The 1954 French flap:

MM. REPELLINI ET OTTAVIANI INTERROGATED YESTERDAY

"Yes, we really saw an
unknown craft

Which is sketched here ->

landed between Toulon and Hyères"

claim the two residents of Toulon
who however reused to sign
their statements
to "avoid problems"

S.N.E.C.M.A. REVEALS THE EXISTENCE OF A FRENCH
MACHINE CALLED "COLEOP-
TERE" WHICH TAKES OFF VERTICALLY

MISTERS PIERRE REPELLINI AND OTTAVIONI WHO SAW THURSDAY EVENING AT
06:40 P.M. ON the LONG WAY BETWEEN HYERES AND TOULON
AN UNKNOWN AERIAL MACHINE HAD A
BUSY DAY YESTERDAY

Police officers and journalists indeed badgered them, asking for sketches and details on this "flying saucer" and its occupant met by chance.

After having been interrogated in the morning and after midday by the services of the Air Safety and the Renseignements Généraux [Intelligence], Misters Repellini and Ottaviani remained on their positions and only repeated the statements which they made yesterday with exclusiveness to our newspaper.

"Yes, we really saw a mysterious machine!"

Yes, Repellini spoke with the passenger of this machine. It was a man like us and not a Martian. He spoke and we even noticed that it had a "pointed" accent. [Note 1.]

Sketches which would rather be kept secret?

To check their statements, the two witnesses provided to Renseignements Généraux [Intelligence] a detailed plan of the machine. This plan was drawn by Mr. Ottaviani who, as engineer officer, claims he has been able to notice the characteristics of the apparatus.

"It was, told us MM Repellini and Ottaviani, a circular machine landed on two crutches. It really seems that it raised off the ground by a push upwards. Arrived at about fifty meters height, the extreme part of the machine started to rotate, releasing an orange vapor. In a few moments, the apparatus had disappeared, dazzling at a tremendous pace in direction of Hyères.

Follow-up on page 5:
UNKNOWN CRAFT

[Caption:] Here the sketch of the machine which Mr. Ottaviani, officer of the Commercial Navy, drew for our readers, unquestionably its shape is similar to that of a large spider. Is this the "Coleopter" [Note 2.] which takes off vertically and which existence has just been revealed officially.

Investigation on the saucer
discovered near Hyères
by two inhabitants of Toulon

The men, interrogated
by the Air Police
refused to sign
their statements

[Caption:] The recreation of the scene
The helmeted "saucerist" dressed with glass steps towards MM. OTTAVIANI and REPELLINI:
"'tis French".

[Caption:] M. OTTAVIANI in thoroughly drawing the plan of the saucer.

Marignane, October 16
The observatory of Mount Ventoux announces that since this morning at 07:30 A:M: in the north north-eastern sky, in the direction of Orange, an unknown machine hovers in the sky.

This machine with the form of ovoid with two superimposed cones connected by a kind of antenna.

"Flying Things"

HEADING to the COTE d'AZUR

Mysterious landing in a meadow of the Var:

- ARE YOU MARTIAN?

- NO I AM FRENCH

And the saucer flew away (!)

The "flying saucers", the "crypto-saucers", their substitutes, assimilated, etc., become day by day more familiar to the inhabitants of the Alpes-Maritimes. Each commune wants its own. We are still far from the 165! ... But we will probably get there soon. There is no reason for jealousy.

If Prévert repeated his famous prayer "Our Father who are in heaven, stay there, etc." we would not fail to add now "give us our daily flying saucer..."

Enough with the jokes! Let's talk about serious things. Here is the menu of the last days (because there are saucers to content).

First the small bits.

BLAUSASC - Several inhabitants of Blausasc saw yesterday, around 10 a.m., above the village, three luminous discs, very visible...

But, says the reader with a scientific mind, what are these three disks doing in the saucers? Bah! You will see many more... In doubt, we note everything. One does not risk thus to let miss a "truly true" saucer.

Let's change the disc. We lost the ball in Monaco.

Or rather we found it. Monaco now has its flying ball, very bright, with the appearance of "molten metal". It was plumbers who spoke: Mssrs. Henri Palinelli and Dominique Selotti, residing in Monaco, who saw the thing in question on Thursday at 6:07 p.m. exactly, above the place called "Visiaero" (Now that's a viewing spot!)

