The 1954 French flap:

MYSTERIOUS BEINGS AND
EVOLVED PLANTS...

... are they the pilots
of the flying saucers?

According to the latest reports of witnesses who came yesterday to enlarge, in a way that has become usual, the "flying saucers" file, these are:

- 1. Phosphorescent and piloted by tiny beings who plant mysterious seeds on earth;

- 2. Four-meter torpedoes containing hairy beings;

- 3. Luminous spheres from which small space divers descend;

- 4. Craft capable of 300,000 kilometers per second and piloted by intelligent plants monitoring the progress of humanity.

It is several hunters from the commune of Saint-Ambroix, in the Gard, who advance the theory of the mysterious planters. The hunters told reporters that they recently saw seven tiny beings "vaguely shaped like a human body."

When the hunters tried to approach these beings, they say, they rushed towards a phosphorescent craft; which flew away.

The hunters do not specify the shape of the craft; they affirm, on the other hand, that they discovered, at the place of the take-off of the latter, a certain number of seeds of strange aspect, which they made examine by seedmen. These found it impossible to classify them in a known species.

Night encounter

It is with a "mysterious hairy individual" emerging from a torpedo that an employee of the station of Montluçon, Mr. Laugère, made, he said, a weird encounter, Sunday evening.

Mr. Laugère specified that he was leaving his workplace and crossing the tracks near the S.N.C.F. bridge, when he saw, he declared, a metal craft posed at a short distance from a diesel tank intended for the supply of railcars. Beside the apparatus, which had the shape of a torpedo and could have been four meters long, was, added Mr. Laugère, a man all covered with hair "unless he was dressed in a coat with rather long hair."

Surprised I asked him what he was doing but he answered me in intelligible terms where it seems to me to distinguish however the words "gas oil", stated in substance the railwayman.

A small-sized diver, with a large head in relation to the body, two huge eyes. This is the description given the day before last night by a Toulouse resident, Mr. Olivier, of a mysterious character descended, he says, towards 7:35 p.m., from a spherical craft which had just landed on a vacant lot.

Mr. Olivier, an industrialist, was, he said, accompanied by an employee, Mr. Perano, and a young boy of about fifteen when the craft, luminous and reddish in color, landed. The witnesses then saw, they say, come towards them the character whose diving-suit shone like glass.

Plants
are watching us? ...

Finally, for the scientist Hermann Oberth, builder of the infamous "V-2", "saucer pilots are plants endowed with reason."

According to Oberth, who exposed this theory the day before yesterday to an A.F.P. correspondent, the "Uranids" - the name with which he baptized these plants - are thousands of years ahead of Earthmen both in regarding their spiritual evolution than their technique.

The "Uranids", says Oberth, move in "saucers" capable of reaching a speed close to that of light: 300,000 kilometers per second.

They fly over the earth, concludes the scientist, to monitor the progress of humanity in the atomic sciences because these advances "represent, he says, a danger for the whole cosmos."

'Saucer' Refueling Stop Reported In France

Paris, Oct. 14 (Reuters) -- A "flying saucer" pilot was last night reported to have tried to refuel his 12-foot-long torpedo-shaped machine at the expense of the French state railway.

A railwayman who works at Montlucon Station, central France, said he saw the pilot and his machine outside a Diesel oil tank there.

Said Something

He asked the man, who either was covered with hair or was wearing a long hairy overcoat, what he wanted.

The man said something the railroader could not make out, but he thought he heard the word "gasoil."

The workman started off to report to the stationmaster, but before he had gone 100 yard the machine took off and vanished.

This is the latest report of a spate of French accounts of mysterious flying objects - saucers, bells, mushrooms and other shapes.

Another
one out of
the blue?

A "FLYING SAUCER" pilot was last night reported to have tried to refuel his 12-foot long torpedo-shaped machine at the expense of the French Railways.

M. Laugere, a railwayman, who works at Montlucan [sic, Montluçon] Station, Central France, said he saw the pilot and its machine outside a diesel oil store there.

HAIRY COAT?

He asked the man, who was either covered with hair or wearing a long hairy overcoat, what he wanted. The man said something M. Laugere could not make out, but he thought he heard the word "gasoil."

M. Laugere started off to report to the stationmaster, but before he had gone yards the machine took off and vanished.

This is the latest report in a spate of French accounts of mysterious flying objects -- saucers, bells, mushrooms and other shapes.

Flying saucer pilot asked for oil, says railwayman

A FLYING SAUCER pilot was reported last night to have tried to refuel his 12-foot long torpedo-shaped machine at the expense of the French railways.

M. Laugere, a railwayman who works at Montlucon station, said he saw the pilot and his machine outside a diesel store.

He asked the man, who was either covered with hair or wearing a long hairy overcoat, what he wanted. The man said something M. Laugere could not make out but he thought he heard the word "gasoil."

M. Laugere started off to report to the stationmaster, but before he had gone a 100 yards the machine took off and vanished.

That is the latest report in a spate of French accounts of mysterious flying objects, saucers, bells, mushrooms and other shapes.

Near Toulouse, in a meadow

A "Martian" deposits
two printed sheets
in Annamese dialect

THE German professor Oberth, rocket specialist, affirms that Martians or Uranides are "plants endowed with reason". It's possible. But if their appearances multiply, it is humans who will lose their heads.

Mr. Olivier, a former aviation pilot, attended, yesterday evening, he said, the landing of a saucer, in a vacant lot, near his home, rue des Sontaines, in Toulouse.

- It was a spherical, reddish colored object. It came out of it a sort of diver, small, with a very large head and huge eyes.

"I saw him like that," he added, drawing the mysterious visitor with chalk on his door. He was shining like glass...

"I did not believe in it, specifies Mr. Perano, who accompanied Mr. Olivier, but I saw it like I see you..."

After a minute, the diver returned to his saucer which took off vertically without noise and quickly disappeared.

It is a few kilometers from Toulouse, too, in Léguevin, that a mechanic, Mr. Jean Marcy, saw, in a meadow, a luminous disc, orange yellow in color, which took off on its approach.

At the place where it had landed, he discovered, on the grass... two sheets of glossy paper, which he gave to the gendarmerie. The two sheets are written in KuocNu, an Annamite dialect. We read the words of Vietminh, Vietnam, Prince Buu Loc. It also talks about an arrival in Marseille on January 12, 1954. The two sheets paginated 9-10 and 59-60 looked not to have stayed on the grass for long. A translator will examine them more closely.

"Look, but don't touch"

This is all very strange. Much stranger than the appearance, near Châteaubriant (Loire-Inferieure) of a Martian with a soft, full gray hat, descended from a phosphorescent cigar in front of little Gilbert Lelay (13 years old) to whom he reportedly told in French: "Look, but don't touch..." According to the child, he held in his hand "a ball which launched purple fires" and climbed back into his machine, slamming the door. In the past, those under the age of fifteen were content to see fairies or ghosts.

But in Montluçon, an employee of the station who is well over the age of belief in fairy tales, says that he saw a metallic object placed a short distance from a diesel tank intended for the supply of railcars. Next to the torpedo-shaped craft, which could be four meters long, was a man covered in hair. Unless he was wearing a rather long coat. Mr. Laugère, surprised, asked him what he was doing. The stranger replied in unintelligible terms, but the railwayman seemed to distinguish the words "diesel", however.

Mr. Laugère did not want to listen to more. While he was going to get his comrades, the craft took off and disappeared.

The daily (and varied) chronicle of the saucers

The Martian spy's secret papers
were just leaflets
abandoned in the wind

Paris. -- The flying saucer file has been further augmented by several testimonies, one of which comes from an inhabitant of Leguevin (Haute-Garonne) made the gendarmes and military authorities think for a few hours that they were in the presence of no more and no less than a case of espionage!

Mr. Jean Marty, 42, rushed to the gendarmerie brigade on Wednesday morning to tell law enforcement officials about his strange discovery.

"I was working yesterday evening in my workshop, on the edge of the road to Toulouse, when I saw, not far from Leguevin, a kind of luminous disc which seemed to float in the air. I then ran towards it because it was no more than 5 meters from the ground, but as soon as I approached it rose silently, vertically and disappeared.

"Intrigued, I approached the place where it must have landed and my attention was suddenly drawn in the middle of the fields by two sheets of white glossy paper covered with printing letters. I picked them up carefully: here they are."

