The 1954 French flap:

The chapter of the flying saucers

A road worker saw a small man covered in a hairy cloak

CHAUMONT. -- Mr. André Narcy, 48, a road worker in Mertrud (Haute-Marne), was going to work on his motorcycle when, near Voillecomte at 7:15 AM, he noticed in a field, at a place called "La Vieille-Tuilerie," an orange-colored object. As he approached, he realized he was in the presence of a craft unknown to him. The road worker stopped his machine and, on foot, came to within about one hundred meters of the object. It was then that he saw, at about 1.20 meters in height, a being dressed in a cloak covered with hair. Mr. Narcy was very frightened and lay down on the ground, then called out to the individual. The latter, after turning toward him, rushed into his machine, which immediately took off vertically and disappeared into the clouds.

According to Mr. Narcy, the craft was spherical in shape, about ten meters in diameter. Beneath the sphere was a sort of spindle, and the porthole through which the being re-entered the craft was located just between the spindle and the body of the apparatus.

At the moment it departed, a kind of flame emerged from the spindle while a large swirling vapor formed beneath the craft.

Mr. Narcy immediately went to his workplace, where he told his colleagues about his experience. With two of them, Messrs. Riel and Henry, he returned to the site, where he noted that the dew had disappeared over a certain area. The grass had a slightly milky tint and was flattened over a square of about three meters on each side. Moreover, twelve parallel marks resembling round footprints were spread over some distance, suggesting that the craft had landed with a series of small jolts.

***

In several towns, in Nevers, in Châteauroux, in Orthez, in Saint-Brieuc, in Montargis, witnesses claim to have seen luminous craft in the sky that could not be identified.

The dog barked at the "saucer" in Cameroon

YAOUNDE. -- Several trustworthy individuals claim to have witnessed one of these phenomena known as "flying saucers." These include Colonel Cauvin, director of hygiene and public health services in Cameroon; Dr. Menu, chief physician of the Yaoundé hospital; Messrs. Dumont, director of security services in Cameroon; Poileux, councilor of the territorial assembly of Cameroon; Moreau, administrator and deputy mayor of Yaoundé; as well as their wives.

All these people, gathered at the home of the hospital's chief physician, were preparing to go to the cinema when they were intrigued by the behavior of the household dog, which suddenly began growling and bristling its fur. Thinking that strangers might be lurking nearby, Dr. Menu went outside and saw a shining object in the sky. He immediately called his guests, all of whom later stated that they saw, almost directly above the plateau where the hospital is located, a huge, brightly illuminated disk, motionless at an altitude of about 600 meters.

This "apparition" lasted a few seconds. The craft had exactly the shape of a mushroom, whose diameter those present could not precisely estimate, beneath which a cylinder of equal length to the diameter of the cap was gently swaying and was also brightly lit.

Suddenly, the "saucer" moved eastward, and its size seemed to diminish before their eyes. Then it remained motionless for a few seconds before rapidly gaining altitude and disappearing.

In Frankfurt

BONN. -- A "flying saucer" was observed for about two minutes by 13 members of a gliding school above Ockstadt airfield, near Frankfurt.

The 13 pilots and student pilots were watching the maneuvers of an instructor when they saw appear above the glider in flight, at about 3,000 meters altitude, a "slightly bulging silver disk" moving without the slightest noise. The witnesses, among whom were several former Luftwaffe aviators, firmly state that they could not have been victims of an optical illusion.

Other "flying saucers" have been observed in Lebanon, Egypt, and in many cities in France.

After Martians, Martian women

LA ROCHELLE. -- Ever more extraordinary! A colonial schoolteacher on leave on the island of Oléron (Charente-Maritime), Mr. Martin, is said to have seen two pretty Martian women, slightly taller than average men. They may have been about 1.70 meters tall and, although they seemed unaware of the "New Look" fashion, they nevertheless wore ankle boots, jackets, gloves, and helmets trimmed with leather.

Their first contact with Mr. Martin was most charming. Judge for yourself!

Perhaps wishing to astonish their interlocutor, they took the pen and notebook kindly offered to them by him. They immediately drew incomprehensible hieroglyphs, which they then commented on in an unknown language.

It is said that Mr. Martin carefully preserved this manuscript. No doubt he plans to spend pleasant winter evenings deciphering the "mysterious message"!

Still small beings

A motorist from Briatexte (Tarn), Mr. Jean-Pierre Mitto, a technical agent in a company currently exhibiting at the "Arts Ménagers" fair in Toulouse, stated that he encountered, at nightfall on national road No. 631, the occupants of a flying saucer.

"Returning from Toulouse with two relatives," he said, "I suddenly saw in the beam of my headlights two small figures crossing the road just a few meters from my car. I stopped, and to our great astonishment, we then saw a large red disk about 6 meters in diameter take off vertically from a nearby meadow. The craft disappeared into the sky within a few seconds."

About October 3 [, 1954]

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?: Corbigny/Nevers (Nièvre)

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