The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Libre Poitou, France, pages 1 and 5, on October 5, 1954.
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An event that remains unexplained to this day unquestionably occurred in our department during the night from Saturday to Sunday. Since both in Leignes-sur-Fontaine, near Chauvigny, and in Lusignan, people in good faith—whose credibility cannot be questioned—observed the same phenomenon, can this be a case of collective hallucination, as some said when the news became known? We do not believe so.
According to the investigation we conducted, it appears that the sky over Vienne was, that night, the site of a phenomenon.
From there to labeling it and speaking of
[Photo caption:] Mr. David, from Montgamé near Vouneuil-sur-Vienne, seen here next to his wife, was the first inhabitant of Vienne to see a saucer. He was struck by a shape resembling a diver’s suit.
[Photo caption:] The DUPIN family, from Leignes-sur-Fontaine, who saw the phenomenon on Saturday evening.
Flying saucers, flying cigars, and other objects are just a step away. That is not our debate. We will simply report the facts as they were told to us.
IN LEIGNES-SUR-FONTAINE
Saturday evening, around 9 PM, the small village of Jouhet, in the commune of Leignes-sur-Fontaine, located between this locality and [?], was the scene of an extraordinary event. A resident of the village, Miss Gisèle Dupin, aged 38, was returning home accompanied by Miss Marie-Yvonne Malécot and the game
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Robert Dupin. The trio was chatting happily when suddenly, above the elm trees lining a hedge in the courtyard of the farm run by the young woman’s parents—who have been tenant farmers for Mr. Piladit for many years—Miss Gisèle Dupin, her friend Miss Malécot, and her nephew Robert noticed a reddish light in the sky. The phenomenon had the shape of a cigar, with strange small lights arranged along its sides, shining even more brightly.
Frightened, the young people rushed to the family home and raised the alarm. Mr. and Mrs. Dupin went outside and went to the spot indicated by their daughter. There, they too witnessed the same phenomenon. "The flying cigar," as it must be called, was descending very slowly. It approached the top of the elms but was much farther along the horizon. At a certain point, all light disappeared. Only the small "cigarillos" along the sides remained lit. Then the "cigar" seemed to sink further toward the ground and suddenly disappeared, under the stunned gaze of the witnesses, who could hardly believe their eyes. This lasted about ten minutes.
It should be added that since this event became known, it has been widely discussed in the Chauvigny region. And while skeptics are numerous, people still wonder about this strange phenomenon!
IN LUSIGNAN
We noted in previous editions that during the night from Saturday to Sunday, the sky over Mélusin was also crossed by a phenomenon for which no name can be given.
The collected testimonies are extremely numerous. To mention one, the young Réjane Dutault, daughter of the gatekeepers of a level crossing 15 kilometers from Pamproux (Deux-Sèvres), returned home in fright on Saturday evening around 7:15 PM and told her parents that she had seen a ball of fire approach and then move away, eventually disappearing into the sky. This is confirmed by Misses Gilberte and Jacqueline Robin, who live on a farm at Touffon near Lusignan: they also saw "the ball of fire" Saturday evening at the same time.
Mr. Dutault, the Touffou gatekeeper, and his wife were also twice witnesses to this rather bizarre phenomenon. They kindly shared their observations with us. Around 7:15 PM, they saw it the first time in the direction of Niort-La Rochelle, and then a second time around 11:30 PM.
The residents near the Lusignan station, particularly the employees of the S.N.C.F., were among those who witnessed this strange object. Mr. Bouchalat, a station postman, saw it first and raised the alarm. Mr. Brault, the stationmaster, and his staff then "saw an object shaped like a cigar, very bright, with the light similar to what is produced when welding electrically. Its distance and altitude could not be determined, but it was neither very high nor very far, and it moved away in the direction of Saint-Maixant-l'École."
The account kindly given to us by Mr. Pichon, S.N.C.F. district chief for the Lusignan region is even more compelling. Mr. Pichon was returning from the center of Lusignan by car. Arriving on the bridge over the railway line, he saw a very clear light in the sky, then a luminous ball moving rather quickly. Its color was pinkish, tending toward orange, then whitish. This happened between 8:45 and 9 PM.
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What conclusion should be drawn from all this? We cannot say. Perhaps one day we will learn the origin of these phenomena. It nonetheless seems true that our department now appears to be one of the favored locations for such phenomena.
Here is yet another story of "flying saucers."
Miss Jeanine Bourget, 17 and a half, residing in Biard, was very frightened. In a few words, she recounted her experience.
"Saturday evening, shortly after [?] o’clock, I was returning home when, traveling on the road from Poitiers to Biard, I saw in the sky an enormous green glow coming toward me.
"Suddenly, a very bright red light appeared behind the green one.
"The whole thing hovered over Biard for about a minute, then silently disappeared in the direction of Poitiers."
"I could not distinguish any shape, but when I recounted what I saw, I was told that it was certainly a flying saucer."
Châteauroux. -- Mrs. Vve Janiki, living in the village of Le Cerisier, commune of Lovroux [sic, Levroux] (Indre), reported to the gendarmerie that she had seen a luminous craft in the sky about 3 meters in diameter, at the height of the buildings.
Mrs. Vve Lacotte, living about 800 meters from Mrs. Janiki, also declared that she witnessed the same phenomenon.
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Châteauroux. -- Mrs. Baron, living in Vatan, reported seeing a luminous ball in the sky last night.
She alerted her husband and about fifteen neighbors, all of whom saw the yellowish-green object moving at a very high altitude, rising and descending in the sky.
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Bressuire. -- An employee at the slaughterhouse, Mr. Angelo Girardeau, 33, living in Breuil-Chaussée (Deux-Sèvres), reported seeing on Sunday morning, on his way to work, a circular craft near which was a being that appeared to him to be wearing a sort of diving suit. The being moved toward Mr. Girardeau, who fled in fear. Shortly after, the circular craft shot away at very high speed.