"But, it's Chinese!"

The gendarmes leaned, intrigued, on the pieces of evidence. The business-size sheets were neither soiled, nor damp, nor wrinkled, but of absolute neatness, as if they had just been torn from a new brochure.

"But it's Chinese!" exclaimed one of the gendarmes. Fortunately, Leguevin counts among its inhabitants a brave retired soldier and polyglot, Mr. Maggy. One went to consult him, he was formal: "It is a text written in an Annamese dialect, Kug-No. The pages are numbered 9-10 and 59-60: they come from a brochure reproducing in off-set a typewritten document. But beware, concludes Mr. Maggy gravely, I do not understand everything: it is about the Vietminh and Vietnam".

This peremptory assertion was enough to trigger a real investigation, the gendarmerie entrusting to the military authority the two sheets revealing undoubtedly an important case of espionage between the Martians, the Indochinese and the French.

Don't leave your papers lying around

Air security took charge and ran it smoothly. A duly qualified translator was summoned who, after a few moments of scrutiny, barely suppressed an irresistible urge to laugh. "These sheets come from a brochure published by the services of Prince Buu-Loc; they were undoubtedly left in Leguevin by Vietnamese who came there for a picnic!..."

Vietnamese students are, in fact, particularly numerous in Toulouse, and Leguevin, located about twenty kilometers and close to the regions [?] of the Gers, offers Toulouse residents a sought-after destination for a walk during the weekend.

As for the ultra-secret text, it deals with the arrival of fish in Indochinese ports!

Morality: don't leave your papers lying around!

The shock of a Toulouse industrialist

The Toulouse region seems, moreover, to be a favorite terrain for saucer pilots, because this espionage affair had barely been closed when Mr. Olivier, an industrialist in Toulouse, once again stirred up the authorities.

Wednesday, at 7:35 p.m., in a suburb of the city, Mr. Olivier saw a scuba diver of about 1 meter with a big head and two huge eyes which descended from a spherical craft in a wasteland. The figure came towards him and his suit shone like glass. After a minute he returned to his craft and had to bend over to climb into it. It disappeared into the sky at prodigious speed, leaving a trail of fire.

"It's been a shock," concluded Mr. Olivier, still under the influence of emotion.

The Martian of Montluçon only knows one expression: gas-oil!

Mr. Laugère, a railway worker at the Montluçon station, waited several days to tell his story because he was afraid that his comrades would make fun of him. But as he saw in the newspapers that an encounter with a Martian was no longer so exceptional, he decided to speak.

His story goes back to Sunday night. Mr. Laugère was crossing the tracks near the S.N.C.F. bridge, on the "Le Cher" river, when he saw a metallic craft placed a short distance from a diesel tank intended to supply the railcars. Next to the craft which had the shape of a torpedo and could be four meters long was a man all covered with hair unless he was wearing a rather long hairy coat.

Mr. Laugère, surprised, asked him what he was doing. The stranger replied in unintelligible terms, but the railway worker seemed to make out the words "diesel."

The railwayman wanted to return to the station to raise the alarm, but barely had he gone a hundred meters when he saw the craft rise vertically without noise.

SAUCERS, CIGARS, ETC.

The pilots of a mysterious machine were interested
in Vietnamese matters

Mr. Jean Marty, 42, mechanic, resident of Léguevin, declared that he had seen, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, land in the middle of a field, an orange disc measuring 6 to 7 meters of diameter and 2.50 m. high.

Mr. Marty was working around 10:30 p.m. in his workshop, located on the road to Toulouse, in front of a field, 1.5 km away from Lèguevin. Looking up he saw the luminous object. Intrigued, he got out, crossed the road, and headed for the disc, which rose into the air, silently, vertically and disappeared at a prodigious speed. Mr. Marty then went to the middle of the field to check the place where the craft had landed. He did not notice any trace but found there, lying on the grass, two sheets of glossy paper, white, covered with block letters.

The pages, commercial size type, were not soiled, nor damp, nor wrinkled, but absolutely crisp, as if they had just been torn from a new brochure. Mr. Marty handed them over to the gendarmerie. They were examined by a former soldier who spent many years in Indochina and who lives in retirement in Lèguevin, Mr. Maggy. He stated that it was a text in Kuoe-Nu, an Annamese dialect, and that this text dealt with issues of interest to Viet-Minh and Viet-Nam.

The text would be recent, but could only be imperfectly translated. It was specified that these were pages numbered 9-10 and 59-60 of a brochure reproducing in offset a typewritten document. The sheets were entrusted to the military authority. Previously, one was able to take pictures which will be entrusted to a translator.

The investigation opened by air security, following this discovery revealed that it was simply two sheets from a brochure published by the services of Prince Buu Loc and probably left in Léguevin by the Vietnamese who came to have a picnic.

Vietnamese students are in fact particularly numerous in Toulouse, and Léguevin, located about twenty kilometers away and near the wooded regions of the Gers, offers Toulouse residents a sought-after destination for a walk during the weekend.

The brochure in question dated January 12, and the information it contains, underlines the military authority, does not present any character likely to lead to new developments in this affair. In fact, it is about the entry of ships into Indochinese ports and the arrival of fish!

Landing of a spherical
craft in Toulouse

A small-sized diver, with a large head in relation to the body, two enormous eyes, such is the description just made by a Toulouse resident, Mr. Olivier, of a mysterious character, descended from a spherical craft that had just landed at 7:35 p.m. on a vacant lot.

Mr. Olivier, owner of the Javel Neto establishments, rue des Fontaines, in Toulouse, was accompanied by an employee, Mr. Pérano, and a young boy about 15-year-old. All three saw the luminous craft of spherical shape and reddish color land, then saw the character coming towards them whose diving-suit, according to witnesses, shone like glass.

"I did not believe it, adds Mr. Pérano, but I saw it as I see you. It comes as a shock."

In a very short time, about a minute, the diver regained the luminous sphere which flew vertically silently and disappeared in the sky at a prodigious speed, leaving a fire trail.

The pilot covered in hair
demanded gasoil

An employee of the station of Montluçon, Mr. Langère, allegedly made contact Sunday evening with a mystery individual coming out of a torpedo-shaped craft.

Mr. Langère left his job and crossed the S.N.C.F. railway when he saw a metal craft posed at a short distance from a gasoil tank, intended to supply railcars. Next to the craft was a man all covered in hair, unless he was wearing a very long-haired coat. M. Laugère, surprised, asks him what he was doing. The stranger answered him in unintelligible terms, but the railwayman seemed to distinguish the words "gasoil."

Mr. Langère asked him nothing more and went to alert his comrades.

A "cigar" in the Marne

Going to a music rehearsal, in Sainte-Menehould (Marne), young André Léger, 18, saw on the road a dark mass resting on skis which took off as he approached, making a humming sound.

The "flying cigar" was about 1.30 m high and 3 meters in diameter.

This vision left a strong impression on the young man.

Flying saucers

(CONTINUED FROM OUR FIRST PAGE)

A mysterious
individual
comes out of a torpedo

Montluçon, 14. -- The saucer file has been further increased by several testimonies, the most important of which seems to be that of an employee of the railway station of Montluçon, Mr. Langère, who made contact on Sunday evening with a mysterious individual who had emerged from a torpedo-shaped craft.

Mr. Laugère was leaving his job and was crossing the tracks near the S.N.C.F. bridge, when he saw a metallic apparatus posed a short distance from a diesel tank intended to supply railcars. Beside the apparatus, which had the shape of a torpedo and might have been four meters, stood a man covered with hair, unless he was dressed in a rather long-haired coat. Mr. Laugère, surprised, asked him what he was doing. The stranger answered him in unintelligible words, but the railwayman seemed to distinguish the words "diesel."

Mr. Laugere asked him no more and went off to alert his comrades. No sooner had he gone a hundred meters than he saw the craft rise vertically without any noise. It soon disappeared from his eyes. Only the fear of the irony of his comrades had prevented him until yesterday, Wednesday, from telling his adventure.

***

Melun, 14. -- A second testimony was collected from a young 17-year-old man, Marc Germain, living in Pontault, who declared to the police station of this locality that had seen, this night, during approximately half an hour, a craft which was a flying saucer in his opinion. This craft was in the sky at an altitude of 200 or 300 meters and had the shape of a very bright disc. It remained motionless for 3 minutes then set off at breakneck speed, leaving behind a trail of fire. The young man declared to himself that he had not rather alerted the police station, because he had insisted on staying there in case the saucer would land.

