This article was published in the daily newspaper Le Méridional, France, page 15, on February 3, 1980.
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The Abruzzi, area of the center of Italy facing the Adriatic sea, if the testimonys are to be believed, a true "sanctuary" for the UFOS (Unidentified flying objects).
The UFOS seem attracted by the mountainous solid masses of Gran Sasso in the heart of the Abruzzi. A few days ago, a flotilla of UFOS was seen going towards the mountains. The witnesses stated that the machines were of circular shape and emitted a strong bluish gleam.
At the beginning of January, in Campli, in the north of the Abruzzi, a luminous object in the shape of a bottle was seen by the inhabitants who claimed that the UFO remained during more than one hour at the vertical of a radio antenna. Campli is in a zone ranging between Gran Sasso and the sea, zone which would constitute some sort of magnetic corridor inside of which appearances of objects and strange phenomena are frequent.
DURING YEAR 1979, 12 appearances of UFOS were reported in the Abruzzi.
The previous year, a series of unexplained phenomena had even caused panic among the populations of the littoral. All had begun on October 12, 1978, by the mysterious death of two fishermen of the village of Martinsicuro. Having left in the night in a quiet weather, they did not return anymore. Their bodies were found 30 meters deep in their intact boat. In the villages, the rumour runs that the boat "was sucked" by an enormous maelstrom. It was the beginning of "the strange autumn of the UFOS."
The following days, the appearances followed one another; it was initially a "luminous cupola", then a "sort of shoeshine boxed pierced of round port-holes and occupied by small ugly men and gorgeous blonde women."
At the same time strange phenomena occurred at sea in what all Italy would call the "evil triangle": the accounts of the fishermen multiply. Some claim that their boat was followedsuiVie by a " strange red light", another that an enormous water column was drawn up, by calm sea, in front of his boat, or that a boat drawn by an invisible force started to slip by at an incredible speed.
FINALLY SOME FISHERMEN tell that in front of their boat, the water started to bubble or that a mysterious wake split the floods.
Very quickly, the fear seized the populace and the flotillas of fishing vessels take refuge in the ports. The military navy sent ships in the zone.
Fishermen go to the sea again, but two weeks later, the "UFOs" make their appearance in the sky. Close to Terano, many witnesses claim to have seen four very luminous "UFOs" emitting a loud humming noise. These testimonys were confirmed by several air controllers in duty on military bases of the area.
The following December 28, the "UFOs" appear in an impressive manner in the full middle of the solid mass of Gran Sasso. Two employees of a small hydroelectric power station see a luminous sphere with two red ailerons moving silently in the sky. A few minutes before, the counters of the picture monitors had suddenly become insane and the power station had ceased functioning.
Since then, the Abruzzi constitute an obligatory pilgrimage for the UFO experts.
