The article below was published in the daily newspaper L'Est Républicain, France, page 1, on October 20, 1954.
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Livorno. -- "They persecute me... They came to get me... I saw them land in a field. Large and small saucers. Lights and smoke - The Martians... The Martians..."
It is by shouting these pieces of sentences, expressing his deep agitation, that Mr. Bruno Senesi, 34, reported to the hospital in Livorno, asking to be helped. But when the nurse returned With the doctor on duty, Senesi had disappeared. He was found hiding under a bed, shaken by violent shivers, his expression leaving no doubt about the terror that tormented him, and he shouted at the Doctor: "Here they are... They are coming..." The nurses offered him their protection against the Martians and Senesi, the first Italian victim of the psychosis of the "flying saucers" was locked in the lunatics asylum of Livorno.
Not content with disturbing the minds of witnesses, flying saucers have chosen illustrious residences as landing sites. Thus, on Monday, a flying disc landed on the terrace of the villa belonging to Italian writer Curzio Malaparte.
It was a painter, Mr. Raffaele Castello, who, during a nighttime walk at Cape Massulo, saw a massive disc about five meters in diameter flying at an altitude of around one hundred meters.
The craft slowly descended and landed on the terrace of the
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...villa of the writer. Mr. Castello, who at first thought it was a helicopter, approached Curzio Malaparte's summer residence and was greatly surprised to see four small men descending from the disc.
The occupants of the craft, who were wearing suits, remained around the disc for about half an hour.
"I had the impression," said the witness of the landing, "that they weren't speaking, or if they were, it was in very low voices, because from where I stood I couldn't hear a sound. What was certain is that bluish lights continuously escaped from the disc, like pins, as fast as lightning, shooting out in all directions."
"After a while, about half an hour, the four men returned to the disc, which, with a faint hum, rose gently straight up and then rapidly gained altitude."
"It disappeared in the direction of Sicily."
Still in Italy, two discs with a “metallic shine,” according to witnesses, were seen in Mainate, on the outskirts of Milan. The first, ovoid in shape, remained stationary for a few minutes before disappearing rapidly northward. The second, with the classic “flying saucer” shape, took the same direction as the first, leaving behind "streaks of luminous smoke." Neither craft made any sound.
But the saucers love to travel. At the speed they go, circling the Earth must be easy.
Spain had, until now, been one of the few countries never visited by them.
This gap has now been filled. Two Madrid merchants revealed that on Monday, while hunting in the Sierra de Guadarrama, they saw a slightly oval, very bright craft surrounded by a "fluorescent" light. The object, which moved at very high speed without making the slightest sound, was no more than a meter in diameter.
Finally, a "flying cigar" heading north was seen over Lisbon, while two “saucers” and a “round-shaped object” leaving a thick, long trail of white smoke were reported in the Porto region.
In France, barely a dozen mysterious craft were reported over the past twenty-four hours. Brittany and Auvergne were especially favored. Reports mostly describe large balls and crescents—but not the slightest trace of Martians…
