The article below was published in the daily newspaper France Soir, Paris, France, page 9, on October 16, 1954.
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An investigation by André FONTAIN and Jacques Bergéal
A few days later, the skies over Northern Europe are invaded by "saucers"
Flying saucers have become the issue of the day. Increasingly numerous testimonies are provided by people who, in good faith, claim to have observed mysterious craft. Whether unexplained reality or mass delusion, flying saucers remain the great unknown of late 1954.
"France-Soir" opens the file. We do not claim to offer definitive answers. We propose to tell you how these mysterious craft entered our world—how, beginning with an American pilot's astonishment more than seven years ago, the number of sightings grew month by month until reaching the current wave that seems to be sweeping over our country. In the U.S., of 375 officially studied cases, 34 remain unexplained.
The year 1952 was the year of flying saucers in the United States. It was in 1952 that they began proliferating across the entire American territory.
In our previous article, we reported on the circumstances in which radar—ground radar or airborne radar—detected these mysterious craft, lending them scientific authenticity and dispelling any remaining doubts in the public mind.
As in France today, the number of reports quickly increased.
It is primarily pilots who see these "unidentified flying objects." Pilots are serious, experienced, and balanced individuals, not prone to being fooled by illusions or hallucinations—especially considering that most of them have logged several thousand flight hours.
The consistency of their testimonies is, to the public, proof of their truthfulness. The objects observed are all described as luminous orange shapes, fringed with a blue flame. They rotate, appear unaffected by Earth's gravity, and demonstrate speeds and accelerations no human could withstand...
Pilots' reports now fill the columns of newspapers: "discs," "cigars" perform dizzying dances in the sky and, alarmingly, seem to show a clear preference for secret locations—military bases and atomic research sites. Public concern is now spreading.
"These craft are sent by a foreign power. Their mission is to uncover our secrets, and they are succeeding because we are powerless against them."
Even Mexican pilots have reportedly pursued a saucer.
Four of them claim they managed to chase and even close in on one of these craft.
They are four pilots and civil aviation inspectors. Flying at 6,000 meters, they spot a craft at about 10,000 meters that could be 30 meters in diameter. It appears to be made of opaque material. Sparks shoot out from what seems to be an exhaust pipe...
The craft, the four men think, "sees" their aircraft, seems to allow them to approach, and then suddenly speeds away into the clouds...
The U.S. Air Force, of course, collects all these accounts. Suddenly, however, it seems to slow its vigilance or lose interest:
"This study is no longer part of a special program," it is announced.
It is explained that, in most cases, investigations have shown the objects seen were simply weather balloons or natural phenomena.
However, it is officially stated that "a number of observations still could not be explained this way"...
Will it end there? Certainly not. As expected, these new-look craft cross the Atlantic. Have they completed their mission in the New World? Who knows. But over Europe, flying saucers make a dramatic entrance.
An official statement announces it. The author of the communiqué is the last person one would expect to make up stories: the British Royal Air Force (RAF).
And the craft committed a regrettable and menacing act: it intruded, an unwelcome guest, on a massive air operation, the "Mainbrace" maneuver.
On the morning of September 20, 1952, a report is sent to the Ministry of Air by the Coastal Command, the air defense service of Britain's coasts and waters.
Six aviators, most of them officers, are witnesses. They are stationed at the Topcliffe base in Yorkshire. Two four-engine Shackletons have just landed to refuel. It's September 19, at 10:53 a.m.
The pilots on the ground look up and see a Meteor jet fighter at 5,000 meters altitude approaching the field.
Behind the Meteor, approximately 5 kilometers away, a shiny disc follows it, seeming to match its speed. It mimics every maneuver and, when the Meteor begins to descend and turn, the "object" does the same.
Finally, when the Meteor makes its final turn before landing, the disc starts spinning on itself and then shoots away at a speed that stuns the observers.
The scene lasts twenty seconds. Twenty seconds that prompt the Ministry of Air to open a file: "Flying saucers: sightings and movements"...
And, just as in the United States following the first appearances of "unidentified objects," the authorities propose a rational explanation: it might have been a smoke ring caused by a jet engine restarting after a temporary shutdown. This ring, carried by the wind and glittering in the sunlight, could have been mistaken for a flying saucer. The Ministry of Air also suggests it may have been one of the weather balloons released daily from various locations in Britain.
These explanations, which seem too rational, fail to satisfy Europe's mystery enthusiasts who, like their American counterparts, suspect they are meant to reassure the public—or worse, to mask the ignorance of air technicians...
Europe now joins the circuit, along with its North African extension.
Four days after "Mainbrace," a pilot, Mr. Grèze, flying over the Tit Mellil-Casablanca airfield, spots an unknown object below. Two days later, he is told it was a meteorite.
Gothenburg, Sweden, is visited on the night of September 27–28 by an object twice as bright as a star, leaving a trail of sparks.
Germany, the next day, attracts mysterious visitors. A bright ball, followed by a flaming tail, moves from Hamburg to Neumünster and Kiel.
At the same time, a similar object flies over Jaegersborg, north of Copenhagen. There, the object is described more as a glowing cigar. A Baltic port observes the same craft [the same meteor].
That night, the skies of Northern Europe seem to be the flying saucers' playground. Zealand and Jutland are overflown.
At the Ljungbyhed military base, they make a definitive statement: the craft is of Russian origin. It flew toward East Prussia, its mission complete.
The European wave now sweeps across the entire continent. Amid the mass of reports and testimonies, efforts are made to dismiss what appears to be invention, hoax, or clear hallucination.
But the RAF again reports a flying saucer incident.
The British War Ministry reveals that, on November 3, a radar post of a reserve unit detected the echo of a mysterious object hovering in the sky at nearly 18,000 meters altitude.
The observation was confirmed by two officers flying a "Vampire" at 6,000 meters. They saw a circular object moving at high speed, emitting a blinding light.
From then on, information is exchanged between the British and American air forces. The Canadians create a special detection base to study the movements of "unidentified flying objects."
And France, of course, is not spared. The flying saucer finally appears in our skies.
Next article:
Saucers over France
