The article below was published in the daily newspaper La Croix, France, page 1, on September 19, 1954.
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A mysterious craft crossed the sky over Rome.
It was observed for about forty minutes by the observation station of the military command at Ciampino airfield. According to information provided by the station, it was a "device" shaped like a "half-cigar," flying at a reduced speed at an altitude of about 1,200 meters. A trail of luminous smoke was emitted from its narrower end.
While tracking the movements of the craft, the Ciampino observation station noted that it suddenly dropped 400 meters before immediately regaining altitude, shifting from a horizontal to a vertical position.
As the craft moved away toward the sea, the Ciampino airfield alerted the military control station at Pratica-di-Mare, about thirty kilometers from Rome, which managed to "pick it up" on radar and track it for about twenty minutes. The radar reportedly indicated the presence of an antenna at the center of the wider part of the "half-cigar."
The Monte Mario observatory ruled out the possibility of a meteor, as no celestial body crossed the sky over Rome on Friday.
