The article below was published in the daily newspaper Nord Littoral, Calais, France, page 3, on October 12, 1954.
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"Saucer or not saucer"?
Despite themselves, the Calais residents parodied Shakespeare's famous phrase in "Hamlet" on Sunday.
Indeed, the "mysterious craft that crisscross the sky of France" and particularly the one that many Calaisians saw on Saturday morning, is raising heated discussions in town.
In public establishments, in cafes, in hairdressing salons, everyone gives their point of view, most seriously.
But alas the light does not come out.
On Sunday and especially during yesterday, we were confirmed of the passage over Calais, or almost, of this very brilliant machine which evolved a certain time under the eyes of several tens of Calaisians, of the district of Fontinettes, the streets Thiers and Valenciennes, the Place d'Alsace, Cailloux, etc...
Let us cite the example of these workers working in the Cité de Toul, employees of the E.D.F., etc. Everyone is unanimous about the passage and the presence in the sky of the Calaisis of this alleged "flying saucer".
There is much less in agreement about the shape. Let's say about the shapes, because the craft presented itself, as we said Sunday in various aspects.
In Rinxent, it was also seen, taking the same direction.
In short, no hesitation possible: this craft did indeed exist. It may not have anything extra-terrestrial but it was "seen".
No one even thought of accusing the Calais witnesses, of collective hallucination.
The most skeptical only believe that this is an airplane of very original design, even a very large device belonging to the English Meteorology.
In our article on Sunday, we reported that a motorist who passed Place d'Alsace had stopped, mingled with the crowd, had "seen" him too and then climbed into his vehicle rushed on Boulevard Gambetta to reach Fort-Nieulay.
Again, the craft was seen. But soon it disappeared in the distance and its shiny appearance was only visible from time to time.
It then disappeared between Wimereux and Cap Gris-Nez, that is to say approximately towards England.
Its speed? All witnesses were unanimous: average.
Was it going against the wind? Did it, on the contrary, have Sire Eole on his side?
Extremely difficult to determine because "in the air" the wind can take a different direction than on land.
The motorist in question who followed the move of the craft for ten minutes was one of our collaborators who did not, however, desire a race... which was too uneven.
Take a photo? Impossible if you take into account the distance and even the best telephoto lens couldn't catch it.
Because it is difficult to impress on the film a dot or even a shiny disc, so far from the operator and whose shine sometimes merges with the blue of the sky. We thought seriously enough that it could be and this opinion is shared by certain witnesses, the new prototype of English plane: the "flying cage-bed".
We know that a few weeks ago, at the Farborough [sic] air show, the Royal-Air-Force [sic] presented this extraordinary aircraft for the first time.
Without wings, this aircraft takes off and lands vertically. It moves in all directions and is moved by the directed force of its reactors.
Its shape is characteristic.
However, many Calaisians have reported that sometimes the craft which flew over Calais took the form of a bizarre parachute. However, seen from afar, the silhouette of the "flying cage bed" can show the shape of a triangle with the point at the bottom.
And the ovoid shape then elongated in the shape of a cigar?
Perhaps by the rays of the sun which, due to the rotation of the craft, only highlight certain parts and this can explain the different forms. Unfortunately, this hypothesis does not hold because the "flying cage bed" cannot yet make very long flights because it is only in the experimental state. But as the cleverest would lose their French there, we should only consider this as a simple hypothesis. Perhaps as fragile as that of the very large weather balloon used for meteorology, as that of another English plane, the "flying wing" or even that of craft coming from another world.
Obviously, if the psychosis of the "saucers" did not exist, the Calaisians would have only taken a distracted glance towards this mysterious craft.
But now, the news is there and all these stories gleaned from all over the world make people wonder.
By way of conclusion, it should be recognized, the absolutely indisputable fact that on Saturday morning, an extremely bizarre craft was seen by dozens and dozens of Calais residents, and its appearance provokes many comments.
And the Tourists Office swears it has nothing to do with it! Finally, we note that we would be happy to receive written testimony from those who "saw". We would be happy to publish them, even if their authors wish to remain anonymous for publication.
Because the story of the "flying saucers" fascinates everyone.
