one of his "saucers" had landed near a haystack and almost set it on fire.

Attempts to explain the saucer phenomena have varied from "mass hallucination" to a suggestion that they are new experimental aircraft built in cigar form which can take off vertically.

Another theory is that, under certain atmospheric conditions, exhaust fuel from jet aircraft solidifies and may form "saucer" shapes. It has been said to reach the ground in the form of a rubbery material which dissolved on being touched. Such a material has often be reported to have been found on saucer landing sites.

Stay calm please!

The most saddening and stupid incidents have been multiplying for several weeks. In Chauny (Aisne), a farmer shot at a quiet motorist whom he had mistaken for a "Martian".

At Train-l'Hermitage [sic] (Drôme) a peasant savagely hit one of his neighbors who had seemed "extraordinary" to him. Here an entire family barricades themselves at home, terrorized by the passage of a F.S. There a terrified witness must be driven urgently to a psychiatric hospital. Everywhere, strong and well-built men declare to have fled at the approach of a being descended from a F.S. ...

The C.I.E. OURANOS wishes to recall a number of positive facts that must put an end to these dangerous comedies and panics:

1° - It has been centuries since "objects" similar to F.S. have been observed in the Earth's atmosphere. While they are more numerous in recent years, however, there is no reason to suppose that they present a more dangerous character than in the past.

2° - F.S. never attacked an airplane or an individual. It is merely possible that accidents occurred due to the imprudence of some curious.

3° - If the observations of "Uranians" are accurate, it has been noted that the attitude of these beings is peaceful and that their reactions are only defensive.

In these conditions, the simple caution advises to remain in the expectation in case of encounter with "Uranians" and not to provoke them under any pretext. It is at the same time a duty of being civilized. Above all do not run away, nor toward of them. If they noticed you, try to get in touch, verbally or by discreet gestures. And observe them precisely.

Then send, as soon as possible, a detailed and objective report of your observation to the C.I.E.O., 27, rue Etienne Dolet, BONDY (Seine), which centralizes and studies worldwide information on these facts.

Lastly, protest energetically with those newspapers that would have distorted your testimony, and send a copy of your update to the C.I.E.O. (Join a stamped envelope for answer, please.).

One last piece of advice: refrain from hoaxing; it only amuses imbeciles; and it is dangerous.

And stop calling "Martians" beings whose origin we do not know! Simply baptize them, as we did, with the vague and general name of "Uranians", which means: coming from some part of the sky.

The C.I.E.O.

Don't shoot the saucers

During one night last summer, a certain Mr. Faisant, from S... in the Aisne, went on a saucer hunt... and shot one three times.

Immediately the orange glow he had seen went out. Hit! M. Faisant thought. But vociferations arose... The driver of a tractor whose headlights had just been broken by the gunshots said emphatically who was not a "Martian."

Peacefully grazing cows were also victims of this error!

Let us add that the criminal court did not miss the unfortunate hunter.

THE PASSER-BY

MONDAY OCTOBER 18 [Publishing date] : DON'T SHOOT AT THE MARTIANS! -

Lille - Mr. Maurice Ruant, a farmer in Cinceny [sic], near Chauny (Aisne) was almost the victim of the panic caused to some, by the appearance of flying saucers or other flying objects. The other night, he was busy repairing his car in a field near his home when two shots were fired in his direction. The bullets crashed on the car body, not far from his head. Mr. Ruant filed a complaint, and the investigation immediately opened allowed to quickly find the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan. The latter told the police: "I thought, seeing a silhouette moving in the light of the headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer, I went to get my rifle and I fired!..." Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prisoner [sic].

This particular psychological state of the witnesses [that of "giving UFO characteristics to IFOs" by a "subconscious impulse"] will be discussed later, to help explain certain reactions. For example, the case of a Frenchman who, in 1954, fired on his neighbor busy in front of his headlights to repair his car, believing he was confronted to a "Martian" near his saucer!

The explained cases of Francat

[...] 10.54 : Sinceny (02), [...]

History buffs may remember that during the great wave of saucers of the fall of 1954, one Mr. Faisant of Sinceny (Aisne) fired on a Martian who turned out to be only his neighbor.

NAME: SINCENY MISJUDGMENT

DATE: OCTOBER 1954

PLACE: SINCENY, AISNE, FRANCE

MAP REF: G14

EVENT: SLIGHT ERROR OF MISJUDGMENT

'Seeing a silhouette moving in the light of two lamps, I thought I was in the presence of a Martian in the process of repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my gun and I fired at him.'