Here are some details: the colors were bright, like a fireworks' flare... The sphere was heading horizontally towards Italy. We only saw it for a few seconds.

Finally, one of the witnesses said: "Before I saw this luminous ball, I have always been a great skeptic" (so great, really?).

REVEST. It is a hunter who saw a luminous machine of about one meter at Revest." Having seen it fall at 60 meters from where he was, he ran to the probable point of fall but could not find any trace.

So, the flying saucers, we repeat to the serious (?) reader: "It's old-fashioned now, we do not say saucer anymore, we come back to the summary and pictorial description, have patience!"

Finally, outside the Alpes-Maritimes, things are done better.

Between Toulon and Hyères, two Toulon motorcyclists met on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. a flying saucer (At last! our reader says).

The craft was posed in a

(Read more on page 7)

meadow near the place known as "Chemin Long". Stunned, the two motorcyclists, Mr. Repellini, restaurant owner, and Mr. Ottaviani, a merchant navy engineer, approached the machine, which had the shape of a disk swelled on top with two crutches put on the ground. It was equipped with two ear-shaped fins on the sides.

One man (the two motorcyclists had the impression that there was another man inside the craft), measuring 1.60 meters, dressed in a gray-white suit made of strange cloth, probably made of asbestos or glass-wool, looked at the two residents of Toulon.

Mr. Repellini questioned him:

- Are you Martian?

The man replied, pointing to the apparatus:

- No I am French.

The unknown questioned in his turn:

- Where am I?

Repellini replied,

- In Provence. Do you want to go to the base of the Palivette?

And the restaurant owner pointed his finger in the direction of Hyeres. But the individual did not seem satisfied. Repellini continued:

"You are here between Toulon and Hyeres."

At these words the mysterious individual nodded his head and walked into the apparatus through the triangular-shaped porthole.

At once the machine, which had not ceased to vibrate, began to vibrate louder. The two Toulonians clearly perceived a sound of steam as before the stop of a locomotive and the apparatus rose from the ground slowly, heavily, vertically, as if it was sucked up. This resembled the flight of a woodcock.

Having reached 50 meters in altitude, the disc stopped for a moment, then resumed its flight at full speed towards Hyères while letting orange gleams escape and making a noise like that of the jet of a percolator.

Mr. Ottaviani had time, during the discussion between the mysterious individual and Mr. Repellini, to make a sketch in profile and elevation of the apparatus. These sketches were shown yesterday to the journalists in front of whom he maintained his statements, as well as he did in front of the naval security and police services.

***

Since the statement of the young José C... who says he saw a flying saucer in Biot, the people who saw the mysterious machine are more and more numerous.

In Antibes, Thursday evening, around 6:30 p.m., the luminous apparatus has been seen from several parts of the city, for example on the side of the Remparts and the National Road. In the surroundings, some people saw "something"; in Juan-les-Pins, on the other hand, we received only two testimonies.

If everyone is unanimous about the hour of the apparition, it must be pointed out that opinions differ about the shape of the thing: flying saucer, cigar, luminous trail, comet. On the other hand, the opinion is the same on the very high speed of the phenomenon.

Of course, everywhere, one talks about the famous flying saucer. Conversations are going on at both the Café de la Poste and the Chasseurs restaurant, on the Place des Arcades, opposite the church and everywhere. There, too, several people saw, Thursday evening, something luminous that crossed the sky very quickly. But one is very skeptical about the landing of the craft on the ground of Biot, especially at the place indicated by the young C..., location on a not-so-wide road between two walls and moreover, just after the hairpin bend.

Two people went by there at 6:30 p.m. that famous evening, and saw nothing, the flying saucer must like the difficulty, since even a helicopter "pou du ciel" would have had great difficulty to land, the ground being overhung by numerous power and telephone wires.

Investigation of the saucer discovered near Hyères by two Toulonians

They, questioned by the air police, refused to sign their declaration

Thus, in a few hours, Toulon and the Var passed from the cigar to the flying saucer. On Thursday at about 6:10 pm, several hundred people saw in our sky one of these machines commonly called "cigars" and on the nature of which one loses oneself in conjectures; on the shape of the mysterious interplanetary vehicle, everyone agrees, it could only be an elongated device, spitting flames from the rear, with portholes along the length.

