The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Télégramme de Brest et de l'Ouest, Brest, France, pages 1 and 2, on October 16, 1954.
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Jet aircraft did indeed take to the skies to search for a mysterious flying object, but they found nothing.
Avignon, 15. -- Yesterday evening, it was reported that the small town of Vaucluse had, in the early afternoon at 1:30 p.m., been flown over by a "white disc" slowly gliding. With good binoculars, one could clearly distinguish that it was topped with a spherical dome of the same color.
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The inner circular rim intermittently bore two powerful lights, varying from white to violet, passing through red.
From the Orange airbase, two jet aircraft immediately took off, and after circling twice over Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, they gained altitude and dove toward the "disc."
The onboard radio of the planes, in communication with the base, announced that the craft was in sight, that it was being pursued, but that it was escaping as its speed exceeded theirs.
From Vaucluse, one could clearly see the disc darting away, chased by the two jets.
Did we finally have irrefutable proof: 1) that flying saucers exist; 2) that they have pilots; 3) that these pilots avoid humans; 4) that they are especially wary — rightly so — of jet aircraft?
It would have been too good to be true: the Secretariat of the Armed Forces itself issued a statement today to "clarify that the two pilots from the Orange base who flew over Fontaine-de-Vaucluse at various altitudes on the afternoon of October 14 observed no unknown craft during their search. The two pilots are experienced officers and their report is definitive."
This brings a note of skepticism to other barely less sensational testimonies.
That of a tanner from Graulhet (Tarn), for example, who stated that he saw a silver craft he initially took for a jet, but discerning no condensation trail, the tanner went to fetch a pair of binoculars and distinctly saw a large flexible disc undulating on itself while moving at high speed.
It was then that the craft seemed to explode in mid-air. A silver ball continued on its way and soon disappeared from view, while the rest of the craft fell in several pieces resembling sheets floating in the sky, some of which caught on telephone wires. About fifteen people testified to this unusual event, and fragments of material were collected. They appear in the form of silver filaments clumped together and which crumble when touched.
In addition, a resident of the village of Méral (Mayenne) stated that he saw a bright orange ball in the sky that landed on the ground. The observer then went to the place where the object had landed. There was, he claims, a kind of luminous cloud slowly falling to the ground. Upon returning home, he noticed that his clothes were covered with a white layer of somewhat sticky material, like paraffin.
Besides these three cases, luminous objects or phosphorescent cigars were observed in Angle (Vendée), Montargis (S.-et-M.), Rove (Bouches-du-Rhône), Draguignan, Casablanca, Mulhouse, Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône), Calais (here the craft landed on a railway track in view of a baker's apprentice), Nîmes (there, the craft was resting on struts).
The British Air Ministry does not believe in the existence of flying saucers, cigars, or other flying objects. Indeed, while refraining from commenting on the craft reported in France and other European countries, official spokespersons for the Ministry declare that 99 times out of 100 natural explanations are found for similar sightings in Great Britain: they are most often weather balloons.
When no explanation can be given, the Ministry of the Air adds, it is generally because the testimonies of the people claiming to have witnessed these sightings are insufficient.
However, no such craft has been reported in Great Britain in recent weeks.