A perfectly reasonable assumption you might think (and a charming gesture of greeting), but one which was unfortunately a bit wide of the mark. In this case the target turned out to be the witness’s own neighbour repairing his motor car. Fortunately his aim was no better than his judgment and the shot only damaged the car, presumably leaving his neighbour somewhat startled.

Our witness might have had even more trouble explaining himself if he had offered the explanation 'I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else...!'

Title: The Sinceny error
Date: October 1954
Location and Maps - Sinceny, Aisne, coordinates: France, G 14
Incident: Misjudgment

"- When I saw the silhouette moving in the light of two lamps, I thought I had discovered a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I fetched my rifle and shot him," says the testimony of the witness.

The present case is not only an example of how one should not welcome extraterrestrials who show no hostile intentions but also of the large number of false UFO reports. The figure who had been under attack by the witness was not a UFOnaut, but his own neighbor who repaired his car. Fortunately, his shooting skills were no better than his judgment. He missed the "alien" and hit the car, all involved people came away with horror.

[...] the newspaper L'Alsace for 10/19/1954 also mentions a case of misinterpretation of this type [car mistaken for saucer] near Chauny (02), [...]

November 2, 1954

French Have Epidemic Of Disks

By Priscilla Buckley

PARIS, (UP). -- A flying saucer epidemic has Frenchmen seeing men from Mars.

The other evening in the Lorraine village of Walscheid a terrified band of youngsters stampeded homeward to report that the men from Mars had landed in a villager's garden. Womenfolk dashed into the church, hoping for divine sanctuary.

The men grabbed scythes, clubs, and the few available guns and marched against the garden. There stood the invaders, half human size, heads glowing motionless.

Turned out they were big chrysanthemums the resident had covered with brilliant cloth against the frost.

When the big scale visitation from the outer reaches began, the flying saucer was the model. Since then, luminous cigars, frying pans, disks, melons and even bells have hurtled through the French skies in increasing numbers.

Within the week the villagers of Momy (Basses-Pyrenees) took to the fled with makeshift weapons to deal with a flying saucer freshly arrived. They found a hollow pumpkin with a candle burning inside.

Two nights earlier a farmer in the Bordeaux area stopped to repair his car on a lonely road, and narrowly missed death when a resident mistook him for a celestial invader and fired both barrels of his shotgun at him.

Ten days ago Gilbert Lelay told his parents at Chateaubriant that a little Martian stepped from a flying cigar and readily gave him permission to look at it, but warned him not to touch it.

Near Toulouse, a mechanic, Jean Marty, 43, informed police he saw an orange saucer land near his home. It soon zoomed away into the night, but Marty found two sheets of paper on the ground, covered with cryptic markings which none could deny could be Martian literature.

The weekly magazine express [L'Express] offered a reward of 10 million francs ($28.570) to the first person bringing a real live Martian to its offices.

The more scholarly newspaper Le monde, lamenting the rash of flying saucers, mourned in print for "the days of our well beloved sea serpent."

In Sinceny (Aisne), a certain Mr. Faisant [sic] shot at a "Martian" who was repairing his saucer, but it proved to be only his neighbor who was repairing his car.

! 1954/10/15: Sinceny, Aisne, France: Farmer fires shotgun at Space Alien repairing flying saucer. Numerous sources.

Space Alien was a stranded motorist. Farmer in deep legal trouble. Ufologie.net [This is the old URL of my website's home page.]

REAL STORIES ABOUT THE UFOs

The Martian neighbor

During the Autumn of 1954, France saw a true frenzy of "Martians". Tens of observations are reported each day so that quasi-hysteria seizes the population. Not astonishing, under these conditions, that one assists to a certain number of more or less dangerous "overflows" of which the most known remains that of Sincery [sic]. Seeing a light in front of which a silhouette was moving, M.F. opened fire with a shotgun. Later he told the newspapers: "I believed to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my rifle, and I shot". In fact, the extraterrestrial was his neighbor busy fixing his car's engine, headlights lit. A neighbor who really was lucky no bullet hit him.

[... Other case ... ]

In certain areas, the fear takes sometimes dramatic forms. In Sinceny (the Aisne), Mr. Faisan shoots two cartridges at his neighbor who fixes his car: "I believed to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer" the gunman says. The victim survives.

