The article below was published in the daily newspaper Franc-Tireur, Paris, France, page 2, on October 12 1954.
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They were very fashionable for a time. They were first talked about across the Atlantic: they created passionate debates, people talked about them, discussed them... Then suddenly they disappeared. Poof! Not another word. No, I'm not talking about those charming hemispheres nature gave to women and their suppression due to the green bean diet.
We're talking about those mysterious flying objects such as saucers, cigars, and other utensils that had vanished from our daily skies. For the past few weeks in France, they've been appearing again everywhere, with a shamelessness bordering on exhibitionism. Some of these craft have even reportedly gone so far as to land.
Michèle Morgan saw one too
Well-known figures, Mme Michèle Morgan among them, have allegedly seen strange phenomena in the sky. Credible witnesses, like those "two uniformed gendarmes on duty," reportedly followed a luminous disc through the atmosphere with binoculars at high altitude.
All these rumors are beginning to unsettle public opinion, as proven by the following announcement that appeared in "Le Télégramme de Brest" on 18-9-54: "Reward of 10 million to anyone who brings me a living inhabitant of the planet Mars. Inquire at Pré-Locronan (Finistère)." Notice to interested parties.
In short, we've got nothing to envy the United States for, which for a long time was the chosen playground of the saucers. And we, as true Latins, looked on American organizations such as the Fortean Society of New York and Flying Saucers International of Los Angeles with irony tinged with a bit of contempt.
One Frenchman, one day, thought we were wrong to treat the issue with our legendary light-heartedness. His name is Marc Thirouin, and he founded an organization tasked with collecting the most testimonies about saucers, sorting them, classifying them, and, if possible, extracting the truth from them. That is the mission of the "Ouranos" investigative commission, the only such organization in Europe.
Marc Thirouin surrounded himself with volunteer astronomers, meteorologists, and amateurs, and has correspondents all over the world. Though unofficial, this organization is nonetheless serious.
I thought it might be interesting to hear the opinion of an Ouranos collaborator. So I went to see Mr. Georges Lange, an amateur astronomer, who wouldn't normally attract public attention—except for the fact that he's mounted his telescope in his two-horsepower [car]. Equipped like this, he roams the roads whenever unusual phenomena appear in the sky, trying to determine through his telescope whether it's really a saucer, a meteorite, or a weather balloon. So far, he's never seen anything conclusive, but that doesn't stop him from being passionate about the subject and having studied it thoroughly.
When I visited him, he was just polishing and cleaning his telescope.
"Well," I said, "you must be quite busy lately observing saucers. They've never been talked about so much in France, and they're flying across our skies in squadrons. By the way, what's your opinion on the testimonies collected in recent days? Do you think people really saw a cigar-shaped craft, or were they victims of hallucinations?"
Georges Lange stopped rubbing his lens to answer me:
- Absolutely not! On the contrary, I'm convinced that in the majority of cases, something did happen. There are too many matching testimonies to deny the facts. Moreover, systematic denial is not a scientific position...
- I agree. But don't you think natural phenomena could explain all the sightings?
- No. Weather balloons, meteorites, heat lightning, refracted car headlights on clouds, even mirages—none of these can possibly explain all the sightings. For me, there's no doubt: mysterious craft are flying over us.
- And what about the alleged landings of saucers and the untimely hugs from Martians or Venusians? What's your opinion?
Georges Lange thought for a couple of seconds.
- Well... I admit there's certainly a bit of exaggeration.
- Don't you think that if Martians or other space beings—since we don't agree on where they come from—really came to see what's going on here, they'd try to make contact, and choose somewhere better to land than fields, forests, or clearings where, just by chance, there's always a random guy, alone, to observe them?
- Your point is fair, but you forget that these space travelers have no idea how we'd react to their presence. They're probably being cautious...
- I don't see why they'd fear us. First, after all their observations, they must know by now we're no longer savages. And second, considering the technical and scientific superiority they must have, they surely possess the means to keep us at a respectful distance. Assuming, of course, that they even exist...
My interviewee looked at me with a smile:
- You don't believe in them? You're wrong...
- If one day a saucer landed at Orly, and all the aviation experts saw it, with hundreds of people as witnesses, and those space beings left tangible proof of their visit—then I might start to be convinced. What's always surprised me is that cigar or saucer sightings are always [!] reported by just two or three people. That's not very convincing...
"There are people whose job it is to watch the sky. Yet astronomers are the only ones who've never seen anything [!]. Isn't that at least curious?"
- I was wondering when you'd bring that up! Like the astronomers, you're forgetting something very important: because of the enormous magnification of their telescopes, and the tiny portion of sky they observe, it would take exceptional luck for a saucer to pass through their field of view at the exact right moment. And even if they did get lucky, they wouldn't see anything at all.
To be continued.