***

Limoges, 14. -- In Saint-Marc de Lombaud (Creuse), residents of Vallières saw in the night from Monday to Tuesday, a white ball which was moving in the sky. The ball changed color, disappeared and reappeared before finally disappearing.

***

Evreux, 14. -- Also, an update has just been made today by a person about the "saucer" which was seen above the region of Saint-André, at the border of the departments of Eure and Eure-et-Loir, Saturday around 6:30 p.m.

Mrs. Omonis, from Groth-Soret said the object was just a balloon. "A design," she said, "appeared to be painted in red color on the top of the balloon and ropes held the basket."

The flying saucers
drivers interested
in Vietnamese questions

Toulouse, 14 -- Mr. Jean Marty, 42, mechanic, living in Leguevin (Haute-Garonne), stated that he had seen in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday land in the middle of a field a luminous disc measuring from 6 to 7 meters in diameter and 2.50 meters in height. The disc was of orange color.

Mr. Marty was working around 10:30 p.m. in his workshop located on the road to Toulouse, in front of a field, 1 kilometer 500 meters from Leguevin. Looking up, he saw the luminous object. Intrigued, he got out, crossed the road and walked towards the disc which then rose into the air, silently, vertically, and disappeared at a prodigious speed. Mr. Marty went to the middle of the field to examine the place where the craft had landed. He found no trace but found laying on the grass, two sheets of glossy white paper covered with block letters.

The pages, commercial size type, were not soiled, neither damp, nor wrinkled, but absolutely crisp as if they had just been torn from a new brochure. Mr. Marti handed them over to the gendarmerie. They were examined today by a former multilingual soldier who spent many years in Indochina and who lives in retirement in Leguevin, Mr. Maggy. He declared that it was a text in Kuoc-Nu, an Annamese dialect, and that this text was about issues of interest to the Vietminh and Vietnam.

The text would be recent but could only be imperfectly translated. It was specified that it was the pages numbered 9-10 and 59-60 of a brochure reproducing in offset a typewritten document. The sheets were entrusted to the military authority. One was previously able to take pictures that would be entrusted this morning to a translator.

A "mysterious
craft"
intrigues the military

Metz, 14. -- During the Metz fair-exhibition, a military projector, installed at the army stand, swept, every evening, the Metz sky with its light beam. Sunday evening, the servants of the apparatus saw, at an estimated height of more than 10,000 meters, a luminous circle which remained motionless above their heads for several hours. The radar set, also mounted at the army stand, tried in vain to capture the unusual circle in its device.

A local newspaper having reported the facts, the governor general commanding the 6th military region, ordered an investigation which, so far, has not been successful. General Navereau awaits the report of Commander Cottel, responsible for the army stand.

According to the first information gathered yesterday, it seems impossible that the projector installed at the Metz fair could have caught any object so high up. Indeed, this projector only has a range of 6,000 meters, a distance at which, on a very clear day, it would perhaps make it possible to distinguish something. The circle of light captured in the projector beam could be explained by the presence, at a great height, of a swirling cumulus cloud illuminated by the moon, full at this time, and hidden behind a curtain of clouds. One remains skeptical, in the meantime, anout the presence of a round object which would have been, it was estimated, 50 meters in diameter, and which would have remained perfectly still for several hours.

However, the military services are continuing their investigations and will draw the conclusions of this case as soon as they are in possession of Commander Cottel's report.

A "flying saucer" lands in Toulouse and three witnesses see a strange being emerge

In Montluçon, a railwayman calls a "Martian"

Toulouse, October 14 (A.F.P.). -- A small diver with a large head compared to the body, huge eyes, such is the description just made by a resident of Toulouse, Mr. Oliver, of a mysterious personage who descended from a strange machine that he saw yesterday at 7:15 p.m., on a vacant lot.

Mr. Olivier, who owns the Javel Netto establishments in Toulouse, was accompanied by an employee, Mr. Perano, and a young boy of about fifteen. All three saw the luminous apparatus, of spherical shape and reddish color, and then perceived coming to them this "personage" whose scuba, the witnesses said, shone like glass.

Subsequently, M. Olivier drew with a chalk, in an approximate manner, on a door, the diver. "I did not believe in it," Perano said, "but I saw it just as I see you. It's a shock."

After a very short time, about a minute, the diver returned to his flying saucer, which flew vertically without noise into the sky at a prodigious speed, throwing a wake of fire.

Due to the night no finding could be made at the place where the machine was said to have landed.

Near the Cher in Montluçon

The flying saucers file has been increased with several testimonies, the most important being that of an employee at the Montluçon railway station, Mr. Laugère, who made contact on Sunday evening with an individual from a craft in the form of a torpedo.

Mr. Laugere left his work and crossed the tracks near the bridge of the S.N.C.F. on the road "Le Cher" when he saw a metallic machine posed at a short distance from the gas oil tank intended for the fueling of railcars. By the side of the apparatus, which had the shape of a torpedo, and could be four meters in diameter, there was a man, all covered with hair, unless he were dressed in a long-haired coat.

Mr. Laugere, surprised, asked him what he was doing. The unknown replied in unintelligible terms, but the railwayman thought he distinguished the words "gas oil".

Mr. Laugere did not ask him for anything more, and went to alert his comrades. As soon as he had gone a hundred yards, he saw the apparatus rise vertically without any noise. It soon disappeared before his eyes. Only the fear of the irony of his comrades had prevented him, till today, from telling his adventure.

A "saucer" in the Corrèze

Mr. Jean-Pierre Bartarange, a farmer in La Roche-de-Vic, in the commune of Albussac (Correze) saw a flying saucer throwing fires of several colors. It was flying at low altitude.

Descended from a mysterious craft
a diver,
with huge, small eyes,
appeared to a
former Toulouse aviator

Toulouse. -- A small diver with a big head compared to the body, huge eyes, such is the description given by a Toulouse resident, Mr. Olivier, of a mysterious character, coming down from a spherical object which had just landed at 7:35 p.m., on a vacant lot.

Mr. Olivier, owner of the Javel-Neto establishments, rue des Fontaines, in Toulouse, was accompanied by an employee, Mr. Perano, and a young boy of about fifteen. All three saw the luminous object, spherical in shape and reddish in color. Then, [they] saw the figure coming towards them, whose suit, according to witnesses, shone like glass.

The mysterious individual, measuring approximately 1.20 m., protruded by the head and therefore had to bend to enter it.

One of the witnesses assured that the saucer was surrounded by iridescent reflections and emitted around it a light mist. He added that having wanted to approach, he had been held at about twenty meters by a paralyzing force and that, when the spacecraft rose in the sky, he was violently thrown to the ground.

Subsequently, Mr. Olivier, a former aviation pilot, drew in chalk, in a striking manner, on a door, the diver. "I didn't believe it," added Mr. Perano, "but I saw it like I see you. It is quite a shock."

After a very short time, about a minute, the diver returned to the luminous sphere, which flew away vertically, silently, and disappeared into the sky at a prodigious speed, leaving a trail of fire.

A torpedo in Montluçon

For his part, Mr. Laugère, from Montluçon, was leaving his work and crossing the tracks near a S.N.C.F. bridge, when he saw a metallic object placed a short distance from a diesel tank intended for the railcar supply. Beside the apparatus, which was in the shape of a torpedo and could be four meters long, was a man covered in hair, unless he was dressed in a long-hait

Read more on the last page under the title:
SAUCERS

SAUCERS

coat. Mr. Laugère, surprised, asked him what he was doing. The stranger replied in unintelligible terms, but the railwayman though he distinguished the words "diesel", however.

Mr. Laugère did not ask for more and went to alert his comrades. No sooner had they made 100 meters than he saw the craft rise vertically, without any noise. It soon disappeared from view. Only the fear of the irony of his comrades had prevented him from telling his adventure; which dates back to Sunday evening.

Seven tiny beings
and weird seeds

Several hunters in the town of Saint-Ambroix (Gard) have recently seen seven tiny beings whose shape vaguely recalled that of a human body. When they tried to approach, the beings rushed towards a phosphorescent object, which flew away immediately.

At the place where the pilots of the flying saucer were, the hunters discovered on the ground a number of seeds of bizarre appearance, which they had examined by seed makers. The latter were unable to classify them in a known species.

