The article below was published in the daily newspaper La Croix du Nord, Lille, Pas-de-Calais, France, page 5, October 20, 1954.
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Following numerous appearances of flying machines of unknown type, currently reported in all regions of France, Mr. René Dejean, Socialist deputy from Ariège, addressed a written question to the president of the council asking him in particular:
"Whether or not a service has been set up to collect the existing documentation on this matter and to study the nature and origin of these craft.
"Whether the information currently collected and gathered makes it absolutely possible to exclude the hypothesis of craft piloted or controlled by living beings of unknown species and origin;
"Whether, on the contrary, the government has enough 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 permitted consultations relating to the use of such craft in a possible conflict."
After the discovery not far from their home of the Portuguese prankster who sent heavenly paper "saucers", the Béthune residents were not the last to scoff at these unusual kinds of craft.
Thus, those in favor of the existence of "flying saucers" formed a minority.
It has not been the same since yesterday, a sudden change has just taken place with the news of the appearance in the Béthune sky of a "real flying saucer"!
The news spread in town like wildfire: two men, one from Vendin-lez-Béthune the other from Beuvry, had seen "with their own eyes, seen", for a few seconds, "a disc of fire similar to the full moon..., which suddenly lengthened by the base, like a rugby ball, then took the indigo color, then moved away towards the south-west of Béthune (towards Annezin), while tracing a trail of sparks."
These two witnesses are called: Mr. Louis Decourcelle, 54, transporter on rue de la Mairie, in Vendin-lez-Béthune; the second, Mr. Julien Vanarien, 35, from Beuvry-Gorre. The latter was accompanied by Mr. Julien Vannée and Mr. Jules Delbart.
These people believe that others, like them, may have witnessed this bizarre appearance. Will there be other testimonials?
Several people were running across fields in Moyeux, in the direction of a flying saucer, surrounded by white and black smoke, which had been reported by a child.
One of them, a farmer, Mr. Filate, did not take his eyes off the sky: he fell into a deep pond where he almost drowned. His companions managed to save him.
It was rumored on Monday that unknown craft had been seen in the sky of Bouchain.
All information taken, it follows that people of the city had seen, Sunday, in the evening, a flying saucer (unless it was a cigar) moving quietly at a very high altitude.
One of the people said he had seen an elongated object.
We must compare the passage of this "luminous object" in Bouchain with that reported in our region of Maubeuge and in Artois, Sunday evening.
This concordance in fact would seem to establish that the trajectory of this "mysterious object" goes from East to West, at least as far as the one seen on Sunday October 17, at the end of the evening, in the region.
