The 1954 French flap:

Saucer, meteor, or anti-fog rocket?

After the passage of a flying saucer (?) over the St-Nicolas marsh, seen by two S.N.C.F. employees and whose report caused a stir at the time, the sky over Redon was recently again the scene of a luminous phenomenon.

Around 7:15 a.m., more than fifty workers from the Garnier factory, on their way to work and living in the Morbihan (Aneler, Rieux, St-Jean-la-Poterie), saw above them a glowing ball moving at high speed and emitting sparks.

At the same time, a driver from the C.G.E.A. bus, on his way to Muzillac, was surprised by the light spread abundantly along his route, wondering what kind of vehicle could produce headlights with such intensity. It was the famous phosphorescent object he saw for a few seconds.

The ball must have traveled across the sky of the Redon region for several minutes, as Messrs. Guyot and Jolivet, postmen in Bains-sur-Oust, saw it heading south; people from Laillé and Maure reported it moving from west to east; and Mr. Cavard, tobacconist on Grande-Rue in Redon, saw it head west.

Additionally, the phenomenon was also observed at around the same time in Sables-d'Olonne, Nantes, St Nazaire, La Baule, La Roche Bernard, Pontivy, and Brest.

To date, no one has been able to determine the nature of the object, except our colleague La Résistance de l'Ouest, who, appearing well-informed, writes:

"The flying saucers, streaking, blazing, or detonating, seen in the sky last Thursday would in reality be nothing more than a peaceful ‘anti-fog’ rocket currently being tested at a secret location, which we know is situated between St-Nazaire and Donges. This rocket, now in development, is expected to provide great service to navigation."