The army says "No"

As a result of the investigation which had been opened by the military authority, after the publication of information announcing that the soldiers charged of the handling of a headlight installed at the Metz fair, had seen, and Sunday evening, a mysterious luminous circle, the military governor published the following press release:

"It is reported in the press about the observation of unknown craft by a post of the antiaircraft forces deployed at the Fair-Exhibition of Metz. It is not necessary to take into account this information in this particular case."

Note that the military authorities rarely recognized the existence of these saucers, even if the testimony of many and often serious people are sometimes very disturbing.

Plants endowed with reason

"The pilots of the "flying saucers" are plants endowed with reason" - such is the theory which exposed to a correspondent of Agence France-Presse professor Hermann Oberth, inventor and builder of the famous "V 2" rocket.

According to the German scientist, the "Uranids" (this is the name he named these plants with) are thousands of years ahead of Earth men, both in terms of their spiritual development and their technique. The homeland of Uranids is a planet where there is no oxygen in the gaseous state; which prohibits the development of animal life. Plants, on the other hand, get the oxygen they need from the oxides in the soil.

This planet would be outside the solar system, but the mysterious craft in which intelligent plants travel could move at a speed close to that of light (200,000 km per second).

Those of these craft seen above the Earth would be responsible for monitoring the progress of Earth's humanity in the atomic sciences, because these advances "represent a danger for the whole Cosmos."

Two jet planes
are chasing
a saucer

MARSEILLE. - In the sky of Vaucluse, two jet planes chased a flying saucer.

Around 2 p.m., in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, yesterday afternoon, two children signaled in the sky a white disc surmounted by a spherical cap. This craft that part of the population was able to see for a long time launched two powerful fires, varying from white to purplish.

Alerted, the Caritat air base sent two jet planes. Shortly after, the airmen announced by radio: "We spotted the craft which escaped at a speed higher than that of our aircraft."

The vision of the craft lasted nearly ten minutes above Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.

The daily (and varied) chronicle of the saucers

The secret papers of the Martian spy were only flying leaves abandoned to the wind

Paris. -- The record of flying saucers was further increased by several testimonies, one from a mechanic from Léguevin (the Haute-Garonne), let the gendarmes and the military authorities think for a few hours that they were in presence neither more nor less of a case of espionage!

Jean Marty, 42, rushed Wednesday morning to the gendarmerie brigade to inform the representatives of the law of his strange discovery.

"I was working last night in my studio, on the roadside of Toulouse, when I noticed near Léguevin a kind of luminous disk that seemed to float in the air. It Was not more than 5 meters from the ground, but as soon as I approached, it rose noiselessly to the vertical and disappeared."

"Intrigued, I approached the place where it had to land and my attention was suddenly drawn to the middle of the field by two sheets of white glossy paper covered with printed letters, and I picked them up carefully."

"But, it's Chinese!"

The gendarmes leaned over, intrigued, onto the pieces of evidence. The sheets, commercial-type, were neither stained, nor damp, nor wrinkled, but of absolute clarity, as if they had just been torn from a new brochure.

"But it's Chinese!" exclaimed one of the gendarmes. Fortunately Léguevin counts among its residents a brave soldier in retirement and polyglot, Mr. Maggy. It was a text written in an Annamese dialect, the Kuoc-Nn. The sheets are numbered 9-10 and 59-60, they come from a brochure reproducing an off-set, A typewritten document, but be careful, Mr. Maggy concludes gravely, "I do not understand everything, it's about Vietminh and Vietnam."

This peremptory statement was enough to trigger a genuine investigation, the gendarmerie handing the two sheets revealing no doubt of an important espionage affair between the Martians, the Indochinese and the French, to military authorities.

Do not lose your papers

It was air safety that took the matter into its own hands and did it fast. A duly qualified translator was summoned, who, after a few moments of examination, made it difficult to find an irresistible desire to laugh. "These leaves come from a brochure published by the services of Prince Buu-Loc, they were undoubtedly left in Leguevin by Vietnamese who came... to picnic!" The Vietnamese students are particularly numerous in Toulouse, and Léguevin, located about twenty kilometers away and close to the wooded areas of the Gers, offers to Toulouse a sought after walking area during their weekends. As for the ultra-secret text, it deals with fish arrivals in the Indochinese harbors! Morality: do not let your papers around!

The shock of a Toulouse industrialist

The region of Toulouse seems, moreover, to be a ground of predilection for the saucers pilots, because this "case of espionage" was scarcely classified that Mr. Olivier, industrialist in Toulouse, put again the authorities on the move. Wednesday, at 7:35 p.m., in a suburb of the city, Mr. Olivier saw a diaphragm of about 1m20, with a big head and two enormous eyes, which descended from a spherical gear posed in a vacant lot. The character came to him and his diving suit shone like glass. After a minute, he returned to his apparatus and had to bend to climb into it. He disappeared into the sky at a prodigious speed, leaving a trail of fire. "This is quite a shock," concluded Mr. Olivier, still under the thrill of emotion.

The Martian of Montluçon knows only one expression: diesel!

M. Laugere, a railwayman at the station of Montlucon, waited several days to tell his adventure, for he was afraid that his comrades would laugh at him. But as he saw in the newspapers that an encounter with a Martian was not so exceptional, he decided to speak. His story dates back to Sunday evening, Mr. Laugère crossed the tracks near the bridge of the S.N.C.F. on the river "Le Cher", when he saw a metal machine placed at a short distance from a reservoir of gas oil intended for the feeding of railcars. By the side of the apparatus, which had the form of a torpedo, and might have measured four meters, stood a man entirely covered with hair, unless he were dressed in a coat with long hair! Mr. Laugere, surprised, asked him what he was doing. The unknown replied in unintelligible terms, but the railwayman seemed to distinguish the words "diesel". The railwayman wished to return to the station to give the alarm, but scarcely had he made a hundred yards when he saw the apparatus rise vertically without noise.

Coming down from a mysterious machine, a diver of small size, but with enormous eyes, appears to three Toulouse residents

The pilots of the saucers are plants gifted of reason" the V2 manufacturer says.

Toulouse, October 14. -- A diver of small size with a large head compared to the body, two enormous eyes, such is the description that was just made this evening, by a resident of Toulouse, Mr. Olivier, of a mysterious figure, who came down of a spherical craft which had just landed on a vacant site.

Mr. Olivier, owner of the Jaret Netis establishments, rue des Fontaines in Toulouse, was accompanied by an employee, Mr. Perano and a young boy about fifteen years old.

All three saw the mysterious craft of spherical form and reddish color land. Then they saw come towards them, the figure, whose diving-suit, according to the statements of the witnesses, shone like glass. Thereafter, Mr. Olivier, former aviation pilot, drew with a chalk, in a dramatic manner, on a door, the diver. "I did not believe in it, says Mr. Perano, but I saw it as I see you, it was quite a shock".

After a rather short time, one minute, the diver reinstated the luminous sphere, which went away vertically in the sky, without noise, at an extraordinary speed while launching a wake of fire.

Traces

Oily traces were noticed this morning in several places of the ground, according to the witnesses statements, the machine would have landed the day before on this place at 07:35 p.m.

The police force of the Air questioned these three people who confirmed their statements. While specifying that the mysterious individual measuring approximately 1,20 m, exceeded the craft by the head, consequently bending to enter in it.

One of the witnesses ensured that the saucer was surrounded by iridescent reflection and emitted around a slight fog around it.

He added that having wanted to approach, he had been stopped at about twenty meters by a paralyzing force. When the craft rose in the sky, he was violently thrown at the ground.

Strange contact near the Montluçon station

The flying saucers file increased of several testimonies of which the most important seems to be that of an employee of the station of Montlucon, Mr. Laugère, who made contact Sunday evening, with an individual who came out of an apparatus in the shape of a torpedo.

Mr. Laugère left his work and crossed the ways near the bridge of the SNCF [national railway co], when he saw a metallic machine posed at little distance from the fuel oil tank intended for the rail-car supply. At side of the apparatus which had the shape of a torpedo and could have been four meters in diameter, was a man, all covered of hair, unless he was dressed of a coat with quite long hair.

Mr. Laugère, surprised, asked him what he was doing. The unknown answered him in inintelligible words, but the railwayman however seemed to distinguish the words "Fuel oil".

