The 1954 French flap:

Do not laugh! This document is to be classified for the moment with the 12 to 15% of testimonies concerning "flying saucers" for which there is, up to now, no satisfactory explanation.

The negative, which is currently undergoing expert analysis, does not appear to have been altered or faked. It belongs to Mr. Jacques Baccard, radio technician from Grenoble. Here is the information and the statement collected by our special correspondent.

The son of an aviation observer, and currently the owner of a radio shop at 2, rue de Crepu, in Grenoble, Jacques Baccard, 34, devotes his leisure time to the study of the sky. Thus, the first appearances of what had to be called, for lack of a better term, "flying saucers," aroused a very particular interest in him.

It was in 1949. Bringing together around him a few technicians who shared the same curiosity, Jacques Baccard founded a research group, which was soon to affiliate with the "International Commission of Inquiry for the Study of Flying Saucers and Related Problems."

This organization has already collected several important reports from correspondents in Grenoble. Last year, it was a luminous disc, observed on the road to Annecy by Baccard and several motorists heading to the station. More recently, there was a red dot that could be followed for several seconds above the sky over the Moucherotte massif. Lately, the Grenoble group had also noted the presence of a luminous object moving in the sky at a speed that did not correspond to any known craft at the time, silhouetted against the outline of the star. Our researchers have put forward the hypothesis

SEE OVERLEAF

Les Soucoupes: Semaine du Monde

Nov. 5 (or 11), 1954

(Photograph showing dark spot (with suspicious looking dark trail))

The negative, now under expert examination, does not seem to have been tampered with. It was taken by M. Jacques Baccard, radio-electrician of Grenoble. The son of an airplane observer, and at present the owner of a radio store (2 rue du Crepu, Grenoble), Jacques Baccard, 34, studies the sky in his spare time. Thus the first appearances of "flying saucers" held particular interest for him. This was in 1949.

Collecting a group of technicians who shared his curiosity, he founded a research group, since merged into the "Commission internationale d'enquête." This organization has received several important reports from observers at Grenoble. Last year Baccard and several motorists observed a luminous disc on the Annecy road. More recently, the group saw an enormous ball of fire that maneuvered for several seconds over the Moucherotte massif. Finally, when observing the moon with his little telescope, Baccard saw a dark body cross its face. Our (sic) researchers have suggested that this body may have been an articifial satellite. Encouraged by these successes, Baccard and his friends decided to force their luck by a systematic program of sky observation. Installed between the measuring boards and the two high-powered fieldglasses used by the group, he had his camera, which he always carries, ready for instant use. The town was at the heure du digestif when the "thing" occurred, which explains the small number of witnesses.

"It was exactly 1.10 PM", he relates, "when my attention was attracted by a silhouette which had appeared in the gap that the Isère valley cuts between the Vercors and Chartreuse massifs.

"I took it at first for an airplane, as aircraft coming from the north use this passage. Scarcely 15 seconds later it was over the outskirts of Grenoble. Struck by this fantastic speed, and by the absence of motor noise, I took up the smaller pair of fieldglasses