The 1954 French flap:

SAUCER OR NOT SAUCER?

A mysterious craft
was observed
over the East of France

Saucer or not saucer? A mysterious craft flew over eastern France on Saturday morning. We give below - for the sake of impartiality - the dispatches received from our correspondents. Note that while some observations are consistent, others differ significantly.

We leave it to our readers to draw the conclusions...

IN THE COTE-D'OR

Gemeaux (from our C.P.). -- It had to happen! Since our city was visited by the stars of the music hall, Misstinguett, and the stars of advertising, "Miss Lux", we expected the arrival of the flying saucers!

Saturday morning, around 7:45 a.m., a strange phenomenon occurred in the sky of Gemeaux. Several observers saw for a few seconds a red ball coming from the direction of Is-sur-Tille, at a vertiginous speed, absolutely silent and leaving no trace behind it. Suddenly, the ball immobilized, a quarter of a second said a young observer, then it set off again, still as quickly, in the direction of Tilchâtel and disappeared.

The children who saw "the saucer" were surprised by the bright red glow and the speed of movement which scared them somewhat.

Saucer or not saucer? Mystery. Still, this is a strange thing, different from a shooting star, if only by the change of direction!

IN THE HAUTE-MARNE

Langres (from our C.P.). - A mysterious craft flew over the Langres region on Saturday morning and the south of Haute-Marne. It was seen by many witnesses at different times and places.

At 6:10 a.m., it was above Neuvelle-les-Champlitte; at 8:10 a.m., near Langres. The residents of Jorquenay, Lannes, Champigny-les-Langres and station employees in Langres-Marne were able to observe it. It flew above the clouds, that is to say at a height greater than 1500 m., and shed an intense red light in the front and clearer in the rear, with greenish reflections arranged in a triangular beam. The pace was roughly equal to that of a jet aircraft and the direction of travel at that time was in a north-west-east direction. This machine did not make noise.

According to Mr. Baudot, technical agent at the S.N.C.F., who had time to follow the phenomenon with his eyes for several seconds, the craft's advance was jerky. It could not have been a jet airplane moving with navigation lights on, the light produced being in fact far too intense. Despite the already very clear sky, it was impossible to distinguish the shapes of the craft itself. Its capricious march as to the direction followed and its fairly low speed suggest that it could not be a meteorite.

IN JORQUENAY

Nancy (A.F.P.). -- three residents of Jorquenay claim to have seen, on January 9, around 6 a.m., a round-shaped craft, moving from north to south.

The craft, they say, flew slower than a jet plane and left behind a luminous trail of yellow color. It was moving silently, although it appeared to be moving at low altitude.

In addition to these three eyewitnesses, including a professor of literature, several students from the college of LunéJorquenay also saw this craft.