Mr. Laugère did not ask him for more and went away to alert his comrades. He had hardly gone a hundred meters, when he saw the apparatus rising vertically without any noise. It soon disappeared from his view. Only the fear of the irony of his comrades had prevented him, until today, from telling his adventure.

The disc did not land...

A second testimony was collected: that of a 17-year-old young man, Marc German, resident of Pontault, who declared at the police station of this locality, that he had seen in the night, during approximately half an hour, a machine which was in his opinion, a flying saucer. This machine was in the sky within 200 or 300 meters of altitude and had the shape of a very shining disc. Ir remained thirty minutes motionless then left at a vertiginous speed, leaving a trail of fire behind. The young man stated that he had not alerted the police station earlier for he had made a point of remaining on the spot in case the saucer would have landed.

A ball in the sky of the Creuse

In St Marc-de-Lombaud (the Creuse), residents of Vallières saw, in the night from Monday to Tuesday, a white ball which moved in the sky. The ball changed color, disappeared and reappeared before disappearing definitively.

A simple balloon

On the other hand, a development was just made today by a person, about the "saucer" which was seen above the area of St Andre, at the limit of the department of the Eure and the Eure-et-Loire, Saturday towards 06:30 p.m.

Mrs. Amonts from Groth-Soret affirmed that the object was only a simple balloon. "A sketch, she said, appeared painted in red color on the top of the balloon and the ropes maintaining the nacelle".

Seven tiny beings seen in the Gard...

Several hunters of the commune of St Ambroise (the Gard) allegedly saw recently seven tiny beings whose shape vaguely resembled that of a human body. When they tried to approach, the beings rushed towards a phosphorescent apparatus which flew away at once.

On the site where the pilots of the flying saucer had been, the hunters discovered on the ground a certain number of seeds of odd appearance; which they had examined by seed resellers. The latter were unable to classify them into a known species.

The "pilots" are plants:

Hamburg. -- "The pilots of the "flying saucers" are plants gifted of reason". Such is the theory that Professor Hermann Oberth, inventor and manufacturer of the famous "V.2" rocket, exposed to a correspondent of Agence France Presse.

According to the German scientist, the "Uranids" (this is the name he baptizes these plants with) are thousands years more advanced than Earth as well with regard to their spiritual evolution and their technique. The fatherland of origin of Uranides would be a planet where there is not oxygen in a gas state, which prohibits the development of a animal life. The plants on the other hand, draw the necessary oxygen from oxides contained in the soil.

That planet would be outside the solar system, but the mysterious machines in which the intelligent plants move could travel a speed close to that of the light (300 000 km/s). Those of these machines seen above the earth would be in charge of watching progress of earth's humanity in the atomic sciences because this progress "is a danger to the entire cosmos".

The Man Asked for "Gasoil"

Saucer Seeks Fuel in France

PARIS, Oct. 14 (Reuters) -- A "flying saucer" pilot was reported last night to have tried to refuel his 12-foot-long torpedo-shaped machine at the expense of the French state railroad.

A railwayman who works at Montlucon station, Central France, says he saw the pilot and his machine outside a Diesel oil tank there.

He asked the man, who either was covered with hair or was wearing a long hairy overcoat, what he wanted. The man said something the railroader could not make out, but he thought he heard the word "gasoil."

The workman started off to report to the station master, but before he had gone 100 yards the machine took off and vanished.

This is the latest report of a spate of French accounts of mysterious flying objects - saucers, bells, mushrooms and other shapes.

What's 'Fillerup' in Martian?

PARIS -- (Reuters) -- A "flying saucer" pilot Thursday night was reported to have tried to refuel his 12-foot-long "torpedo" machine at the expense of the French state railroad.

A railwayman at Montlucon station, central France, said he saw the pilot and his machine outside an oil tank there.

He asked he man covered with hair or wearing a long hairy overcoat, what he wanted. The man said something like gasoil."

The workman started off to report to the stationmaster, but the machine took off.

Awestruck!

There is something to be left speechless: meet a Martian! To believe that they gave themselves the same goal, our (planetary)neighbors: visit to the earth, but where? On the small bit of France.

Think about it! The Martian of the Montluçon railway employee was covered in hair... only one word pronounced: gas oil.

At l'Ambroix (Gard), they were seven. Presumably it was a delegation going to the Ministry of Labor for better wages.

It is possible to get lost when traveling in saucers, cigars, barrels, discs, fireballs, mushrooms, circles, funnels and other contraptions.

Near Châteaubriand, he was dressed in a gray hat, shod in boots and reportedly said in French: "Look. But do not touch."

Gentlemen and ladies of Mars, do not be pretentious. If you have something to stun us, so do we:

Ah! Meet a Martian and stun him!

Tells Hair-Raising Tale Of Fur Wearer's Visit

Pealing New Years' bells are expected to get a far friendlier reception in France than those heretofore unidentified bell-shaped objects which have been competing with flying saucers in the ether over the European republic.

They say that 50 million Frenchmen can't be wrong. So far 47.589.374 have seen strange stuff in the sky. But the consistency ends right here. In this country we see flying saucers. Over there the atmospheric dinnerware includes cups, bells, and cigar-shaped objects.

Several persons have reported floating mushrooms in the sky over France. If that ever happens here, a large number of residents of Czech descent will take to the air pronto in pursuit ships, with their baskets and shopping bags trailing behind them in the breeze.

A railwayman in central France has his fellow citizens in a dither over his statement that a moocher from outer space tried to bum some diesel oil from him one evening.

According to the choo choo line employee, he saw a torpedo-shaped machine about 12 feet long outside an oil tank near the Montlucon station. The pilot of the contraption was a man who either was covered with hair or wearing a long, furry coat.

When the railroader asked the stranger what he wanted, the latter said something that sounded like "gasoil." The employee could have been confused by the visitor's lousy French, but he went off to hunt the stationmaster and not a schoolmarm.

Before he had gone 100 feet, however, the machine took off and disappeared. This obviously eliminated the need for asking the boss about the oil. But the worker described the episode anyway, and things haven't been the same around Montlucon since.

Observers who have attempted to dissect the incident don't know whether the railroader was off on a private toot at the time or whether he had the rare privilege of shooting the breeze with a human creature other than an earthling.

They might take into account the report that the cigar-shaped object was only 12 feet long. This is approximately the size of a Winston Churchill cheroot. Perhaps some inventive Englishman has dieselized one of the prime minister's stogies and was off on an unauthorized pleasure jaunt when he landed in Montlucon. This would explain his eagerness to take it on the lam.

Husbands everywhere will be intrigued by the railroader's report that the stranger may have been covered with long hair. If that's typical of those folks, the men are lucky chaps, spared fro any wifeely pestering for a fur coat.

On the other hand, there may be little future for barber's in the stranger's homeland. Tonsorial artists probably have to concentrate on peddling shampoos, hair oil and similar lotions, maintaining a line of curlers and selling subscriptions to the Police Gazette on the side.

Unfortunately the railroad man's report leaves much to be bridged and more to be surmised. If this boy had been on the ball he would have sent the stranger in to see the stationmaster and stood guard at the flying torpedo himself.

The visitor's attempt to tap the boss for a handout of oil would have been mighty interested, too, as the railroad is government-owned and the laddie certainly would have had to go through channels for quite a way before getting any diesel donations.

Maybe the excursionist from outer space realized what he was up against after he was first challenged. The thought of trying to unsnarl all that government red tape is enough to make even the bravest explorer turn tail and flee.

Or perhaps he saw the Frenchman giving the big eye to his built-in fur benny and thought he had better be on his way before he was trapped for his pelt.

There were no report from French visionaries who saw Santa in the flesh, but that's not too important. the big thing for them in remembering is that young Master 1955 will be arriving in less than 72 hours.

Not pot shots, please. Let's not antagonize him too soon.

Orv Lifka

At a railway station, Montlucon, in Central France, a pilot of a flying cigar apparently ran out of gas -- or whatever he used -- and tried to refuel his machine at the expense of the French Railways. M. Laugere, an employee of the station, saw the pilot and his 12-ft. torpedo-shaped machine and asked what he wanted. Although M. Laugere couldn't make out the entire reply, in some strange language, he did think he heard the word, "gasoil."

The saucerman was either covered with hair, or wearing a long hairy overcoat. When M. Laugere started to report the strange request to the stationmaster the machine took off and vanished.

