The article below was published in the daily newspaper France-Soir, Paris, page 7, on October 17, 1954.
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An investigation by André FONTAIN and Jacques BERGEAL
A few days later, the radar at Mont-de-Marsan goes "crazy"
Flying saucers have become the issue of the day. Increasing numbers of testimonies are being given by people who, in good faith, claim to have observed mysterious craft. Still an unexplained reality or collective fiction, flying saucers remain the great unknown at the end of 1954.
"France-Soir" opens the file. We do not claim to provide a definitive answer to the question. We aim to tell you how these mysterious craft began to appear in our world, how from the astonishment of an American pilot more than seven years ago, the number of testimonies has increased month by month until this tidal wave that now seems to overwhelm our country. In the U.S.A., out of 375 officially studied cases, 34 remain unexplained. From 1952 onwards, flying saucers began appearing in European skies - first in England, then in the Nordic countries, and finally in France.
France has thus entered the flying saucers' zone of interest. And not through the back door, but across the entire sky. Gone are the tangled tales of foreign witnesses. Finally, people of sound judgment, skeptical and rational, are seeing these mysterious craft with their own eyes.
Craft truly from home. Saucers, cigars, barrels, and even friendly Martians, or even charming Martian women. Witnesses are providing decisive sketches.
We will talk about the overflowing mail we've received on the issue. But first, we want to continue our story and report the most sensational appearances - or observations - in the skies over France.
The first notable story is a Marseilles story - or almost. It took place in Provence, on Monday, October 6, 1952 - two years ago.
The witnesses are two serious men, Air France pilots: Mr. Francis Cavasse, 32, and Michel Clément, 31. They were flying a D.C.4 on the London–Orly–Nice route.
This is how Francis Cavasse recounted his extraordinary encounter:
At 7:30 p.m., we were flying over Draguignan when my co-pilot Clément drew my attention to the movement of a luminous object of an extremely strange shape; we immediately compared its form to that of an elongated egg. The object's trajectory was absolutely straight and horizontal. Its speed was lightning-fast and steady. The egg was completely lit up, but with a white, non-blinding light reminiscent of neon. We were able to follow its path for thirty seconds without taking our eyes off it. When we lost sight of it, it continued its straight and horizontal course.
"The object left behind a trail about twenty to twenty-five times its length. The emitted smoke looked like dotted lines. It was white, slightly bluish."
"We estimated the object's blistering speed to be two or three times that of a jet flying at full throttle. We emphasize that this estimate was not based on any mechanical calculation. It is purely human. In our opinion, the object was flying at 2,000 to 3,000 kilometers per hour. As soon as it appeared, we had the impression it was ahead of us and above, at about three kilometers' altitude. It seemed much larger than a standard transport aircraft."
The observation by Mr. Cavasse and Clément was confirmed by an employee at the Nice-Californie airport, who also saw the object, and even by an American traveler, who likewise witnessed it. At the Nice Observatory, scientists dismissed the meteor hypothesis [Why?! All these descriptions suggest a meteor as an explanation!], and in Montpellier, the weather station observers declared:
"At 3:26 p.m., a luminous object, in the shape of a disk or sphere, was seen. It was followed by a luminous trail." (Note: this is the same time, as the meteorologists in Montpellier were using "universal time").
On October 17, around 1 p.m., witnesses included Mr. Yves Prigent, general supervisor of the boys' college, his wife, and several teachers.
They saw, in a cloudless sky, a craft shaped like a cigar "which moved while leaving behind thousands of multicolored disks." The cigar was also preceded by about thirty disks. The whole formation flew at an altitude of 3,000 meters.
But now comes the materialization of the immaterial. Mysterious threads fell from these craft. They looked like "gossamer threads" (Virgin's hair). They fell in bundles and clumps, clinging to trees, rooftops, and lightning rods.
The teachers collected a quantity of them, set them on fire: the threads burned like cellophane. More were gathered. These threads were finally to be subjected to the rigor of science. Alas! The clump deteriorated into a gelatinous mass, dissolved, disintegrated. That was the end of it - nothing remained.
But less than 100 kilometers away, the radar at Mont-de-Marsan picked up the unknown craft. The radar is installed at the base where jet pilots train. The device was disrupted:
"Our radar went crazy," the technicians recounted. "It was impossible to make any readings. We had never seen anything like it!"
One of the observers then stepped out of the cabin. He saw a "strange cloud" moving from east to west at about 2,000 meters altitude. The cloud was rapidly spinning on itself. It soon disappeared, but left no visible trail.
Then, on the night of October 26–27, 1952, another extraordinary report - once again from Marseille.
This story took place at the Marignane airfield, and its unfortunately sole witness is a highly reputable man: the honest customs officer Gabriel Gachignard. Mr. Gachignard had been a well-regarded civil servant for seven years. He was 32 years old and the father of a family.
Around 2 a.m. that night, Gachignard was on duty. He stepped outside his post for a quick meal. The Nice–Paris flight had just taken off. It was the quiet hour…
He saw something pass in front of him that looked like a shooting star. But the object approached the airfield and... landed on a runway. The customs officer was stunned. He stood up and moved toward the object. He discovered an unknown craft shaped like a rugby ball, with four illuminated portholes.
Mr. Gachignard was fifty meters from the craft when, from its tip, a shower of sparks burst out. The craft lifted off at a prodigious speed and disappeared in the direction of the Étang de Berre...
When the customs officer recounted his strange vision, he wasn't believed. But at the landing site, traces of burns were found.
We'll skip over many other observations made in France by private individuals. In this interregional competition, it's hard to know who deserves the top prize. But special mention must be made of the observations at Paris's Le Bourget airport, as they may constitute the most credible French report.
On June 12, 1952, the control tower at Le Bourget sent this very brief bulletin to the director of Orly Airport:
"Today at 1 a.m., while the sky was overcast, a fireball as large as a star crossed the sky southwest of the field after a period of immobility. This phenomenon was reported by aircraft F-88FM, which also informed the control tower. The ball disappeared over the horizon while twinkling and accelerating."
"It should be noted that on the same day, at 1:45 p.m., a person called us twice from Montmartre to report the presence of a silver disk to the north of Paris."
The person who called was a merchant from Boulevard Haussmann, Mr. Jean-Paul Nahon.
Mr. Nahon was having lunch at home in upper Montmartre when he spotted a bright, stationary spot in the sky. He observed it with binoculars and distinguished "a silvery object resembling a huge rectangular zinc sheet with cropped corners." It soon began to move in long jerks - right, left, up, then down. It did not move according to normal laws of propulsion, but in bursts.
As for the Le Bourget control tower, it only saw "something unusual" the following night.
It was a stationary red ball, "three times bigger than the evening star."
At that moment, the postal aircraft F.R.E.F.M., arriving from Nice via Lyon, made contact. The pilot, via radio, asked the control tower:
– Did you see that red ball on the horizon?
When the plane landed, the ball moved westward. It disappeared after ten minutes.
We never learned what that red ball was. It was suggested that it could have been a lighted balloon; however, the mysterious ball moved AGAINST THE WIND.
To conclude our story - and before giving the floor to the scientists - we must mention the most recent sightings of bizarre craft and mysterious beings. We will do so tomorrow, trying to select from the massive mail we've received what seems most characteristic or, as the case may be, the most... bizarre.
Next article:
Appearance of the "Martians"
