The article below was published in the daily newspaper Libre Artois, Arras, Pas-de-Calais, France, page 4, on October 17, 1954.
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A resident of the town of Méral (Mayenne) said he saw in the sky a bright orange ball which landed on the ground. The flat, domed disc, five to six meters in diameter, giving off a blinding glow, lit the countryside within a 200-meter radius.
The craft was transparent and from the inside a a black shape was observed. The disc remained like this for about ten minutes, reddened and disappeared quickly towards the north. The observer then went to the place where the object had landed. There was, he assures, a kind of bright cloud that slowly fell to the ground. Arrived at his home, he noticed that his clothes were covered with a white layer of a slightly sticky material, like paraffin.
A boy baker from Calais said he saw at 3:40 a.m., at a place called Saint-Pierre-Halte, on the road to Saint-Omer, a yellow and shiny craft landing on the railroad tracks.
The object of weird shape, was according to the baker, two meters high and four meters in diameter.
Among the other appearances, let us also note this one:
A barrel maker from Graulhet said that he had seen a silvery craft heading northwest at the end of the afternoon; which he took at first for a jet plane, but not discerning any trail of condensation, the observer went to get a pair of binoculars and distinctly saw a large flexible disc, which was undulating on itself, while moving at high speed.
It was then that the craft seemed to explode in flight. A silver ball, about one meter in diameter, escaped from the mass and continued on its way, soon disappeared from view, while the rest of the machine fell in several pieces similar to sheets of various dimensions which hovered in the sky and some of which clung to telegraph wires. About fifteen people testified to this singular case and fragments of material were collected. They come in the form of agglomerated silver filaments which crumble when touched.
In our section yesterday devoted to saucers, we quoted the following information: a "white disc" hovered over Fontaine-de -Vaucluse.
The air base of Caritat (Vaucluse), alerted, immediately directed two jet planes which, soon appeared, and after two turns on Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, gained altitude and dove on the disc.
The radio installed on the planes and which was in communication with the base, announced that the craft was in sight, that it was chased, but that it escaped because its speed was higher than theirs.
From Vaucluse, one could clearly see the disc moving away like an arrow, chased by the two jet planes.
As expected, the "authorities" denied the information in these terms:
The Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, (Air) wishes to specify that the two pilots of the Orange base who flew over Fontaine-de-Vaucluse at different altitudes, on October 14 in the afternoon, did not observe any unknown craft during their search. Both pilots are experienced officers and their reports are formal.