As if the field of research was not sufficiently wide open to curious people, lovers of mystery, now two are going further: they claim to have seen "a flying saucer" at a time when the skies had just been disturbed by the passage of the "cigar".

But if several hundred witnesses reported to the presence of the first, they are only two to ensure that the "saucer" they saw, the "Martian" to whom they spoke, are facts as real as the Milk is on sale in the creamer and leeks on the cours la Fayette.

[Photo caption] Mr. Ottaviani carefully drawing the blueprint of the saucer.

A happy need

Thus Mr. Rappellini, the owner of a bar at the Place d'Armes and Mr. Ottaviani (nothing to do with the Prefect of the Var), a mechanic of the merchant navy, now declare to anyone who wishes to hear them that they witnessed "an extraordinary fact."

While they wanted to satisfy an urgent need along the road "Chemin Long" (Road of Hyères), the same day at 06:10 p.m., they reportedly saw, in the fields, a curious metallic craft, we are now familiar with, a saucer. A passenger comes down from the machine, starts a conversation, speaks a very pure French, dressed like an ordinary helicopter pilot, and does not know where the Palyvestre is... which he actually did not look for, it is said.

[Caption?] The reconstruction of the scene.

The "saucerian", helmeted and clad in glass, advances towards MM. Ottaviani and Rappellini: "This is French!"

Then, not satisfied with his conversation with our good men, the "Martian", speaking French and almost Provencal, returned to his craft and MM. Ottaviani and Rappellini, no sooner unbuttoned panties, than the saucer, engulfed by the twilight sky, is already a memory. Mr. Rappellini speaking abundantly, behind his counter: "I do not want any publicity."

If the thing is true, this is a good one.

Let's recognize that so far we have been little favored. All the regions of France had had either their saucer or their "Martian". Only our department, the poorest in the country, remained faithful to this poverty in an avant-garde field: that of interplanetary machines.

True or false...

Today we are satisfied. Cigar and saucer. We know what to think of the cigar, it is not the same for the saucer.

Because certain facts remain unexplained: either the witnesses have seen, and then they are sure of themselves, or they have seen nothing and then they must cease this masquerade. For if Mr. Rappellini, whom all his friends consider as a man as honest as brave, was able to examine the saucer at leisure, if he had time to fix the picture deep enough in his memories, the detailed plan that we reproduce in our columns, why does he not want to put his signature at the bottom of his statement to the Air Force officials?

Is he afraid that the affair "turns bad?" In any case, after a declaration conform to that he had made the day before at his counter at the Place d'Armes, he refused to sign his statement. His friend, Mr. Ottaviani, obligingly sketched for us with a compass, a ruler, and on graphic paper, a cut of the machine he certifies to have seen.

We therefore reproduce this sketch with all caution of course. A secret "blue print" (in conformity?) exists, moreover, jealously kept by the two men concerned. Mr. Ottaviani, in addition, was also heard last night by an air security officer.

[Sketch caption] Here is the saucer.

How does it work? The sketch gives a detailed section of the machine, 4 meters in diameter. The crutches supporting it on the ground are more likely to be three in order to ensure greater stability. The man wearing a helmet is clad in glass, descended by a small door which is seen in the center of the apparatus, by means of a short ladder which does not appear on our reconstruction of the machine. Reentering by the same steps, he had to close his door tight and, from the cockpit cupola, start the reactors which carry in a gyratory movement the anoide encircling the center of the saucer which remains motionless.

The force developed by this rotating anoide and by the gases escaping from the lateral nozzles allow the machine to rise vertically at an appreciable speed. In flight, the orientation is done thanks to the two antennas undoubtedly playing a role similar to that of the radars. The dome, although narrow, allows two passengers to stay inside. If the existence of this saucer was definitely established, it would be reasonable to suppose that it was dropped by the giant cigar of which we have spoken at length, and of which we have given a reproduction yesterday. The thing was already seen and photographed by Mr. Adamsky at Mount Palomar in America.

Discrepancies:

The two testimonies do not agree on two points. Mr. Ottaviani claims that the craft was posed on two crutches, whereas Mr. Rappellini denies the existence of these.

As for the real traces, according to Mr. Ottaviani, who claims that the grass is burned where the saucer was, it is non-existent according to Mr. Rappellini. We could not form a real opinion, both of them having refused to take us to the place of landing.

Saucer or hoax?