[... Other case ... ]

Posted on: Mon Feb 28 - 08:20 p.m. (2011) Subject of the message: 1954 French flap

The year 1954 remains the period when one recorded the most UFO sightings in France. 2000 cases reported by the press, according to ufologist (UFO specialist) Dominique Caudron. Between September and November, testimonies multiply, from the most disturbing to the most wacky.

[...]

In some areas, fear sometimes takes a dramatic turn. In Sinceny (Aisne), Mr. Faisan fires two rounds at his neighbor who fixes his car: "I thought I was in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer," said the gunman. The victim survives.

[...]

No Martian in Sinceny

In Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne), Mr. Ruant just escaped it. Mistaken for a Martian, he almost received lead in the head. As for his attacker, Mr. Faisan (or Faisant), he can be congratulated for having missed his target: he could have been charged with homicide by imprudence.

Strange gleams worry Mr. Faisan, who shoots.

DO NOT SHOOT AT THE "MARTIAN"!

A neighbor of Mr. Marcel Faisant, staying at Sinceny, came to fetch him the other evening, for he had perceived, he said, strange lights in a meadow on the side of the road to Soude; the day before, this neighbor had already noticed these suspicious gleams.

Martians or poachers?

Mr. Faisant wanted to be sure: he took down his shotgun and the two men went out. Mr. Faisant saw the gleams, whistled, put the weapon on his shoulder and fired. A scream answered the shot and the two men fled.

One learned the next day, from Mr. Maurice Ruaut, farmer at Sinceny, who was repairing his car in a meadow on the path of Soude, that his vehicle had received bullets, the bodywork of the car bore traces. The bullets had crashed close to Mr. Ruaut's head.

The gendarmes, continuing their investigation, discovered that the gleams seen by Mr. Faisant's neighbor were not a myth and had been provoked by a farmer who was nursing a sick animal in his meadow.

(L'Aisne Nouvelle, October 19, 1954, page 1)

Sensational! One shot at a Martian. Numerous newspaper would cite the case from a dispatch of October 16.

MISSED ATTENTAT...
... AGAINST A FALSE MARTIAN

Saint-Quentin, October 16. - Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne), was almost a victim of the panic caused by some appearance of saucers or other flying machines. Last night, he was busy troubleshooting his car in a meadow near his home when two shots were fired in his direction. The bullets crashed on the body of the vehicle, not far from his head. Mr. Maurice Ruant filed a complaint and the investigation immediately opened to quickly find the author of the two shots who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan.

The latter told the police:

"I thought, seeing a figure moving in the light of two headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer, I went to get my rifle and fired."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted..

(Liberté, October 17, 1954, page 7)

Other newspapers told of the cas in a more ironic manner:

Hunting forbidden

Where we see
M. FAISANT

shoot two cartridges
on a Martian

While Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sincen[y], (Aisne), was busy, at dusk, troubleshooting his car in one of his meadows two shots of shotgun were fired in his direction and some bullets fell on his vehicle.

Mr. Ruant, who thought he had been the victim of a stray bullet, did not believe that one could take his modest person for a Martian on a special mission let alone his capricious car for one of these flying saucers who never know any breakdown.

Yet that was the explanation for these shots.

Mr. Faisant, who had noticed the light projected in the field by the headlights, had approached with Mr. Bonneton to see what was happening not far from them.

As improbable as it may seem, the two men had not yet seen flying saucers. Hence an unpleasant inferiority complex that they were anxious to get rid of. This time, finally, they were holding their saucer and what's more their Martian that had to be brought home dead or alive.

And this is how doing well, A. Faisant shot two cartridges at the man of the planets.

The man of the planets has filed a complaint, and M. Faisant, for want of Martian, will no doubt soon bring home a very "earthly" fine.

(La Voix du Nord, October 17, 1954, page 3)

After such a sensational action, Mr. Faisan was entitled to the honors of the cover of Radar magazine.

"You'll see that one of these days, the Martians will walk by at Chauny!", one jokingly told Mr. Faisant. And this brave farmer from the Aisne had nodded his head knowingly. "I have what it takes to receive them!", he had simply replied. Mr. Faisant returned to his home. He sat down by the window, his eyes fixed on the shadow, which gradually drowned the meadows and the woods. Suddenly he flinched...

(Radar, October 31, 1954, page 1)

A glow filtered through the bushes - then disappeared.

"Is it the Martians? Mr. Faisan asked himself. And this idea worked him all day.

So when, in the evening, the peasant saw the light move again, he had no doubt: "It's some Martians who landed!"

