The article below was published in the daily newspaper La Liberté de Normandie, France, pages 1 and 2, on October 18, 1954.
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Mysterious craft continue to frequent the skies of France with regularity. Witness accounts are accumulating, each day providing a few new details, either about flying saucers or flying cigars.
While on Saturday evening several trustworthy people, including Mr. Béranger, mayor of Saint-Laurent-du-Var, general councilor, had spotted above Nice an orange-colored disc, last night, this time above Cannes, several people observed a luminous yellow craft with a green tail. But the most interesting testimony was provided by an employee of the municipal revenue office of Antibes, Mr. Casella, resident in Bio [sic], who, while returning home in the evening, found himself "nose to nose with an enormous mechanical craft measuring 7 to 8 meters in diameter, resting in the middle of the road." The witness, who was on a bicycle, approached the craft almost to touch it, but then it rose vertically and, with a slight whistling sound, disappeared into the sky.
In the Provence sky, at Venergues, several grape harvesters saw yesterday afternoon a...
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[Photo caption:] Did a flying saucer hover over a village in Pas-de-Calais on October 2?
... This is the question raised when looking at the mysterious shining disc appearing in this photo, taken that day at 4:30 p.m., at Ambleteuse, by Mr. Emile Turpin of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
(Associated Press)
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Continued from the first page
An elongated craft shaped like a cigar, declared one of the witnesses, and white and blue in color, added another. A third grape harvester indicated that the rocket seemed to emit beams of light.
At Le Puy, a bright object was observed between 5:50 p.m. and 6:35 p.m., by the meteorological station of Le Puy-Chadrac. The craft appeared as a straight olive with a kind of antenna on top [?]. The station chief specified that he initially thought it was the planet Jupiter, but the sudden disappearance of the object showed he had been mistaken. The same phenomenon was observed by the meteorological center at Ruyères (Cantal).
These accounts can be compared with that of thousands of inhabitants of Tulle who, around 3:30 p.m., saw in the sky, toward the south-southeast, a large, bright, stationary point. It seemed transparent and took the shape of a cylinder with conical ends.
At Murat (Cantal), a similarly bright and oval-shaped object was observed for one hour. In this case, it seems to have been a strongly illuminated weather balloon.
In two villages of Haute-Marne, Vignory and Brottes, orange-colored objects were seen last night. These objects rose at dizzying speeds but without making any noise.
Finally, in the Finistère, Mr. René le Viol, a transporter in Fouesnant, saw last night, behind a curtain of trees, a flat craft resembling an inverted plate, surrounded by a reddish glow. This first disc was then followed by a second, and both disappeared toward the sea.
Numerous mysterious craft were observed yesterday in the skies of Italy. One of these craft landed near Rovigo, in the area called Po di Gnocca, where several people witnessed it. The circular craft, after slowly hovering, touched the ground silently; after a few minutes of stillness, it resumed vertical flight silently, but at the spot where it had taken off, there is now a fairly deep crater six meters in diameter. Six poplars that stood nearby were also charred. Authorities will visit the site to verify the witnesses’ account.
In the Modane region, a shopkeeper saw an incandescent flying cigar flying over the countryside at about 200 meters altitude. After a brief stop, the craft reportedly headed northwest. This observation was confirmed by other witnesses.
Finally, a flying saucer with silver reflections reportedly flew over the Loino area at 5,000 meters. Witnesses stated that the saucer emitted no noise and released no smoke. It disappeared in the direction of Switzerland.