[... Other cases... ]

On October 13 [1954] there came an interesting report: M. Laugere, who was employed by a diesel oil store in Montlucon, saw a cylindrical object near the station. Nearby were two hairy creatures, or figures in hairy coats; they jabbered unintelligibly, hopped into the cylinder and took off. M. Laugere thought he heard the words "gasoil."

[... Other cases... ]

OBSERVATIONS 1954 (16)

OCTOBER 12

?: Montluçon (Allier): lum. sph. on the ground and dwarf

[... other cases...]

October 12, 1954: Montluçon (Allier):(lumin. sph. on the ground + small pilot)

[... other cases...]

418 12 October 1954 Evening

MONTLUCON (FRANCE)

A railway employee, M Laugere, saw a torpedo shaped metallic craft on the ground near a petroleum tank. An individual covered with hair was standing nearby, uttering sounds that were not understood. The witness went to get his friends, but the thing disappeared in the meantime. (M243: Paris-Presse, Liberation, 15 Oct 54: Carrouges X, 141, Michel II, 167)

The second common form of landing gear is four feet. This craft was noticed on different types of gear ranging from the torpedo (10/12/1954 Montluçon, Allier) [...]

A N H type "Martians"

10/05/1954 Loctudy (Finistère)

Around 4 a.m., Mr. Paul Lucas, a bakery worker, was in the bakery when he saw in the courtyard of the bakery a circular craft 2.50 to 3m in diameter near which a 1.20m tall being was standing, who approached the witness and touched his shoulder while uttering incomprehensible words... He had an oval face covered with dark hair and huge eyes... (J. Giraud; "Centre Matin" of 10/07/54)

A hairy "Martian"! The whole of France burst out laughing! The only brake on this hilarity was that Mr. Lucas did not long remain the only witness to have observed such a being. Similar apparitions multiplied. These "Martians" belonged to type A N (humanoids and small) but they had a new characteristic: hair! Hence the "H". They were observed on:

10/05/1954 in Mertrud (Haute Marne) ... "The 1.20m being seemed dressed in a coat covered with hair..."

10/09/1954 in Pournoy la Chétive (Moselle) ... "The 1.20m being had a hairy head and big eyes..."

10/09/1954 in Lavoux (Vienne) ... "The being measured 1.50m, he was housed in a diving suit, his legs didn't have heels and his head looked like a tuft of hair with glowing eyes..."

10/12/1954 Montluçon (Allier) ... "A being covered with hair or wearing a long coat of hair..."

14/10/1954 Lewarde (Nord) ... "A small being with large oblique eyes and a body covered with furs..."

24/10/1954 Les Egots (?)... "A man with long hair and a hairy face whose eyes were as large as those of a cow..."

Seven appearances of "Hairy Martians" in twenty days, it was a bit too much for the fact to be considered only as a hallucination or a drunken rambling... Especially since similar beings had been observed in Caerphilly (Wales) in 1909 on May 18 to be quite precise. A fact is therefore certain, the "Martian" of the A N H type exists, but a difficulty arises: in half of the cases, it is the face which is hairy; in the other half, it is the whole body which seems to be covered in fur... A question therefore arises: is it natural hairiness (hair, beard, bristles...) or is it some equipment (diving suit, spacesuit, balaclava, etc.)? The answer cannot yet be provided. We believe that the hairiness observed on the faces is natural and that the one observed on the bodies is artificial (outfit). Otherwise, and in the latter case, it would be necessary to assume that the "Hairy Martians" are naked!

10/12/1954 Montluçon

In the station, Mr. Laugère who was making his rounds, discovered a thin torpedo resting four. feet above a gas oil tank, near the device stood a small being covered with hair. (Jean Giraud)

31. Encounter at Montlucon (Allier), France, October 12, by M. Laugere: Belfast (No. Ireland) Daily Telegraph, October 19; AP and UP, in many U.S. papers of ca. October 15 and later.

243

Oct. 12, 1954, evening, Montlucon (France).

A railroad employee, Mr. Laugere, saw a torpedo-shaped, metallic craft on the ground near a gas-oil tank. An individual covered with hair was standing nearby, emitting sounds that were not understood. The witness went to get his friends, but the thing disappeared in the meantime.

(Paris-Presse, Libération, 15 oct 1954) (63; M 167).

October 12, 1954, evening, Montlucon (France):

A railroad employee, Mr. Laugere, saw a torpedo-shaped, metallic craft on the ground near a gas-oil tank. An individual covered with hair was standing nearby, emitting sounds that were not understood. The witness went to get his friends, but the thing disappeared in the meantime. (Paris-Presse, Libération, 15 oct. 1954).

10/12/1954 Montluçon (night).

Mr. Laugère, S.N.C.F. employee was conducting a verification tour at the Montluçon train station when suddenly he discovered a torpedo-shaped craft 4 to 5 meters long resting on four feet and placed just on a tank of gas-oil for railcars. The apparatus appeared metallic. Beside stood a little being covered with hair or wearing a long fur coat. The distraught witness retreated to seek help from his comrades. 100m further, when he turned around, he was to see the mysterious craft fly away vertically. (Personal investigation and Centre Matin for 10/14/1954).

10/12/1954 Montluçon (Allier)

That night, while he was on an inspection tour in the Montluçon station, Mr. Laugère discovered a torpedo-shaped machine 4 to 5 meters long placed over a reservoir of

.../...

gas oil for railcar. Close by was a little being covered with hair, or dressed in a long coat with hair, which would have told incomprehensible words to the witness. The latter, panicked, began to flee calling colleagues. At about 100 m, turning around, he could see the machine disappearing in the sky, vertically.

Centre-Matin for 10/14/54 and "M.O.C.", p 280-281

Of course, Montlucon was perfectly orthotenic in the network of the day (Orchamps-Jambles-Montlucon), Alas, that day, nothing like that had happened. In fact, there were a few railway workers who decided to play a good prank on a colleague who was too gullible. One of them had dressed in an old "goat skin" and while grumbling, had waved a lamp in front of Mr. Laugère. While the latter was fleeing, another was shooting skyward a rocket of fireworks to simulate the departure of a spacecraft. A personal inquiry informed us that the witness had died several years ago, but allowed us to find one of the pranksters.

DATE 10/12/1954

HOUR Night

PLACE Montluçon train station

WITNESS Monsieur Laugère S.N.C.F. employee

THE FACTS.

On Sunday evening, the witness was on an inspection tour in the Montluçon station. Suddenly, he discovered a torpedo-shaped machine 4 to 5 meters long, placed on four feet above a tank of gas oil for railcars.

The craft seemed metallic. Near it stood a little being covered with hair or wearing a long fur coat. The terrified witness retreated to call his comrades, a hundred meters away, when he turned around, he was able to see the craft fly away vertically.

SOURCES.

Regional Press. "Centre - Matin" for 10/14/1954

INVESTIGATION.

At the time the investigation was decided in 1972, the witness had already died. However, the search for testimonies from persons who knew the witness revealed that he had been the victim of a joke mounted by his colleagues. One of them wore a "goat skin" and was waving a lamp. He even fired a fireworks flare to make believe of the take-off of a craft.

INVESTIGATOR.

J. Giraud 03100 Group.

10/12/1954 Montluçon (Allier)

In the night Mr. Laugère made the observation reported above. (Centre Matin for 10/14/54)

[...]

Finally, our counter-investigation brought us the truth about the Laugère affair in Monttlucon.

[...]

3/ Wanting to make a prank to a colleague, Montluçon railroaders CHOOSE TO DISGUIZE in a being not corresponding at all to the image that everyone had of the "Martians" at the time, (small beings with big heads and diving suits) but corresponding perfectly with 4 previous observations including two false ones which went practically unnoticed. What's more, this farce fits perfectly into an orthotenic network.

017 10/12/1954 NT Montluçon Witness Mr. Laugère

While conducting an inspection tour of the station near the bridge, the witness discovered a 4-meter-long, metal-looking craft placed on 4 feet above a gas oil tank. Beside stood a little being with a body covered with hair, who spoke to the witness in an unknown language. Mr. Laugère fled and turning around, he was able to see the craft disappearing vertically. PRANK BY COLLEAGUES (Pers. Inv.) (See "Le Lapin et le Renard" very important case although false.

10/12/1954

Montluçon

Mr. Laugère was the victim of a prank perpetrated by S.N.C.F. employees, "OVNI", p. 668, "INFO OVNI" by the 03100 Group N°1.

