The 1954 French flap:

"SAUCERS"... EVERYWHERE!

PARIS. -- Several people have seen, on the bridge of Saint-Laurent-les-Mâcon, above the Saone, a disc which disappeared after a short moment. New fact: this disc was not shining but dark.

A workman, Mr. Magnier, and truck-drivers, saw a luminous ball which crossed the sky at high speed in Montluçon.

In Tourriers, at 17 km of Angouleme, about thirty people saw in the night of the 8th to the 9th a "kind of cigar" which remained motionless at forty meters above national road N 10 during about twenty minutes. The machine which was equipped with two winglets then decided to leave at a speed of approximately 250 to 300 km-H.

Mrs. Lebert, guardian of the castle of Pont-Chapelle, in La Ferté-Mace (the Orne), observed in the afternoon a mysterious machine in the sky. This machine which resembled a rocket, rose silently vertically leaving a light white trail behind. It could be observed during several seconds then disappeared quickly. A woman and children remaining in the suburbs of the locality were also witnesses of the phenomenon.

Mr. Christian Couette, son of a plumber of Tesse-la-Madeleine, rode a bicycle in direction of Ranes, when, close to the pond to Landes-Forêt, on the commune of Beauvain, was exceeded by a strange luminous machine which, at a high speed, shaved the top of the trees. The machine approximately 4 meters in diameter had the shape of a ball of fire convex on the top. It was to be observed during ten seconds.

"MUSHROOM" IN THE SKY OF CAMEROUN

YAOUNDE. -- Several people worthy of faith state they witnessed one of these phenomena which one calls "flying saucer".

They are colonel Cauvin, director of the service of Hygiene and Disease Prevention of Cameroun, Doctor Menu, head doctor of the Yaoundé hospital, Misters Dumont, director of the services of safety of Cameroun, Poilleux, adviser of the territorial assembly of Cameroun, Moreau, administrator, assistant mayor of Yaoundé and their wives.

All these people, gathered at the head doctor of the hospital, prepared to go to the movies, when they were intrigued by the attitude of the dog of the house who, suddenly started to grunt and roughcasting its hair. Thinking that foreigners prowled near his residence, Dr. Menu went outside and saw in the sky, a brilliant object. He immediately called his guests who all, then, stated to have seen, almost at the vertical of the plate where the hospital is located, an enormous violently illuminated disc, motionless at an altitude of approximately 600 meters.

This "appearance" lasted fifteen seconds. The machine had very exactly the shape of a mushroom i.e. a very illuminated disc, whose people present could not evaluate the diameter exactly under which a cylinder a length equal to the diameter of the hat and also very illuminated swung very slightly.

Suddenly, the "saucer" took the direction of the east and its volume seemed to decrease at eye sight. Then it was immobilized during a few seconds before taking altitude quickly and disappearing.

IN LEBANON

BEIRUT. -- The newspaper "L'Orient" reports a statement by Mr. Max Favell, representative of a German firm in Beirut, who claims to have seen Saturday around 10:15 p.m. (loc.) at the seaside, a motionless machine in the sky which emitted a whitish light.

Mr. Favell specified that the machine which was within a few meters of the ground landed for a few seconds then took off vertically while rotating to soon disappear in the sky. The witness did not notice any trace on the ground at the place of the landing of the machine.

Following the publication of this declaration, a journalist, Mr. Abdelkarim revealed that he had also seen the same day, but towards 7 p.m., a kind of ball of red color moving in the sky and coming from the north. Mr. Abdelkarim fearing that little credit would be granted to his "vision" had not revealed it to anyone.

"DISC" ABOVE MARSEILLES?

One of our readers residing in Saint-Anthony reports he saw, Sunday evening, a brilliant object in the shape of a disc above the sea, between 11 p.m. and midnight.

Suddenly, "the machine" started at very high speed in direction of the South-west.

...a new testimony to be poured into the "unidentified machines" file.

Flying saucers
reported in Germany
in Egypt, Lebanon, Cameroon
and of course in France

Several people have, on the Saint-Laurent-les-Mâcon bridge, seen, above the Saône, a disc which disappeared after a short while. New fact: this disc was not shiny but dark.

A worker, Mr. Magnier, and truckers saw in Montluçon a luminous ball crossing the sky at high speed.

In Tourriers, 17 km from Angoulème, around thirty people saw in the night of 8-9 a "kind of cigar" who remained motionless at about forty meters above national road 10 for about twenty minutes. The craft, which had two fins, then decided to leave at a speed of around 250 to 300 km per h.