The investigation opened by the general intelligence of the Air Force, whose representatives heard at length yesterday, the two "saucerists", endeavors to establish whether they are mystifiers or honest witnesses. In this area also the investigation continues. Other witnesses authenticate our investigation of the cigar that overflew Toulon. The "flying cigar" of which we spoke at length yesterday, was seen by others who wrote to us to confirm the statements we have reproduced.

First, it is the inhabitants of Cuers who talked to uus. Then Janine Signonini, aged 12, living in the Barbe district, and her brother, describe: "A luminous form traveled the city around 06:20 p.m. at high altitudes and was traveling at an astonishing speed towards the Gorges of Ollioules ."

Mr. Difar, a retired policeman, also saw "a cigar of fire at a height of 1000 meters, projecting yellow and green sparks to the right and left, heading at high speed towards the Coudon. Five meters over a length of 10 meters."

Mrs. Arnaud, who lives at 1 rue Ste Christine in Mourillon, followed with her eyes a "craft" sailing at high speed from the Port to the North.

"I saw," said Madame Fanny Beasini, 93 Maréchal Joffre bvd, coming from the sea and going towards the Faron, at enormous speed, a long form projecting lights resembling multicolored stars. The population of Toulon and the surrounding area seem justifiably concerned. Sensational events seeming to have marked our time.

Attack on a false Martian

Lille, 16 October. -- Mr. Maurice Ruant, a farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne), was almost the victim of the panic caused by the appearance of saucers and other flying objects. Last night he was busy repairing his car in a meadow near his home, when two shots were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed into the body, not far from his head. Mr. Maurice Ruant filed a complaint, and the inquiry immediately opened, permitted the rapid discovery of the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant. He told the police:

"I thought, seeing a silhouette evolving in the light of the headlights, being in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer, I went to get my rifle and I fired."

Despite his good faith, Mr. Faisan will be prosecuted.

Rene Mante

This is no longer a Marseille story...

New witnesses, worthy of faith, saw the saucer discovered Thursday on the road to Hyères

The mystery that haunts the case now known as the "saucer of Hyères" is not about to be cleared up.

In the first place, indeed, it was permissible to doubt the sight of MM. Rappellini and Ottaviani - or at least their statements insofar as they do not want to sign them - how to refute the new testimonies that manifest themselves?

This is how we gathered the statements of a butcher of Toulon well-known in the place, whose establishment located Rue Lafayette, receives daily customers. This butcher, who insisted on staying anonymous and whose face we voluntarily hide in our photo, was returning from Hyères on Thursday evening, accompanied by a friend, a respectable old man who valiantly supported the weight of the years.

It was 6:40 p.m. and the car of these people swallowed the kilometers of the "Chemin Long" when the two passengers suddenly saw a circular metallic craft that rose above the trees, quickly gaining height.

When the vehicle was stopped and the people of Toulon went down, nothing remained visible in the sky.

Believing to be victims of a hallucination, our friends resumed the road and returned to Toulon. Nothing of their story would have survived had the discovery of MM. Rappellini and Ottaviani not reminded them of their vision.

This is what makes the case bounce back.

In addition, Mr. Elie Gandolphe, a gardener at "Les Avocats" near Hyères, made the following statement:

"When I came out of my house, I saw a craft rising in the sky, making no noise, but at a prodigious speed, it was luminous, of course I could not take any dimension, but I will tell you its shape resembles a mushroom of the variety "cepe".

A surprise

Is he afraid of disclosing a military secret? Or is he caught up in a business that he fears may turn bad? What is certain is that yesterday morning Mr. Rappellini refused energetically to take us to the very spot where his saucer would have landed.

As for Mr. Ottaviani, who had given us an appointment at 10 o'clock, he did not come and remained invisible.

It was therefore necessary to us to go alone on the site which had been described to us the day before. We had no hope of finding any traces of the mysterious landing, when we discovered a freshly burned area covered with clear ashes. As we tried to trace other traces, a real drama occurred. A black front-wheel drive, registered in Paris, stopped nearby. Two "authorities" came down and met us on the spot.

Are other witnesses kept secret?

This visit that we unexpectedly surprised seems to show that the authorities attach some importance to this case. Did they hear other witnesses without our knowledge? Why not? This would seem to give shape to the whole story.

