The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Berry Républicain, Bourges, France, page 2, on September 27, 1954.
See the case file.
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For some time now, the skies over France seem to be populated with mysterious craft, the nature and origin of which remain unknown. At first, it was thought that those who had seen them were hallucinating, or that pranksters were amusing themselves at the expense of their fellow citizens' gullibility. However, as the reports multiply—and come from credible individuals—it has become impossible to remain indifferent.
Among these reports, we have gathered particularly interesting testimony from a family from Bourges: Mr. Robert Patient, 35, assistant inspector with the P.T.T., residing at 22 rue Diderot, his wife, and their children—the eldest aged 11 and a half and 10—who witnessed bizarre phenomena.
On Thursday evening, in their car, Mr. Patient had gone with Mrs. Patient and their children to Vasselay, where he is originally from. Shortly after nightfall, Mrs. Patient noticed sudden flashes, like magnesium bursts, which struck her as suspicious. She didn't give them much thought at the time. Shortly after, as the Patient family resumed their trip toward the hamlet of Fontland, where they have relatives, they saw in the sky an extremely bright object, which appeared to be moving above the hamlet of Jou.
"Because of the intense light it emitted, it was impossible for us to determine its shape or size," Mr. Patient told us. "It certainly wasn't a large star. The object moved with a slight wobble, suddenly vanished here, then reappeared over there, a little farther away."
"Suddenly, the craft descended toward the ground, then disappeared from our view, as if it had landed. At the same moment, from the presumed landing site, a reddish, orange-colored hemispherical glow appeared, estimated at about 15 meters in diameter, as far as we could judge given the distance. In the center, a 50-meter-long incandescent filament rose high into the sky. After twenty to thirty seconds, everything disappeared. Almost immediately, the ‘luminous ball' reappeared above the horizon."
"Are you certain that you weren't witnessing an atmospheric phenomenon?" we asked Mr. and Mrs. Patient.
Both gave the same response:
"Certainly not..."
Mr. Robert Patient continued:
"The night was dark, moonless, with a half-clouded sky and fairly low clouds. Yet, when it was lit, the object gave off a light much brighter than moonlight. Needless to say, this sighting had a strong emotional impact on us, which may have caused errors in judging distance and brightness. Still, we are quite certain we weren't dreaming."
"Then something happened that I must tell you about. I'll recount it as objectively as possible."
"The car was stopped at the entrance of the small path leading to Fontland. As I mentioned, after landing, the object had reappeared, still luminous, in the sky above Jou. I'm certain that at one point it swooped down on us. It grew rapidly larger, and the light it cast on the ground moved quickly toward us. I must say, we were not very reassured. When it was about 200 meters from us, I started the car without delay and drove toward Fontland. For a moment, my wife saw the craft through the trees of the Villaine forest—it was following us, parallel to the road. When we arrived at Fontland, the luminous craft was still there, though a bit farther away. It vanished a minute later and did not reappear."
"But that's not where the story ends. As we resumed our trip from Saint-Eloi to Bourges, and reached the Racines pond, we saw another craft. It appeared to be farther away—perhaps four or five kilometers—still in the direction of Jou. This time, it was a sort of fuselage, orange in color, not as dazzling as the first one(s). We were able to watch its trajectory for a few seconds before it completely disappeared. All of this happened without the slightest sound."
These events are truly strange, and one might be tempted to remain skeptical. Yet, it must be acknowledged that the phenomenon was witnessed by multiple people and observed for nearly an hour. It was a little after 9 p.m. when Mrs. Patient first saw the "luminous ball," and after 10 p.m. when the orange "cigar" crossed the sky.
Moreover, one must give weight to the words of Mr. Patient, a calm, level-headed man who is not easily impressed, has the knowledge to avoid being fooled, and does not seek the spotlight. Furthermore, there are curious coincidences: on Friday, around 3 a.m., a man from Vierzon, Mr. Edmond Trochou, also saw a "glowing cauldron." Additionally, railway workers and a postal clerk reported strange lights in the sky, the source of which they could not identify.
How can one not be intrigued by these events, whose true nature may one day be known? In the meantime, this is certainly a topic of reflection—one that will surely capture attention... even among those who have seen nothing yet.