54-67 Oct. 12. 1954 Evening Montluçon, France Type C

M. Laugere, a railwayman, saw a 12-foor-long metallic torpedo resting beside a diesel-oil tank. Nearby was a man, "either covered with hair or wearing a long, hairy overcoat." L. asked him what he wanted; the reply was not understood, but he thought he heard the word "gasoil". L. went to the stationmaster, but before he had gone 100 yards the machine took off.

Investigator

Source: AP dispatch of 10/l4/54 in Christian Science Monitor, 10/l5/54; Vallee, Magonia, p. 226.

Montlucon (France).

10/12/1954 evening

A railroad employee, Mr. Laugere, saw a torpedo-shaped, metallic craft on the ground near a gas/oil tank. An individual covered with hair was standing nearby, emitting sounds that were not understood. The witness went to get his friends, but the thing disappeared in the meantime.

4049: 1954/10/10 18:00 2 2:37:00 E 46:21:00 N 3332 WEU FRN ALR 8:5

MONTLUCON,FR:MTLC TORPEDO by RR FUEL TANKS:OID EXITS:UNINTELLIGIBLE:^+away

Ref#197 WEINSTEIN, D: French Newsclips 1954 Page No. 82 : ROAD+RAILS

! 1954/10/12 MONTLUCON, 03, FR: TORPEDO + BEING on GND: Prank on credulous man.

153.

Location. Montlucon France

Date: October 12 1954

Time: evening

M Laugere, a railway employee, saw a 12-foot long metallic torpedo resting beside a diesel oil tank. Nearby was a man "either covered with hair or wearing a long, hairy overcoat." Laugere asked him what he wanted; the reply was not understood, but he thought he heard the word "gasohol." Laugere went to report to the stationmaster, but before he had gone 100 yards the machine took off.

Humcat 1954-90

Source: Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia

Type: C

MONTLUCON - An employee of the Montluçon station, Mr. Laugère, says he made contact on Sunday night with a mysterious individual coming out of a torpedo-shaped craft.

Mr. Laugère left his work and crossed the tracks near the bridge of the S.N.C.F. when he saw a metal machine placed at a short distance from a diesel tank intended for feeding the railcars. By the side of the torpedo-shaped machine, which might have been four meters, was a man covered with hair, unless he was dressed in a coat of long hair. Mr. Laugère, surprised, asked him what he was doing.

The stranger answered him in unintelligible words, but the railwayman seemed to distinguish the words "Gas-Oil". Mr. Laugère did not ask him anything more and went off to alert his comrades. Hardly had he gone a hundred meters, that he saw the craft rise vertically without any noise.

It soon disappeared from his eyes. Only the fear of the irony of his comrades had prevented him, so far, from telling his adventure.

Examples of testimonies reporting hairy beings

[... Other cases ... ]

Montluçon on October 12, 1954.

[... Other cases ... ]

[... Other case ... ]

But the mysterious occurrences do not happen only in the sky. On October 12, in Montlucon, a railwayman discovers on the railway a being covered of hairs who speaks an incomprehensible language. Panicked, the railwayman flees while a luminous machine takes off behind him.

[...]

Thus, the hairy creature of Montlucon was only a a colleague of work of the witness, disguised with a goat skin. And his flying machine: a fireworks rocket.

[... Other case ... ]

Location: Montlucon France

Date: October 12 1954

Time: evening

M Laugere, a railway employee, saw a 12-foot long metallic torpedo resting beside a diesel oil tank. Nearby was a man “either covered with hair or wearing a long, hairy overcoat.” Laugere asked him what he wanted; the reply was not understood, but he thought he heard the word “gasohol.” Laugere went to report to the stationmaster, but before he had gone 100 yards the machine took off.

Source: Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia 243

Prank on credulous man

*Oct. 12, 1954 - On this evening a railroad employee, Mr. Laugere, saw a metallic looking torpedo-shaped craft on the ground near a gas/oil tank in Montlucon, France. An hairy humanoid was standing nearby, emitting sounds that were not understood. The witness went to get his friends, but the thing had disappeared in the meantime. (Sources: Aime Michel, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery, p. 167; Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: A Century of Landings, p. 226, case # 243).

October 12 1954. Evening.

MONTLUCON (ALLIER : FRANCE)

A railway employee Mr Laugere, on an inspection tour, saw a torpedo shaped metallic object 4-5m long, on the ground near a petroleum tank. An individual covered with hair, or wearing a fur coat was standing nearby, uttering sounds that were not understood. The witness went to get his friends, as he turned to look back he saw a light rising into the sky.

• Vallee Case 243 citing Paris-Presse + Liberation 15 October 1954.
• Heiden citing Carrouges 1967 p141
• Gross 1954 citing Var Matin Republique 16 October 1954. + Figuet and Ruchon 1979 p668 + Figuet 1982

Evaluation - Jacques Bonabot citing Dubois and Giraud describes this as "a hoax by workmen". This is confirmed by Figuet and Ruchon based on researches of a local group. A colleague of the witness dressed in a goatskin, and then fired a rocket. The "object" was presumably a piece of railway equipment

Strange Auvergne

1954, the year when UFOs invaded us

WEIRD CLERMONT-FERRAND

Posted on 08/16/2017 at 07:00

1954, the year when UFOs invaded us

This summer, we offer several stories from our special issue L'Auvergne Etrange, devoted to the most mysterious affairs of the region. Unknown creatures, haunted houses, witchcraft... Today, an a new look at the extraterrestrials.

We are in 1954. Abbot Pierre launches his call during the cold wave hitting the country. In May, France capitulates in Indochina. In June, Mendes France is elected President of the Council. In November, the Algerian war begins. But from September on, a much lighter (but spectacular) news is installed in the columns of the newspapers, with a metronome regularity.

A light in the sky

For example, October 2, around 10 a.m., in Clermont-Ferrand. At the modern college, during recess, girls stop playing. Something is irresistibly attracting their attention. At the same moment, Rue Diomede, Madame S. looks up in her turn. A strange light shines in the sky. She thinks first of all to discern an advertising balloon. But by paying attention, the object is very different: it is a metal mass, almost motionless, animated by a slight oscillatory movement. Suddenly, the craft picks up speed and disappears from her field of vision. In neighboring houses, other neighbors report a similar scene.

UFOs seriously studied in Auvergne

Eighth episode of the saga of autumn. Another UFO. The year 1954 remains the period when we recorded the most reports in France. 2.000 cases were reported by the press.

Between September and November, the apparitions multiply, from the most disturbing to the most far-fetched. Bright craft are seen by several people at the same time, from Moulins to Puy-en-Velay.

A schoolboy pursued by a flying saucer

And mysterious facts do not just happen in the sky. On the 12th of October, in Montluçon>, a railwayman discovered on the railway a person covered with hair who spoke an incomprehensible language. Panicked, the railwayman flees as a luminous machine takes off behind him. In Saint-Palais (Allier), a schoolboy says that a flying saucer has pursued him. In Le Donjon (Allier), hunters reportedly fired at a craft and recovered metal debris.

The panic is such that it reaches the Assemblée Nationale. Three Gaullist MPs ask the Minister of Air for insights into these intrusions. One of them demands that the craft be chased by the army.

Five unsolved UFO cases in Auvergne

The press is in flames. But as the days go by, cases gets deflated. Here it was not a saucer but a meteorite. There, an airship. Elsewhere, a balloon. Not to mention the hoaxes. Thus, the hairy creature of Montluçon was only a colleague of work of the witness, disguised with goatskin. And his flying machine was a fireworks rocket. As for the hunters who shot down a craft, they end up confessing their lie.

UFO sightings in Auvergne?

Suddenly, the press gets tired. The stories are becoming scarce. In November, the Parisian doctor Heuyer sealed the end of the wave in front of the Academy of Medicine by putting a name on the phenomenon: "collective psychosis".

However! UFO specialists do not lay down their weapons. Those who believe it say it: out of 2,000 cases, there must be a sign from elsewhere!

The thirty most mysterious stories that have occurred in our region are to be discovered in our special issue L'Auvergne Etrange, to order online on our shop.

Thibaut Solano

No Martian in Montluçon.

[A button here refers to Dominique Caudron's case file, which can be seen at [dcn2] below.]

