The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: 17-Oct-54-LeTeil.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper Le Quotidien de la Haute-Loire for October 18, 1954, reported that the residents of Le Teil, "probably upset to be despised by the Martians and their saucers", had organized the day before a hoax "which seems to have caused a stir in the southern districts of Le Teil and some villages in the lower Ardeche."
The newspaper reported that "an object with the appearance of an authentic saucer was seen above Le Teil in the morning of Sunday, then the object disappeared in a matter of minutes in the direction of Valvignères. The residents of this village were so moved by the appearance of the object that a mass, celebrated at that time in the church of this small village located 25 kilometers from the Teil, had to be interrupted."
[Ref. lqh1:] NEWSPAPER "LE QUOTIDIEN DE LA HAUTE-LOIRE":
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 Valvignères. 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.
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Hoax.
One wonders if all this was not entirely invented by the newspaper; I do not see for example what means was used for such a hoax, which would have started in Le Teil and would have had its effect in a village 25 kilometers away.
How could the Teil residents build a "false saucer" that left Le Teil and arrived "a few minutes" later at Valvignères, 25 km away?
If the residents of Le Teil were "upset" for not seeing Martians and saucers, why would they "show" them elsewhere than at Le Teil?
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Le Teil, Ardèche, Valvignères, hoax, multiple, saucer, prank
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| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | March 23, 2006 | First published. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 4, 2009 | Conversion from HTML to XHTML Strict. First formal version. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | December 11, 2019 | Addition of the Summary. |
