The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Figaro, Paris, France, page 4, on October 19, 1954.
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Rural enchantments become urban...
City dwellers, who until now seemed to be lagging behind rural populations in the clinical study of flying saucers, have just taken a fair revenge. Since Saturday evening, indeed, many Parisians have been able, in all corners of their capital, to observe "with their own eyes" the fleeting presence of a mysterious craft which all agree emitted orange glows, flew from east to west at low altitude, but at a speed certainly exceeding 500 kilometers per hour.
This craft, although it has not yet - since two employees from the Orly base reported its appearance - generated much press coverage, has nevertheless already prompted a respectable number of phone calls.
Our correspondents, most of whom are engaged in liberal professions or commercial trades, located the passage of what they hastened to call a flying saucer on Boulevard Raspail, Place de la Bourse and in Neuilly.
Finally, some suburban residents testified that the Enghien-les-Bains region and that of Colombes had been honored the same day, at the same time, by a similar visit.
If this is only coincidence, it must be admitted that these are increasingly troubling and quite capable of creating a climate of anxiety among some.
One fact, however, should reassure us: the Martians, if that is what they are, seem, since the beginning of their incursions on Earth, to have made French soil their landing place of choice.
No country more than ours has yet experienced so many interplanetary phenomena.
This is indeed the unmistakable sign that the Uranid commandos rightly appreciate the beauty of our landscapes before sampling - something that will no doubt come soon - the charms of our literature and our gastronomy...
Philippe Bouvard.
Foix, October 18. -- Following numerous sightings of flying craft of unknown type, currently reported in all regions of France, Mr. René Dejean, socialist deputy for Ariège, has submitted a written question to the Prime Minister asking in particular: "Whether or not a service has been created to gather the existing documentation on this subject and to study the nature and origin of said craft.
"Whether the information currently collected and assembled makes it possible to absolutely exclude the hypothesis of craft piloted or controlled by living beings of unknown species and origin;
"Whether the government, on the contrary, has sufficient information to attribute the production of these craft to the industry of a foreign state;
"Whether, in the latter case, the international agreements signed by France have already allowed consultations regarding the use of such craft in a potential conflict."
