The article below was published in the daily newspaper La Bourgogne Républicaine, Dijon, France, on August 7, 1953.
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For about ten days, we have received many letters from our correspondents or readers, about the mysterious aerial machine observed above the region. Unable to publish them all, we give the essentials.
We can cite as main observation points: Salins, Arbois, Dole, Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, Le Creusot.
From all these places, the indications agree substantially: apparent size: a five-franc piece; direction in which the machine was located: West-South-West; Angle of observation: 60 to 70°.
A remark is necessary: Salins and Le Creusot are distant, in straight line, by 120 kilometers. Now, for the observers of both places, the object is at the same point in the sky, and does not seem closer to the inhabitants of Le Creusot than to those of Verdun-sur-le-Doubs. One of the witnesses saw it first from the latter locality, then, a few moments later, from Le Creusot. "I saw it exactly in the same place," he said, "like I see the Northern Star in the same place, from two different places!"
The object must therefore have been located very far to the west, very high. Given the extent of the area in which it was observed, and according to the information given to us by specialists in aerial observation, the minimum altitude required for them to be seen from so far away would be approximately 20,000 meters. But this order of magnitude also determines the minimum dimensions of the craft for it to have been perceptible at the distances indicated: its is astonishing: 180 to 200 meters in diameter. And even more considerable if the craft was at an altitude greater than 20,000 meters!
These figures completely destroy the aeronautical explanation. None of these commonly used craft exceeds four meters in diameter at an altitude of 18,000 meters. Let us not forget, on the other hand, that a balloon cannot remain motionless in direction and especially in altitude for such a long time. So it was something other than a balloon.
Second point that seems to be definitively clarified: the condensation trails attributed by some to the mysterious object. However, it has been more or less established that jet planes were flying in the area at the same time, and at very high altitude. It is more than likely that it was their trajectories that were superimposed on the disk and caused the confusion.
We cannot therefore retain this detail, which is after all secondary.
Some have put forward the hypothesis of a planet visible in broad daylight. Double objection: a planet has an apparent movement and its rotation around the celestial vault is clearly perceptible in a short period of time.
Also, a planet visible during the day would have been visible, a fortiori, at nightfall. However, the mysterious object lost its brightness as the sun disappeared. It was therefore not luminous by itself, and reflected the sunlight.
Neither balloon nor planet! So what is it? One hypothesis submitted is that of a gaseous mass at high altitude. However, it seems that the witnesses who observed with binoculars all distinguished very clear, material contours. One of them was even able to give a fairly detailed description.
As we can see, the hypotheses are few in number, and all "wrong" in some way.
Without being categorical, and affirming that it can only be a flying saucer, we cannot help but make the connection with the dramatic adventure of Captain Mantell, who pursued a "giant disc, of a beautiful polished metal, and at least 150 meters in diameter" before crashing to the ground.
Let us recall that the famous disc [high-altitude balloon] had been seen simultaneously from localities located 250 kilometers away, and that a triangulation established at the request of the commission of inquiry, by Professor Hyneck [sic, Hynek], of the University of Chicago, had given as results: altitude, 50,000 meters; dimension. 200 meters in diameter!
Was it one of those fantastic machines that several thousand people saw on Monday? Could it be, as some American experts have suggested on other occasions, an observation relay base, coming from the depths of space and which, like the artificial satellite that men now dream of, would be stationed a few dozen kilometers from the ground, and which, from time to time, would descend to make more precise observations and, at the same time, pose an irritating question mark to the inhabitants of our planet?
The least that can be said is that the object seen on Monday finds does not easily find a natural explanation. Neither balloon, nor planet, nor optical illusion (too many witnesses and too distant to speak of collective hallucination), what possibilities remain then?
We leave it to our readers to decide how to conclude. We regret, however, that among all the observers, none had the idea of alerting a weather station, or even the Longvic air base.
It might have been possible then to clear up the mystery and establish the nature of the object. However, if one of them made precise measurements, using instruments (in particular by measuring the angle of observation at different times) we would be grateful if he would let us know about it.
Also, although such observations are not repeated often, we strongly encourage our readers who would witness such a clearly extraordinary phenomenon (in particular in the case of a motionless object) to notify a weather station in the region. There are some in Dijon (Tel D2 74-08), Besançon, Châtillon, Auxerre and Mont-Saint-Vincent (Saône-et-Loire).
By identifying the "unknowns" of the problem, it will (perhaps) be possible to resolve it (partially!)
Ch. GARREAU
