The article below was published in the daily newspaper L'Aurore, Paris, France, page 14, on October 14, 1954.
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The appearance, behavior, and faces of Martians are becoming clearer each day thanks to a true stream of testimonies, the latest being that of a 13-year-old boy, young Gilbert Lelay, who just heard a short declaration in French from the pilot of a flying cigar.
The encounter between this polyglot Martian and young Lelay took place the night before last, around 10:30 p.m., near Châteaubriand (Loire-Inférieure), about six hundred meters from his parents' home.
The child watched for ten minutes an object shaped like a cigar, from which a man wearing boots reportedly emerged and told him in French:
"Look, but don't touch."
The man put his hand on the boy's shoulder while holding in the other a ball that emitted violet sparks. He then went back into the craft, which circled twice in the air and suddenly disappeared.
The general commanding the sixth military region has ordered an investigation into the presence of a luminous circle that remained motionless for several hours above Metz on Sunday evening.
According to the first information gathered, it seems this phenomenon might be explained by the presence, at high altitude, of a whirling cloud mass lit by the moon. However, the military services are continuing their investigations.
In JONZIEUX (Loire), Mr. Baptiste Jourdy, driving a van, was collecting milk the other morning when the engine of his vehicle suddenly stalled and the headlights went out.
Mr. Jourdy stopped, got out, and saw in the sky, right above his head, a huge glow moving perpendicularly to the road. As soon as it vanished, the truck's headlights came back on and the engine restarted at the first try.
In PONTAULT-COMBAULT, near Melun, a 17-year-old, Marc Germain, went to the police station the other evening to declare that he had just seen in the sky, at about 200 meters altitude, a bright red disc that remained motionless above the town for half an hour before leaving at high speed, trailing a luminous streak.
In BOMPAS (Pyrénées-Orientales), Mr. Sébly discovered in a street of the village a phosphorescent cigar about two meters long. He ran to fetch neighbors, who had time to see the craft rise vertically and disappear rapidly while emitting a whistle and white glows.
In BANYULS-SUR-MER, a fisherman, Mr. Soler, who was in his boat, saw a ball of fire. After a few minutes, it vanished on the horizon.
HAMBURG. -- The pilots of flying saucers are reasoning plants: such is the theory expressed by Professor Hermann Oberth, inventor and builder of the famous "V-2" rocket.
According to the German scientist, the "Uranids" (the name he gives to these plants) are thousands of years ahead of terrestrial humans both in their spiritual evolution and in their technology. The home planet of the Uranids would be one where oxygen does not exist in a gaseous state, preventing the development of animal life. Plants, however, draw the oxygen they need from oxides contained in the soil.
This planet is said to lie outside the solar system, but the mysterious craft in which these intelligent plants travel could move at a speed close to that of light (300,000 kilometers per second).
Those of these craft seen above the Earth are said to be charged with monitoring the progress of humanity because that progress "represents a danger for the whole cosmos."
