The article below was published in the daily newspaper Var-Matin - République, France, on July 12, 1974.
A one-square-meter hole in the zinc roof of a house and scorched beams greatly intrigue the police of Hellesmes (North) who have opened an investigation.
However, it is not a question of finding an arsonist, but of explaining a strange phenomenon that occurred at the end of June, but which has only been known in recent days: awakened in the middle of the night by "a bright glow and an enormous noise", a certain number of residents of the neighborhood declared having seen, on a house, a mysterious luminous, cylindrical thing, "orange and bubbling like molten metal". After a few minutes, the phenomenon disappeared.
The next day, the owner of the house noticed that his roof had melted. In addition, his car battery was "flat". Five or six other motorists in the vicinity made the same observation.
For many residents of Hellesmes, the phenomenon was caused by a "UFO". Investigators believe it was a static electricity storm. They collected fragments of metal (which they believe to be molten zinc) and sent them to Paris for analysis.
