The 1954 French flap:

New "rain" of flying saucers

A hairy Martian, wearing an orange corset and a plush hat, visits a roadmender in the Haute-Marne

SAINT-DIZIER, October 7 ("France-soir" dispatch).

The strange passage of a flying saucer was observed in Haute-Marne, according to the account of Mr. Narcy, 48 years old, father of seven children, a road worker with the Highways Department at Wassy for nineteen years, and living in Mertrud.

Mr. Narcy had left his home very early to cycle to a worksite near Wassy. He took a local road to get there. It was between La-Neuveville-à-Rémy and Voillecomte that he saw the "thing."

- "It was 7:15," he recounted. "While riding, I was approaching the 'old tile factory,' when, to my left, in the fields, I saw something orange-colored. I first thought it was a tree whose leaves had turned yellow. Getting closer, I thought it was a tarp spread out on the ground, or a camper's tent."

"Suddenly, I realized it was a mysterious craft. Leaving my motorbike at the side of the road, I ran into the pasture toward the thing. The craft was sitting on the ground, at the bottom of a hollow where clay used to be extracted for the now-ruined tile factory. From afar, I had only seen the top of the saucer, which gradually revealed itself completely."

Milky traces

"I was about a hundred meters away and beginning to discern all the details, when I saw a being standing next to the craft. He was about 1.20 meters tall. He appeared to be entirely covered in hair, or wearing a very tight fur suit. Around his waist, he wore a kind of wide orange corset. On his head, he had a kind of plush hat. Motionless, he seemed to be watching me. I got scared. I stopped. Waving, I called out to him. Then he quickly re-entered his machine."

"When he bent over to enter through a round porthole, I could clearly see he had arms. I had time to observe the saucer precisely. Spherical in shape, it had a diameter of about ten meters. Under the sphere, there was a sort of spindle. The porthole was located between the sphere and the spindle; it closed over the little being."

"A kind of smoke came out of one end of the spindle, while a great swirling occurred under the saucer, which rose vertically. Everything disappeared very quickly into the rather low clouds that morning. I only heard a sort of rustling sound, like that of an electric motor."

Traces of the craft in the grass and dew — in particular a milky substance and skid marks — were observed by Mr. Narcy and other road workers whom he had fetched.

The passengers of a flying soup tureen were normal.

LIMOGES, October 7 (A.F.P.). -- A farmer from Chaleix (Dordogne), Mr. Garreau, affirmed "on his honor" that he had seen a "flying tureen" land on his property. Mr. Garreau stated that two perfectly normal men, wearing khaki overalls, descended from it, shook his hand, and spoke to him in an unknown language. Mr. Garreau, stunned, did not respond. The two men petted his dog and returned to their craft, which took off silently at a dizzying speed. At the spot indicated by Mr. Garreau, it was noted that the grass had been trampled.

A LARGE DISC 8 to 10 meters in diameter, moving at an altitude of 400 meters, was observed for 20 minutes, at Jouy-sur-Morin (Seine-et-Marne), by Mr. Farnier, a member of the Society of Civil Engineers of France, former commissioner of the Aero-Club of France, and former aviator.

THE PARIS REGION IN TURN CONTAMINATED. -- "Little rods" and saucers were reported to us above Père Lachaise, at the corner of rue de la Convention and rue de Dantzig (15th arrondissement), and avenue Victor Hugo, in Clamart.

A LUMINOUS CRAFT in the shape of a saucer, spiraling upward, was observed at Valence by military aircraft detection specialists, who were able to "track" it in their optical device for a few seconds.

A "REGULAR SERVICE OF FLYING SAUCERS" seems to have been established between the Marais Poitevin and La Rochelle, according to the expression of witnesses who observed a real shuttle of strange craft.

A "FLYING CHAMBER POT" was seen in the Rambouillet region by Mr. Georges Leroux, brother-in-law of a minister of the principality of Monaco. The craft emitted a dazzling green light.

A RED-ORANGE LUMINOUS CRAFT was observed at Poncey-sur-Igny [sic], by Mrs. Thérèse Fournet [sic], 23 years old. The craft landed in front of her, to her great fright, and other residents also saw it. Very clear traces in the grass were noted by gendarmes, who took soil samples.

A SORT OF GREENISH ROCKET landed in front of Mr. Defix, 26 years old, a central heating installer, and Labonne, a 63-year-old retiree, both from Bergerac, who saw three crutches supporting the aircraft and felt a violent gust of wind when it took off vertically. Traces resembling blackish mushrooms were visible for a few moments.

The Greeks have them too...

ATHENS, October 7 ("France-soir" dispatch). -- The inhabitants of the island of Mytilene declared that they had seen a luminous object yesterday afternoon. These sightings are confirmed by the mayor of the commune of Vrissas, who made an official report to the Greek Ministry of the Interior.

For fifteen minutes, numerous witnesses watched a luminous object move about, which, due to its great distance, looked like a large star. The saucer moved rapidly toward the northeast, then headed north, and finally disappeared toward the west.

