The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Bien Public, de Dijon, France, le 24 mars 1976.
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"Are the invaders already among us?..." This was the title we had given to the report of a conference on "UFOs" given in Beaune by Navy Captain André Gallard, on March 7th.
We reported, without taking sides, simply noting disturbing coincidences, insofar as the testimonies overlap and, while the witnesses separated by thousands of kilometers had never been able to consult each other. In addition, many unexplained phenomena are located at specific periods and on specific axis.
It is not, in fact, a question of ensuring: they are Martians or extraterrestrials. It is simply a question of noting "that there is something"... and that we would like to be able to explain it.
It is in this spirit that we collected the testimony of a man from Beaune who must be considered a serious man, Mr. Claude Cretin, also well known under the pseudonym of "Manubo."
It was also necessary to insist a lot: "You understand in such a case, you are inevitably taken for a madman or a drunkard. But I don't think I'm one or the other. I'm not saying: they are Martians. But I saw something and I would like someone to explain to me what I saw."
A STILL SILHOUETTE
The fact dates back to Monday, January 26 at around 9:45 p.m.
Driving his car, the said person was traveling, road of Bouze, in the direction of Beaune. He perceived laterally, a first call of projector, at the exit of the village, at the height of the Savoyard chalet. He perceived another one between the chalet and the cemetery. Finally, he saw a third one, at the second bend after the cemetery. He thought of a motorcycle headlight.
It was then that he saw in front of him in the brush, overhanging the road, the motionless silhouette of a diving suit, yellow-orange in color, the arms very clearly detached from the body, the head caught in a helmet whose top was very round, barred at eye level by a rectangular glass, the headlight being placed above, giving a whitish light, very concentrated and less diffused than by an ordinary car headlight. The silhouette was about 6 or 7 meters away and only the upper part of the suit could be seen, the lower body being in the brush.
FRESHLY BROKEN BRANCHES
At the time, Mr. Cretin was not thinking of the Martians at all, but of a bunch of "jokers" who, a little further down, could intercept him to steal his money or seize his car. Returning home around 10 p.m., he immediately informed the gendarmes. At this time, the patrol had left on an accident. It was therefore only the next day that two gendarmes showed up with whom Mr. Cretin went to the place. At the supposed location, it was found, three or four meters high, freshly broken branches.
So those are the facts. Mr. Cretin let's repeat it, did not deduce anything. He simply saw something that seemed abnormal to him and he would like someone to explain to him what he saw. That's it.
A few days later, he received a visit from a character interested in this kind of phenomena. His visitor made him describe the diving suit he had seen. Following which, from an important documentation, he came out with a similar sketch, established following other identical statements, collected almost everywhere in the world...
THE "GOOD" EXPLANATIONS
So that we can always ask ourselves questions...
And we have to admit that "the good explanations" don't always stick. Indeed when this "news item" was known in Bouze, someone wanted to give it an explanation. He assured that it was a resident of the town, speleologist and who in combination was repairing his car...
The person concerned was therefore consulted at his workplace in Beaune. He is actually the owner of a lined jacket which can make one think of a diving suit. But it is blue. Moreover, apart from underground explorations, he does not wear his helmet equipped with a headlamp. Finally, he could not see himself at all in this outfit, repairing his car in the middle of the night!...
And Mr. Cretin repeats: "I am telling what I saw. I am not saying that I saw a Martian. I would like someone to explain to me what I saw. That's all..."
The clan of the incredulous or those who are not, will not fail to discuss it. So in turn, we'll just say, "We said what we were told, by someone who is very down to earth. That's why we're reporting his testimony."
Collected by Paul BILLIOUD
[Photo caption 1:] Mr. Claude Cretin, a well-known Beaune resident, undoubtedly and unanimously considered a serious man (B.P. - L.D.)
[Photo caption 2:] What the witness of his fleeting vision remembered described: a red or orange diving suit, the arms clearly detached from the body, a helmet whose top was very round, barred with a rectangular glass, the headlight above and in the middle of the head, from which a light emanated which was not diffused as it would have been by an ordinary headlight (Photo B.P. - L.D.)
