UFOs in the daily Press:

IN A VAST PASTURE IN PLOGASTEL-SAINT-GERMAIN

a young mason claims he saw a saucer take off

The craft was 1.5 meters tall, the same in diameter, flew silently, and resembled a "swarm of bees"

Quimper, 24. -- In any flying saucer case, it is wise to consider the witness&apos,s character before evaluating the testimony itself. The reliability of the one determines the reliability of the other, since imagination and fantasy often play a major role in such matters.

Michel Hénaff, from Plogastel-Saint-Germain, is a solid 20-year-old man, a mason by trade, whose strange experience will not prevent him from getting married in a few days. Employed by Mr. Jean Jourdain, a contractor in Plogastel, he is regarded by his coworkers and his employer as a model worker: skilled, hardworking, and sober. Mr. Jourdain, who is also our local correspondent, holds him in high regard.

"What Michel says," he said yesterday, "should be taken seriously."

As for Mr. Gorraguer, the school principal in Plogastel, he knows Michel Hénaff from having taught him in school, where he proved to be a bright student. In the kitchen of the Kervil farm, where we met Michel Hénaff, one notices on the wall his primary school certificate, marked with honors, a testament to his academic abilities.

Michel Hénaff did not hesitate to describe what he saw.

"I hadn&apos,t talked about it except to my parents and a few friends, but since you&apos,re asking, well, I&apos,m happy to tell it."

A LIGHT IN A FIELD

On Tuesday, October 12, around 7:30 p.m., Michel Hénaff was heading to visit relatives living at a nearby farm. The weather was poor, with drizzle hastening nightfall. Taking a shortcut, he left the main road and walked across the fields. As he walked alongside a hedge, he suddenly saw a reddish glow in the adjacent field, beyond the hedge (about 60 meters away), partially hidden by the brush.

"I thought," he said, "that it was someone in the field with a flashlight. It surprised me, but not too much. I just noticed that if it was a flashlight, it was an incredibly bright one, and I kept walking."

40 METERS ABOVE THE GROUND

As he reached the top of the field, still curious about the light, Michel Hénaff turned around.

He was literally stunned: 300 meters away and about 40 meters above the ground, he saw a luminous, glowing craft ascending and gaining altitude. He could give a precise description of it.

"The craft looked roughly like a swarm of bees with somewhat blurred outlines."

"It was glowing and moved very fast. In the middle section, I noticed what looked like wings that appeared to move. Its shape matched the one drawn by the little schoolgirl from Gouesnach, Annick Le Bris, whose sketch I saw in ‘Le Télégramme.&apos,"

"Do you think the saucer had just taken off from the field?"

"To me, there&apos,s no doubt. The glow was exactly the same one I had seen in the field, maybe just a bit stronger."

The saucer then climbed higher and, in 5 to 10 seconds, vanished from Michel Hénaff&apos,s view as it flew east - toward Quimper.

We asked Mr. Hénaff what approximate dimensions he would assign to the craft.

"About 1.5 meters tall," he replied, "and the same in diameter. As for noise, I didn&apos,t hear a thing."

The witness reported feeling something unusual upon seeing the scene.

"At first I was just stunned, but afterward I felt a bit scared. If I&apos,d known, I would&apos,ve crossed the field and gotten closer - but not too close, of course."

The fields where Michel Hénaff and the saucer were located are large, flat pastures in a countryside that is far from deserted. It&apos,s therefore surprising that no one else saw the saucer, since it wasn&apos,t very late; our question on this point didn&apos,t surprise Michel Hénaff.

"I&apos,ve wondered that myself when reading in the papers about sightings of these mysterious crafts. But now I don&apos,t wonder anymore. If I hadn&apos,t turned around at the end of the field, half by chance and half because the glow intrigued me, I would&apos,ve seen nothing and never suspected that I had passed near a saucer, whose appearance in the sky lasted only a few seconds. Nothing else could&apos,ve caught my attention."

Michel Hénaff doesn&apos,t talk much about what he saw and doesn&apos,t try to convince anyone.

"I understand people&apos,s reactions," he said. "You only believe what you see - and before, I thought the same way. But now, I have to admit there&apos,s something to it."

This level-headed and sensible young man isn&apos,t overly concerned, thinking that one day we&apos,ll have an explanation for all these phenomena.

For now, he has other things on his mind - and since he&apos,s about to tie the knot, we&apos,ll take this opportunity to offer him our congratulations and best wishes.