The case of Montluçon, is used by Aimé Michel for his orthotenic network of September 12, then by Michel Carrouges, then by Jacques Vallée. For these last two authors, a railway employee had seen on the ground, a metal machine in the shape of a torpedo, and next to it an individual, covered with hair. While he was running to look for comrades, the machine took off vertically, without any noise.

But in Montluçon, there was the ufologist Jean Giraud, who discovered the hoax:

It was a hoax. A few railway workers, with the help of a goat skin and a fireworks rocket, had wanted to play a good trick on an overly credulous colleague.

No Martian in Montluçon

The case of Montluçon, is used by Aimé Michel for his orthotenic network of September 12, but he limits himself to writing:

There are three very rigorous alignments.

- Orchamps (Doubs) - Jambles (Saône-et-Loire) - Montluçon (Allier), 320 kilometers, three observations.

...

(Aimé Michel, Mysterious Celestial Objects, Arthaud 1958, page 283)

Michel Carrouges is more talkative:

A railway employee in Montluçon, Mr. Laugère was leaving his job, or was on a surveillance tour, when he suddenly saw a kind of torpedo-shaped machine, posed in the station, next to a diesel tank. Nearby, he notices a being "covered" with hair, or wearing a long "coat with hair" depending on the version. He called out to him in vain, stepped aside to call for comrades, but it was too late: before having had time to cover a hundred meters, he saw the machine take off vertically, without making any noise.

(Michel Carrouges, The apparitions of martians, Fayard 1963, page 108)

Jacques Vallée cites his sources:

October 12, 1954, in the evening, Montluçon (France)

Mr. Laugère, an employee of the S.N.C.F., saw a metallic torpedo-shaped craft on the ground near a gas oil tank. An individual, covered in hair, stood nearby, making incomprehensible sounds. The witness went to find some friends but the thing disappeared during this time (P. 63, M. 167).

63: Paris Presse, Liberation October 15, 1954.

(Jacques Vallée, A Century of UFO Landing, in Chronicle of extraterrestrial appearances, Denoel 1972, page 299)

However, the date given by Vallée is wrong. The case actually happened on Sunday, October 10.

Montluçon, 14. - The saucer file has been further increased by several testimonies, the most important of which seems to be that of an employee of the Montluçon station, Mr. Laugère, who made contact, Sunday evening, with a mysterious individual emerging from a torpedo-shaped device.

(Le Nouveau Nord Maritime, October 15, 1954, page 8)

Var-Matin - République, October 15, 1954.

Only fear of the irony of his comrades had prevented him from recounting his adventure, which dates back to Sunday evening.

(Nord Matin, October 15, 1954, page 10)

North Littoral, October 15, 1954, page 8

But Montluçon was the city of Jean Giraud, a leading ufologist who, of course, studied this case. The witness was already dead, but he was able to find one of the protagonists.

Alas, that day nothing like this had happened. In fact, they were a few railway workers who had decided to play a good trick on an overly gullible colleague. One of them was dressed in an old "goat skin" and while growling had waved a lamp in front of M. LAUGUERE. While the latter was fleeing another fired a fireworks rocket skyward to simulate the departure of a spacecraft.

(UFO INFO n ° 0, April 1975, sixth page)

Jean Giraud takes the opportunity to point out that this false case aligned just as well as the supposedly true ones in Aimé Michel's alignment network for October 12.

"Of course Montluçon was perfectly orthotenic in the network for the day (Orchamps-Jambles-Montluçon)"

This argument disappears for this case, since it is not from October 12th, but it is correct that the cases deemed false line up just as well as those assumed to be true, and even better.

In 1978, Alain Gamard classified this case as appropriate.

13.: October 12, 1954, in the evening, Montluçon (Allier).

The anecdote: Mr. Laugère, employee of the Montluçon station, quits his job and crosses the tracks near the S.N.C.F. bridge when he sees a metal machine posed a short distance from a diesel tank, intended to supply railcars. Next to the craft is a man covered in hair, unless he is wearing a somewhat long-haired coat. The witness, surprised, asks him what he is doing. The stranger answers him in unintelligible terms, but the railwayman seems to distinguish the words "diesel". M. Laugère does not ask him for more and goes to alert his comrades. At about 100 meters, looking back, he can see the craft disappearing vertically in the sky.

Ref.: - La Croix of 10/15/54.
- Center-Matin from 10/14/54.
- Carrouges 108.
- C.V. 243.

The facts: The witness was the victim of a joke staged by his colleagues. One of them was dressed in goatskin "and, growling, waved a lamp in front of M. Laugère. When the latter had fled, another railway worker had fired a fireworks rocket to make it appear as if a spacecraft had left.

Ref.: - Info-OVNI n ° 0.
- Special Info-OVNI. Catalog of landings observations in Auvergne.

(Alain Gamard, Méprises, canulars and Co ", in, Eric Zurcher, Las apparitions d'humanoïdes, Alain Lefeuvre 1978, p 178)

In 1979, Barthel and Brucker, too, debunk this case:

On October 12 in Montluçon (Allier), a railway worker meets in a railway area, a strange little being covered with hair. Taking to flight, he watched the departure of the craft from afar. The prank was easy: an old goatskin, a fireworks rocket, voila! Too gullible, the witness got caught, his imagination did the rest.

(Gérard Barthel and Jacques Brucker, La grande peur martienne, Nouvelles éditions rationalistes, Paris 1979, page 76)

The same year, Michel Figuet also published the demystification in the chapter Les OVNI démystifiés:

A too gullible employee of the S.N.C.F.

12 10 1954 In the evening Montluçon 03100.

WITNESS. Mr. Laugère, railway employee (deceased).

OBSERVATION. a) A torpedo-shaped craft on the ground.

b) A being covered with hair or wearing a furry coat. A light that disappears vertically in the sky.

EVENTS. While making an inspection tour of the Montluçon station, the witness discovered a torpedo-shaped craft 4 to 5 meters long posed above a railcar diesel tank. A small being is nearby, he speaks to Mr. Laugère in an incomprehensible language. The latter, panicked, starts to flee, calling his work comrades. At about 100 meters, looking back, he can see the craft disappearing in the sky, vertically.

IN REALITY. These were a few railway workers who had decided to play a good trick on an overly gullible colleague. One of them had dressed in an old "goat skin" and while growling had waved a lamp in front of M. Laugère, while he was fleeing, another railwayman fired a fireworks rocket in the air to simulate the departure of a UFO.

SOURCES. Vallée catalog, case n ° 221. - Info-0VNI *Le Lapin et le Renard", by the 03100 group. - Paris Presse, Liberation for 10/15/1954.

(Michel Figuet, OVNI: Le premier dossier complet des rencontres rapprochées en France., Alain Lefeuvre 1979, p 668-669)

In 1997, Jean Sider, although very eager to refute Barthel and Brucker, seemed compelled to abandon the Martian of Montluçon to his sad fate.

Finally, 60 years after the affair, Julien Gonzalez also admits the mystification.

Montluçon, Allier, October 12, 1954, in the evening.

The anecdote: Mr. Laugère, employee of the Montluçon station, quits his job and crosses the tracks near the SNCF bridge when he sees a craft in the shape of a metal torpedo 3 to 4 meters long placed at a short distance from a diesel tank, intended for supplying railcars. Next to the device is a man covered in hair, unless he is wearing a somewhat long-haired coat. The witness, surprised. ask him what he's doing. The stranger answers him in an incomprehensible language. M. Laugère did not ask him for more and fled. At about 100 meters, looking back, he can see the craft disappearing vertically in the sky.

Sources: Sources: Centre-Matin, October 14, 1954; Michel Carrouges, Les apparitions de Martiens, page 108.

The reality: These were a few railway workers who had decided to play a good trick on an overly gullible colleague. One of them had dressed in a "goat skin" and while growling had waved a lamp in front of Mr. Laugère. When the latter had fled, another railway worker had fired a fireworks rocket to make it appear as if a spacecraft had left.

Source: INFO-OVNI, special issue "Catalogue des atterrissages en Auvergne (counter-investigation by Mr. Jean Giraud).

(Julien Gonzalez, RR3 - Le Dossier des Rencontres du Troisième Type en France, Le Temps Présent, 2014, pp 436-437)

One could therefore think that the case has been closed since 1975: there has never been a hairy Martian in Montluçon, and yet Patrick Gross identifies at least eight sources continuing to quote the legend, after its refutation.