Mr. Faisant rushed at his neighbor's house, "Bonneton," he said to him, his eyes bulging and his voice trembling, "there are Martians in the thicket," "What are you saying?" "There is a flying saucer that has landed." "You've got to see that!" decided the neighbor Bonneton "- Wait, I'll take my gun... You never know...".

The two men crossed the road. On a small dirt road, a dark mass spread over the ground; a bizarre glow circulated around it: "It's the saucer," whispered Mr. Faisant to his companion. And he added, "I see the Martian... he's built like a real monster." They were about 120 meters from the mysterious visitor. "I'll whistle," said Mr. Bonneton, "if it moves, you shoot!"

He did as he said. The shadow moved. A shot rang out in the night...

After that the two friends ran back to their farm where they padlocked. We cannot be too careful, right!

A few moments later, a man, furious and distraught at the same time, entered the gendarmerie: "I come to complain," he exploded. "They wanted to kill me! My name is Ruault Maurice. I am 25. My clerk Pierre Bouthillier came to tell me a moment ago: "There is a sick cow in the meadow of the Soude path". I then took my traction [Citroën Traction Avant car] to go see. But when arriving in the dirt road, my rear wheel gets bogged down! I get out; I take my electric lamp: the cow was dead, nothing to do. I'm back to my pull, but with that mud dirt, impossible to restart, the car was skidding... So I hear a whistle. I stood up and blam! Here is a shot that breaks. No doubt, there was someone who wanted to murder me; the car was riddled with bullets..."

It took the gendarmes of Chauny eight days to clear up this dark affair. "Possibly I shot at Mr. Ruault, thinking he was a Martian," said Mr. Faisant. But if, on Monday, it was him who was in the thicket, I'm sure that the day before, it was a man out of a flying saucer!"

For such is the strength of persusasion [sic]...

Note: Comparing with the article in the local newspaper, we can see how much this story is fictionalized, at least as far as Faisan and Bonneton are concerned.

On the other hand, despite the talent of the illustrator, we see that something is wrong in the sketched scene: a few meters away Mr. Faisan could not have been wrong. In fact, according to the text, he was 120 meters away.

(Radar, October 31, 1954, page 2)

So Mr. Faisan was liable to the court. A court, quite unable to determine what law to apply, as a brilliant lawyer will explain it to us:

Shooting a shot at a "Martian", is it equal, under the criminal law, to the same gesture exercised on a man?

...

We would be curious to know what is the qualification chosen: no injury resulting for the victim, we can think - depending on whether we retain "the animus necandi" or not at the expense of the author - either the attempted murder or the willful violence of Article 311 of the Penal Code. Could the inadvertent offense of article 320 of the Penal Code, which would be best suited to a case of this nature, be upheld in the absence of any injury, sickness or incapacity of the victim? One could also think of a characterization of hunting offense - which is not as extravagant as it may seem a priori. Finally, it can be considered that the fact cannot be cast into the mold of any criminal classification, which would preclude any prosecution or would result in the release of the accused.

...

We believe that, in this case, Mr. Faisan did not commit either error personae or aberratio ictus; which have the effect - as we have just seen - of changing neither the nature nor the gravity of the accomplished offense. His error is not only formal, therefore ineffective; it is essential, therefore operative, since it relates to a constitutive element of the crime.

...

Whatever one thinks about applying to the "Martian" laws - in the broad sense of the term - made for humans, is obviously wanting to shatter the framework for which these laws had been designed.

...

At the risk of being accused of originality, we risk, in this case, the charge of hunting offense.

But anyone would ask, how?. Besides that Mr. Faisan - despite his name - would not be the target, but the hunter, one should - in this case - take the "Martians" for pests or dangerous animals, just good to chase, while they were friendly and even tender, to believe some witnesses!

It is true that Mr. Faisan, totally lacking the most elemental interplanetary courtesy, risked, by his ill-considered gesture, to trigger the most incredible war of the worlds;

...

We may witness the birth of a new law, no longer international, but interplanetary. After all, why not?

(Revue de Science Criminelle et de Droit Pénal Comparé, #4, New Series, October / Decembre 1954, )

Chapter 1: Saucerism

In 1954, a Frenchman fired a gun at his neighbor while the latter was repairing his car in the light of his headlights, believing he was a Martian near his flying saucer. (Toselli, 1982, 23). This kind of anecdotes can only arouse the interest of the researcher in the human sciences: how can one explain this kind of misinterpretation? How to understand that someone could confuse his neighbor with an extraterrestrial?