The 1954 French flap:

Several scientists in Rome believe the "flying cigar"
DETECTED BY RADAR ON FRIDAY
is not a celestial body but a new aircraft

(From our permanent special correspondent J. NEUVECELLE)

ROME, September 21 (via special wire).

The passage of the mysterious "flying cigar" that crossed the sky over Rome last Friday afternoon is the subject of confidential studies at Rome's large astronomical observatory.

In the city, the "cigar" was observed for a long time by several thousand people. It was perfectly visible from the city's busiest neighborhoods. As soon as it appeared, the observatory, airfields, and police stations received hundreds of phone calls from witnesses who had seen the strange phenomenon.

At Pratica-di-Mare, where there is an Italian Air Force base, the alert was raised by the Ciampino airfield, whose commander immediately informed the radar technicians at the base. At 6:49 p.m., the object was detected within the radar's field. The cigar's recorded positions included Fiumicino, a small port at the mouth of the Tiber, and a wide area east of Ostia. Radar technicians observed an antenna in the middle of the larger end of the craft.

Many hypotheses...

There are many hypotheses regarding the nature of the mysterious object. Some scientists in Rome lean toward the following theory: the cigar is not a celestial body, but an aircraft of an unknown type. The object had a cigar-like shape, bulging toward the middle. It traveled over Rome at an altitude of 10,000 meters, then descended much lower. It left a faint trail of white smoke behind it. The smoke came from the narrower end of the cigar. At one point during its flight over Rome, the object suddenly dropped about 400 meters. Clearly attempting to regain altitude, it shifted from a horizontal to a vertical position and easily climbed higher. It then accelerated and quickly disappeared into the horizon. The farther it went, the brighter it appeared to the observers.

Flying tube over Paray-le-Monial

SAINT-ETIENNE, September 21 ("France-Soir" dispatch). -- Several residents of Paray-le-Monial clearly observed, on Sunday, a large reddish tube with small fins, coming from the southeast and heading north at a slow pace. The object had multicolored reflections.

- EPINAL. - A young butcher boy said he saw a spherical craft of ochre color, encircled by a darker ring.

- LA ROCHELLE. - While driving his car, Mr. Picaud, brewery director, saw a disc moving at low altitude on the horizon.

- LANGEAC (Haute-Loire). - A white glow crossed the sky and was seen by several residents.

- LILLE. - On September 29, a resident of Wimereux, Mr. Raoul Baptiste, 72, a contractor, stated he had seen a saucer at low altitude, heading north.

- LE MAS-NEUF (Lozère). - On September 18, Mr. Jean Madrigal saw a bright object fall from the sky, performing frightening zigzags.

- LE PUY. - On September 24, Mrs. Chaunard saw a red flying cigar, motionless for a quarter of an hour, then it suddenly disappeared. On the 26th, Mr. Mallet, a hotel owner, also spotted one.

- LOUDES (Haute-Loire). - On September 22, a strange craft, described differently by the witnesses, passed through the sky.

- LODEVE (Hérault). - Mr. Hugounenq, an accountant, his wife, and a retired nurse, Miss Marguerite Phallip, saw a flying red fireball.

- NANCY. - On September 24, several DOZENS of workers from Sidelor, especially those living in Fontaine-les-Baroches (Meurthe-et-Moselle), saw six flying cigars.

- ORIGNY (Aisne). - The director of a basketry factory, Mr. Chovel, his wife, and Mr. Sdraulig, his father-in-law, saw at night an orange craft that gradually turned red before disappearing at lightning speed.

- METZ. - On September 22, the rural policeman of Oberdorf informed the gendarmerie that he had seen a flaming craft traveling in zigzags at high speed.

- ORGENOY (Seine-et-Marne). - Mr. Raymond Ravot, butcher-delicatessen owner from Saint-Fargeau, and his daughter Odette noticed a ball of fire moving slowly toward Versailles. Mr. Ravot alerted the town crier of Ponthierry and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Georges Binet. Together, they saw the craft again.

- SAINT-ETIENNE. - Several residents of Paray-le-Monial noticed on September 21 a large pinkish tube.

- SAINT-FARGEAU. - A ball of fire was seen by Mr. Poulard and his wife. Mr. Poulard works at the National Institute of Patents and Inventions. Mrs. Gaumundi, from Paris, traveling in the same area, saw the same craft.

- TULLE (Corrèze). - Mr. Besse, an engineer with the French Electricity Board, claimed to have seen a saucer turn pink, then green, then yellow.

- VICHY. - A flying cigar was reported by several people, notably by rugby players training at the Vichy stadium.

But the idea by Mr. Castou to plot all the sighting of the fla on a single map is nevertheless interesting. It gives for Bavic an unexpected result: this alignement goes from 7 spots (counting la Sierra de Gardunha) to 13 spots perfectly in line (two observations in the south of Dole, one on the departmental road 60 between Saint-Romain-sous-Gourdon and les Brosses-Thillot, one in Paray-le-Monial, a second observation in Gelles, one lastly at Orchamps).