The article below was published in the daily newspaper La Bourgogne Républicaine, Dijon, France, page 4, on October 13, 1954.
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Two strange phenomena which could have for origin the same "flying object" took place, a few minutes apart, in the night of Monday to Tuesday.
Autun (from our P.C.). -- In Epinac-les-Mines and throughout the region, we know Mr. Labonde as a serious, balanced man. A 1914-1918 veteran, he is not one of those who are easily told stories. Owner of the Etoile-Dancing, and of a café-restaurant, he had fun and let it be known when customers raised the question of the famous saucers in his establishment.
Today, Mr. Labonde, has changed his mind and for good reason...
The other night, around 4 a.m., he was going to Lacanche (Côte-d'Or) on board his traction avant to get his musicians who had just played a conscript ball, when leaving the Bois de Vernusse, a few kilometers from Lacanche, he saw about 25 meters from him, a luminous round craft, red in color, having the shape of a an egg two meters in diameter.
Overwhelmed by an understandable emotion, Mr. Labonde insisted on making sure that he was not the victim of a hallucination. He picked speed, then slowed down. The mysterious craft followed him very close to his car. Finally, it was to disappear suddenly shortly before the arrival of the motorist in Lacanche.
Mr. Labonde had to tell his astonished friends about his adventure, but also less skeptical of the existence of the flying saucer, given the personality of the sympathetic restaurant owner.
Nevers (from our P.C..) -- Around the same time, two fairground merchants, MM. Henri Gallois and Louis Vigneron, from Clamecy, went to the Corbigny fair yesterday morning.
According to Mr. Gallois, their car was stopped by a beam of light. It was then that they saw in a corner, at the place called "Sassier", a cylindrical craft. On his arrival at Corbigny, M. Gallois stated:
"After passing the Boulevard de l'Hôpital of Clamecy, driving on the middle of the road, I felt a discharge of electric poser all over my body, a few seconds later, the engine of the van stopped, and the headlights went out.
"Suddenly I gasped, because about 50 meters away from me, I had just seen a cylindrical-shaped craft with a large diameter, which I could compare to a saucer.
"This shape had a grayish hue, but I could not distinguish exact characteristics. It was then that I saw around the mysterious craft three small men who appeared to me to be oddly shaped. It seemed to me that one of them was smoking or it was a small light which was on board the craft. My friend and I, we remained immobilized inside the vehicle in the impossibility to move. It was only after the disappearance of the craft that we were able to continue our journey.
"The apparition only lasted a few seconds, it was very clear, no doubt exists for me."
As for Mr. Louis Vigneron, he confirmed the statements of Mr. Gallois point by point. The facts are rigorously correct, he says, it is not an optical illusion.
Also, Mr. Henri Chaumont, from Cary (hamlet of Clamecy) claimed to have also seen the craft.
Is this the same craft seen in Vernusse by Mr. Labonde?
