UFOs in the daily Press:

Alert in the Somme

THE FLYING SAUCER WAS JUST A "HOAX"

And the pranksters who alarmed the village will be prosecuted

Amiens, September 16 (F.-T.). -- On September 8, the village of Estrée-Deniécourt (Somme) was thrown into a state of alarm. Returning from work, several electricians employed in Amiens claimed they had just seen a flying saucer land at the edge of a wood, about 60 meters from the national road. They gave numerous technical details about the craft and claimed that many motorists had stopped to admire it.

"Come with us," they told the villagers, "you'll see for yourselves if it's true."

But most of their fellow villagers, seized by panic, preferred to stay home. Only a few brave souls dared to venture to the site. There, of course, they found no more of a flying saucer than you would find an iceberg in Senegal. The supposed witnesses then claimed that the metallic bird had flown off.

The gendarmes were alerted and quickly found many inconsistencies in the electricians' tale. Under thorough questioning, the men admitted they had made the whole story up.

They hadn't expected the incident to escalate and deeply regretted having spread such a tall tale.

They regret it all the more now, as the gendarmes have drawn up a report which has been sent to the Amiens Public Prosecutor. The report names Serge Grimbert, 20, of Amiens, the ringleader of the hoax, along with his companions Christian Coulevera, 24, of Amiens; Roland Gourguechon, 22, of Doullens; and René Cleret, 20, of Albert.

Noisy saucer in Italy

Grosseto, September 16. -- Two residents of Pitigliano, near Grosseto (Italy), have added their account to the growing list of "flying saucer" sightings. While out hunting last Tuesday, they saw “a round, white object flying with a strange and very loud noise.”

After hovering in place, the object disappeared at great speed—of course—leaving them dumbfounded.