Mrs. Lebert, guardian of the Pont-Chapelle castle at La Ferté-Macé (Orne), observed in the middle of the afternoon, a mysterious craft in the sky. This craft, which resembled a rocket, rose silently vertically, leaving behind a slight white trail. It could be observed for several seconds and then disappeared quickly. A woman and children living in the local suburbs have also witnessed the phenomenon.

Also, Mr. Christian Couette, son of a plumber from Tesse-la-Madeleine, was riding a bicycle in the direction of Ranes, when near the Lande-Forêt pond, in the commune of Beauvain, he was overtaken by a strange luminous craft which, at high speed, grazed the treetops. The object, about 4 meters in diameter, had the shape of a fireball domed on the top. It could be observed for ten seconds

Continued on 6^th page, under the title:

THE "SAUCERS"

THE SAUCERS

(Continued from the first page)

In Egypt

ALEXANDRIA, October 11. -- Egypt in its turn enters the competition of flying saucers. At the start of Saturday night, several hundred residents of Alexandria reported the presence in the sky of a luminous object which seemed to change from red to orange, then to green and gray-blue. Officials of the meteorological service of the aerodrome of Alexandria alerted by telephone the observatory of Helouan, close to Cairo, asking that the phenomenon be photographed. However, it disappeared before the special telescope of the observatory could be prepared.

The observatory's deputy director, Azouz Ismail, told the press that it could be an aurora borealis. A magnetic storm had been observed for forty-eight hours, which would make the explanation likely.

In Lebanon

BEIRUT, October 11. -- The newspaper "L'Orient" reports this morning a statement by Mr. Max Favell, representative in Beirut of a German firm, who claims to have seen, Saturday at 10:15 p.m. (loc.), by the sea, a motionless craft in the sky, which emitted a whitish light.

Mr. Favell clarified that the spacecraft, which was a few meters from the ground, landed for a few seconds and then took off vertically, turning on itself and soon disappearing into the sky. The witness did not notice any trace on the ground at the place of landing of the craft.

Following the publication of this statement, a journalist, Mr. Abdelkarim revealed that he also saw the same day, but around 7 p.m., a kind of red ball moving in the sky and coming from the North. Mr. Abdelkarim, fearing that little credit would be given to his "vision", had not revealed it to anyone.

In Germany

BONN, October 11. -- A "flying saucer" was observed for about two minutes by thirteen members of a gliding school above the Ockstardt airfield, near Frankfurt.

The thirteen pilots and student pilots were watching the progress of a monitor when they saw appearing above the glider in flight, at an altitude of about three thousand meters, a "slightly swollen silver disc" which was moving in the slightest noise. The witnesses, including several former Luftwaffe aviators, are formal to declare that they cannot have been victims of an optical illusion.

In Cameroon

YAOUNDE, October 11. -- Several reliable people claim to have witnessed one of these phenomena called "flying saucer" last night.

These are Colonel Cauvin, director of the hygiene and prophylaxis services of Cameroon; Dr. Menu, chief physician of the Younde hospital; from MM. Dumont, director of security services for Cameroon; Po[?] R, adviser to the Territorial Assembly of Cameroon; Moreau, administrator, deputy mayor of Yaoundé, and their wives.

All these people, gathered at the head doctor of the Hospital's, were preparing to go to the cinema when they were intrigued by the attitude of the dog of the house which, suddenly, began to growl and bristle its hairs, Thinking that strangers were prowling near his home, Dr. Menu went outside and saw a bright object in the sky. He immediately called his guests, all of whom then declared that they had seen, almost vertically above the plateau where the hospital is located, a huge, brightly lit, motionless disc at an altitude of about 600 meters.

This "appearance" lasted fifteen seconds. The craft was very exactly in the shape of a mushroom whose people could not exactly assess the diameter, under which a cylinder very slightly swayed, the length equal to the diameter of the hat and also very bright.

Suddenly, the "saucer" headed east, and its volume seemed to decrease visibly. Then it stopped for a few seconds before quickly gaining altitude and disappearing.

October 9 [, 1954]

[... other cases...]

?: Montluçon (Allier)

[... other cases...]

10/09/1954 Montluçon (unknown hour).

Mr. Berthon, a truck driver returning from Paris, was able to observe around Montluçon a luminous ball which crossed the sky. There were many other witnesses (motorists) who even stopped their vehicle so that they could discuss it. La Montagne-Aurillac 10/18/1954).

015 10/09/1954. Montluçon (surroundings) witness Mr. Berthon

Observation without details of a lum. ball that crossed the sky. Numerous witnesses (Centre-Matin for 10/18/54)