In the Côte-d'Or, MYSTERIOUS CRAFT SPOTTED IN PONCEY-SUR-L'IGNON

Did a "saucer" haunt the skies over Poncey-sur-l'Ignon? Did it try to land in a field near the asbestos factory?

Let the witnesses speak, who are nothing if not certain.

The first mysterious craft seen by the inhabitants of Poncey had the shape of a vertical cylinder. Let's hear from the first witness, Mrs. Gainait, wife of the former mayor.

- It happened Saturday evening, around 7:40 p.m. I had just finished milking my cows and as I stepped out of the barn, I saw the farmyard completely lit up... I looked up at the sky and that's when I saw it...

- What did you see, madam?

- Well, sir, a flying cylinder, orange in color, surrounded by a square of pale green light.

- Was the cylinder moving?

- Yes, above the little woods, there, about a kilometer away... So I called my husband, my daughter Yvette, and a neighbor, Mrs. Mugneret, and we watched the cylinder move.

- For how long, approximately?

- Ten minutes, maybe. Then it disappeared, at the speed of a large airplane, silently, in the direction of Chanceaux.

And Mr. Gainait concludes: You know, I didn't believe in these crafts before, but now I have to, since I saw one!

I SAW AN ORANGE DISC AS BIG AS MY STOVE!

Obviously... But things got even more disturbing. Two days later, on Monday, the cylinder returned to Poncey, this time transformed into a flying disc of the most classic kind.

It was 7:30 p.m. A young woman, Mrs. Fourneret, née Thérèse Thieblot, 23 years old, was about to close the shutters of her bedroom, in the small house she shares with her husband next to the asbestos factory. Suddenly, through the open window, just fifty meters away, she saw a disc emitting a soft orange light, flattened at both ends—"as big as my stove," specifies Mrs. Fourneret—which seemed to be hovering above a plum tree in the nearby field.

Panic-stricken, Mrs. Fourneret fled to her neighbor's house. The two terrified women barricaded themselves in and waited for an hour for their husbands to arrive.

Armed with rifles (just in case!), and carrying flashlights, the men went to "check things out."

UNEXPLAINABLE TRACES

At the spot where the saucer had landed in a field, they found fresh traces.

We saw these traces. What do they consist of?

A rectangular surface of 1.5 m by 0.6 m had been neatly cleared of weeds and the soil leveled, as if tamped down. Around the perimeter, about ten meters in a circle, the uprooted clods had been scattered. A curious thing: perennial plants like dandelions and couch grass remained rooted, which proves it wasn't a matter of digging. A farmer, Mr. Cazet, mayor of Poncey, is certain: "These aren't tool marks... It's too well done," he said.

That's where things stand for now. Chief Clément of the Sainte-Seine-l'Abbaye gendarmerie was informed and went to the scene. Captain Millet from the Semur division has opened an investigation. Is this a well-orchestrated hoax? If so, congratulations to the clever prankster—and no hard feelings!

On that note, let us point out that in the preceding days, Mrs. Fourneret had been the target of some light-hearted pranks by locals, and on the very evening in question, the prankster group had planned to trick her into believing a saucer had landed... But they arrived too late—"the real one" had landed in the meantime... So, what now?

THE PASSENGERS OF A FLYING SOUP TUREEN WERE "NORMAL"

LIMOGES. -- A farmer from Chaleix (Dordogne), Mr. Garreau, swore "on his honor" that he saw a "flying soup tureen" land on his property. Mr. Garreau said two perfectly normal-looking men, wearing khaki overalls, got out, shook his hand, and spoke to him in an unknown language. Mr. Garreau, stunned, did not reply. The two men petted his dog and got back into their craft, which took off silently at a dizzying speed. At the location Mr. Garreau indicated, it was found that the grass had been trampled.

- A luminous saucer-shaped craft, spiraling through the air, was observed in Valence by military aircraft detection specialists, who managed to "track" it with their optical equipment for a few seconds.

- A "regular flying saucer service" seems to have been established between the Poitevin marsh and La Rochelle, according to witnesses who observed a veritable shuttle of strange crafts.

- A "flying chamber pot" was seen in the Rambouillet region by Mr. Georges Leroux, brother-in-law of a minister of the Principality of Monaco. The craft emitted a dazzling green light.

- A red-orange luminous craft was observed in Pontoise [sic, Poncey], by Miss Thérèse Fournet [sic, Fourneret], 23 years old. The craft landed in front of her, to her great fright, and other residents saw it as well. Very clear traces in the grass were noted by the gendarmes, who took soil samples.

- A kind of greenish rocket landed in front of Mr. Defiz, 26, a central heating technician, and Mr. Labonne, a 63-year-old retiree from Bergerac. They saw three struts supporting the craft and felt a strong suction of air as it took off vertically. Traces resembling "black mushrooms" [sic] were visible for a few moments.

- Saucers, cigars, spheres, and various crafts were also seen in Thénon (Dordogne), in Puiset (Eure-et-Loir), in Biarritz and in Béhobie, in Duclair (Seine-Inférieure), in Duclair (Seine-Inférieure), in Heyrieux (Isère), in Dieulanvollon (Côtes-du-nord), in Jort (Calvados) and in the Island of Ré.