The article below was published in the daily newspaper Combat, Paris, France, page 10, on October 14, 1954.
|
METZ, October 13. -- During the Metz trade fair, a military spotlight installed at the army's booth swept the Metz sky each evening with its beam. On Sunday evening, the operators of the device saw, at an estimated altitude of more than 10,000 meters, a luminous circle that remained motionless overhead for several hours. The radar unit, also set up at the army’s booth, unsuccessfully tried to detect the unusual circle with its equipment.
General Navereau, the governor commanding the 6th military region, has ordered an investigation and is awaiting the report from Commander Cottel, who is responsible for the army’s booth.
According to preliminary information, it nonetheless seems unlikely that the spotlight could have illuminated any object at such a high altitude. In fact, the spotlight has a range of barely 5,000 meters. The luminous circle caught in the projector's beam could be explained by the presence, at a great height, of a swirling mass illuminated by the moon, which was full at the time and hidden behind a curtain of clouds. For now, there remains skepticism about the presence of a round object, estimated to be fifty meters in diameter, which reportedly remained perfectly motionless for several hours. However, the military services are continuing their investigation.
TOULOUSE, October 13. -- Two residents from the suburbs of Toulouse, Mr. Pierre Vidal and his nephew Angel Hurle, were able to see early yesterday morning, at dawn, barely a hundred meters from their house, a giant rocket which, after launching from a field, quickly disappeared into the sky, producing a light of rare intensity.
The two men then went to the location where they believed the mysterious craft had taken off. There, they found that the grass had been flattened in a circular area about 5 meters in diameter. At the center of this zone, they discovered in the soil four impressions that appeared to have been left by the legs of a heavy device.
The grass was covered with droplets resulting from the condensation of greasy vapor, which gave off a petroleum-like smell.
