This article was published in the daily newspaper France Soir, France, on April 2, 1993.
On April 7, France Soir published this article where it is explained that the UFO was debris from a Russian rocket.
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When learning the strange news, in the Rhone-Alps area, many believed that it was about an april's fool item. But it seems, after checking, that the information does not have anything to do with a hoax. In the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, tens of people indeed saw a UFO of big size which moved in the sky at a height of approximately 300 meters. Several patrolling police officers of the gendarmerie also witnessed the phenomenon.
"With gendarme Lumpert, we were on a night patrol in our district, explained Chief-Sargeant Thorel commander of the gendarmerie squad of Vif (Isère). Suddenly, ar about 02:15, we saw a bluish gleam in the sky. It was a transparent craft of 100 meters by 60 meters; it moved slowly in the sky, 300 meters about above us. We were struck by the blue glare which emerged from its front whereas at its back, the lighting was much clearer.
"With my colleague, we looked at each other, amazed. We stopped our vehicle and stopped the motor to know if a noise was audible. Nothing. The craft was perfectly silent. We left the car and observed it during 40 seconds approximately. Then, it bent towards the ground, took speed and disappeared towards the horizon.
"Immediately on Wednesday morning, continues Chief-Sargeant Thorel, I had other gendarmes who patrolled like us in thedepartment, the previous night, on the telephone, they saw the same phenomenon. Thus my colleague and me did not dream. We had not drunk, we had slept well and we had clear minds! As much I did not believe in UFOs before, as much I know what I saw and believe me, since then, I am puzzled."
"Me too, I saw the object, explains Pierre Michel, an inhabitant of Bridge-in-Claix, close to Grenoble. I was reading when I saw a light in the sky. It lasted thirty seconds and the object disappeared behind the mountain."
In Lyon, police officers were also witnesses of the phenomenon. The UFO was again seen by inhabitants of Ain, of the Loire, Ardeche and of Drôme. And yesterday, during the entire day, the gendarmerie squads of the area received tens of calls of witnesses, motorists or late bedders, who saw the object.
In Saint-Symphorien-of-Lay (Loire) other police officers of the gendarmerie confirmed. "It was 02:10 when we saw the object and its gleam bluish, explains one of them. We observed it during two to three minutes. There even was time to take photographs. But when we developed them, disappointment: the craft did not impress the film."
There will thus be no photographs of the UFO. Too bad. And like most of the time, no radar at the airports of the area detected any strange presence in the sky.
