The 1954 French flap:

In several regions of France and in Ivory Coast

RELIABLE WITNESSES CLAIM
to have seen mysterious craft

SAUCERS, cigars... and flying hives continue to crisscross the skies of Europe and Africa, at least if we are to believe the ever-growing number of people who claim to have witnessed these strange phenomena.

IN SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE, Messrs. Grémy, a restaurateur, and Papuchon, saw at 8:33 p.m. a luminous disc which, after hovering above the town, quickly disappeared into the sky.

IN CHAMONIX, officers of the High Mountain School, several other people, and the pilot Guiron, who was flying over the region at the time, all claimed to have seen, for more than an [illegible], between Mont Lachat and Mont Blanc, a shining craft that bore no resemblance to a normal airplane.

IN VRON (Somme), two young men, Bernard Devoisin and René Coudette, 18 years old, were riding bicycles when they noticed, in the middle of the road, a hive-shaped craft, orange in color, about 2 meters high and 3 meters in circumference. Near it stood a living being resembling a child, dressed in a diving suit. This figure climbed into the craft, which, without a sound, suddenly vanished.

POITOU continues to be overflown by mysterious craft. Thus, an employee of the slaughterhouse of Bressuire (Deux-Sèvres), Mr. Angelo Giraudeau, 33 years old, of Italian origin, noticed on the road a luminous craft beside which stood a small man dressed in a diving suit. The latter is said to have made several gestures of greeting to him. Terrified, Mr. Giraudeau leapt onto his motorcycle and fled.

IN SURGERES, a local resident, Mr. Pierre Savarit, claimed to have seen two red discs moving at very high speed, on the back of which three portholes could be distinguished, from which a pale beam of light emerged.

IN MILLY-LA-FORET, it was a flying cigar that Mr. Mourouzeau, a restaurateur, saw the other evening. The object first took the shape of a half-moon, then became clearer as it descended. It was a kind of red cigar accompanied by a shining ring. The vision lasted five to six minutes, according to Mr. Mourouzeau and three other witnesses, then disappeared beyond the horizon.

IN ROUEN, an electrician at the city's general hospice, along with several members of his family and friends who were with him, saw the other night three luminous, tube-shaped craft. Suddenly one of these objects, passing over the city, detached itself, hovered for a few moments, then rejoined the two other "cigars."

IN VERGAVILLE (Moselle), Mr. Pierre Laplace, 19 years old, an electrician at the Kuhlmann works in Dieuze (Moselle), saw on Sunday evening at 8:17 p.m. a mysterious luminous green craft flying at an estimated altitude of 3,000 meters.

BETWEEN ANNOEULLIN AND PROVINS, near Lille, about a hundred people saw, the other night, "flying crescents" moving in the sky.

In IVORY COAST, flying saucers have just made their appearance. An official report sent to the governor of the region by the chief administrator of the Danané subdivision - a town located 300 km from Abidjan - revealed the news. The events dated back to September 19 but were only made public yesterday following an inquiry conducted to verify their authenticity. Thus, in addition to the local population, the gendarmerie post commander, the chief physician of the medical center, Reverend Father Vyard of the Lyon missions, Mr. Vernhet, the subdivision chief, and his wife, all gathered in the courtyard of his residence, observed, from 8:35 to 9:05 p.m. on September 19, a craft corresponding exactly to those seen in France.

It was a luminous dot surrounded by a halo that first grew rapidly, then moved away toward the horizon. The witnesses saw the craft switch on a powerful headlight, pointing it now upward, now downward.

The same day, in Soubre, 250 km northwest of Abidjan, and in the same direction, similar phenomena occurred.