This article was published in the daily newspaper Le Quotidien de la Haute-Loire, France, October 18, 1954.
The residents of Teil, undoubtedly upset, to find themselves ignored by the Martians and their saucers, set up yesterday a hoax which appears to have caused a certain commotion in the southern districts of Teil and certain villages of the low Ardeche. An object having the appearances of an authentic saucer was seen above Teil in the morning of Sunday, then the object disappeared in space from a few minutes in the direction of Valvign res. The inhabitants of this village were so much moved by the appearance of the object that a religious office, celebrated at that hour in the church of this small village located at 25 kilometers of Teil, had to be interrupted.
Taking advantage of the period of the grape harvest, two inhabitants of St Martin-Belle-Roche decided the other evening to disguise themselves as Martians and to play some good prank. They went under an extremely clever disguise to the residence of a neighbor. However the joke turned badly and our two accomplices, in spite of their disguise, were granted a number of hits, so much so that one of them had four cracked ribs. That is a quite unforeseen consequence of the epidemic of saucers and cigars.
Many Italians having observed discs, saucers, cigars, etc... flying in the sky of the peninsula, the "Giornale d'Italia" interviewed professor Eula, holder of Chair of Aerodynamics at the University of Rome. This eminent scientist, in connection with the possible source of the said craft from other planets in particular, stated: We do not know all the mysteries of our solar system. Perhaps astronautics, when it can be put into practice, will enable us to penetrate them. But we know as of now that beings similar to us cannot exist on currently known planets. If there are, they can only be utterly different. Therefore it is absurd to talk of Martians capable of human activities. In answer to another question, professor Eula said that he does not believe that he should exclude in an absolutely unquestionable manner that they may be experimental craft intended for military use protected by an impenetrable secrecy. In conclusion, the professor stated "If this last assumption corresponds to reality, the time will come where the secrecy will be revealed, because secrecy of a technical nature cannot be indefinitely preserved."
Many mysterious machines were seen in the sky of Italy. One of these craft landed close to Rovigo, in the zone known as Po di Gnocca, where several people observed it. The craft of circular form, after having slowly hovered, landed on the ground without noise. After a few minutes of immobility, it began again its quiet flight vertically, but at the place from where it took off, there is now a rather deep crater of six meters in diameter. Moreover, six poplars which grew in the neighbourhoods were carbonized.
Mr. Damien Sigu re, aged 56 years, retired customs officer, stated to have seen on the road, close to his residence, in the suburbs of Perpignan, a large red sphere. From it, left a tall man, dressed like a diver. Having made a rour around his craft, the "diver" went back in there hurriedly, while Mr. Sigu re's two dogs rushed towards him. The craft then rose without noise and disappeared at an extraordinary speed.
