This article was published in the daily newspaper Le quotidien de la Haute-Loire, France, September 19, 1954.
Mr. Haffner, professor of astronomy at the university of Hamburg published in the weekly magazine Die Zeit an article in which he declares that all the flying saucers which were seen until now can be classified in four groups: 1) Hallucinations; 2) Optical illusions misleading even the objective of the camera. The alleged photographs of flying saucers are the often noted reflections when one takes photographs against the light; 3) Weather balloons; 4) Unknown flying objects. All the objects of the fourth category can be explained by what we know of the balls of fire produced by lightnings. This phenomenon seldom occurs and one has only two or three photographs. The major part of the balls of fire produced by the lightning are observed with less than 200 meters height and have a diameter from 20 to 100 centimetres. But a greater quantity of energy is released when the flashes burst at high altitude, and naturally more the balls of fire are large. One saw some being 200 meters in diameter and at ten kilometers of altitude. Professor Haffner adds that because of their rotation the balls of fire are often flattened. However descriptions of flying saucers speak about object having the shape of discs or cigars and specify that the objects rotated on themselves. The balls of fire often emit very brilliant luminous rays, which still corresponds to the accounts of people who say to have seen saucers. In the same way they can change shape and direction in less than one second, just like the saucers. These changes of direction are explained easily by the influence of the magnetic fields. Finally, the balls of fire disintegrate always suddenly, sometimes silently, sometimes with a strong detonation.