A very handy machine

If the area we have photographed is the area that was burnt by the saucer's reactors, it must be more precise and more flexible than that of our known aircraft, since it can as well land in a little accessible field.

It is indeed very dangerous to land next to a tree if the craft does not obey exactly the order. Was it really a terrestrial apparatus? In this case? The investigation continues. Let them draw the conclusions... if they do.

Will we make war on vegetables?

German scientist Herman Oberth, inventor and manufacturer of the "V.2" rocket said that the "Uranides", name of the inhabitants of a planet where oxygen would not exist in the gaseous state, which prohibits the development of an animal life, would be plants.

The planet in question would be outside the solar system, but mysterious craft in which intelligent "plants" would move could travel at a speed of 300,000 km / sec.

The craft seen above the Earth would be responsible for monitoring the progress of the earth in the atomic sciences. If these vegetable beings decided to attack us we would be forced to make war on the vegetables!

Weird war...

A saucer in the Brusc

Information that we did not verify told us yesterday that a flying saucer had been spotted, in the Brusc.

Indeed, fishermen told yesterday morning, on the harbor, that two of them were certain to have seen one of these craft move in the sky.

We reproduce this information without garantee.

Two saucers, that really does a lot. Unless it is the same, what needs to be demonstrated.

A large burned grass circle mark the place where two residents of Hyères saw a saucer land

Toulon (A.F.P.)

Since fourty-eight hours, two residents of Toulon, Misters Rappelini, bar owner, and Ottaviani, mechanic of the merchant navy, claim to have seen, Thursday evening, a "saucer" land in the district of Chemin-Long, near Hyères and give an absolutely identical description of it.

The Brigade of the Air of the General Intelligence went to Toulon and lengthily heard the two witnesses, who traced a detailed sketch of the mysterious machine.

Yesterday morning, the inspectors of the General Intelligence went on the spot where the two witnesses state to have seen the "saucer" land. They found a large circular trace there where the grass is burned.

Some saucers tours in the... Italian clouds

ROME. -- Various appearances of "cigars" and "flying saucers" were reported, during the day of Saturday, in the sky of various Italian localities.

Near Varese (Milano), several motorists saw a "disc", of blue color, clearly detached on the background of the starry sky, which, after having stopped during a few minutes, resumed its vertiginous race towards the north, disappearing with a "characteristic" whirr. During the night, the "strange luminous object" appeared a second time in the same celestial space.

From Turin, one reports that several workmen of an establishment of the industrial park of Mirafiori saw, in the evening, a "luminous object" in the shape of a cigar, on the background of the sky. The "cigar" remained motionless, in the sky, during one hour, during which, according to the witnesses, it allegedly changed shape and luminosity from time to time. The machine disappeared then, moving vertiginously towards France.

From Messina, one learns that many people living on two banks of the strait separating the peninsula from Sicily saw a "luminous circle", motionless in the sky, at 2.000 meters. The machine, which could be observed during ten minutes, descended quickly towards the sea to take again altitude on three occasions. After these maneuvers the "luminous circle" disappeared at fast pace in direction of the Etna, leaving a luminous trail behind.

The opinion of an Italian scientist

The "Giornale d'Italia" interviewed professor Antonio Eula, holder of the aerodynamics chair at the University of Rome.

This eminent scientist, in connection with the possible source of the machines known as from other planets, in declared in particular: "We do not know all the mysteries of our solar system. Perhaps astronautics, when it can be put into practice, will enable us to solve them. But we know, as of now, that beings similar to us cannot exist on currently known planets. If they exist, they can only be very different. Thus it is absurd to talk of Martians capable of activities of human type".

In answer to another question, professor Eula said he does not believe that he is authorized to exclude, in an absolute manner, that they can be "experimental machines intended for a military use and protected by an impenetrable secrecy".

In conclusion, the professor stated: "If this last assumption corresponds to reality, the moment will come when the secrecy will be revealed, for no secrecy of technical nature can be kept indefinitely."

A "saucer" said to have landed in Hyères

Two witnesses heard by the inspectors of the general Intelligence

TOULON. -- Two residents of Toulon, Misters Rappelini, bar owner, and Ottaviani, mechanic of the merchant navy, claim to have seen, Thursday evening, a saucer land in the district of the Long Chemin, near Hyères, and they give an absolutely identical description of it.

The brigade of the Air of the general Intelligence went to Toulon and lengthily heard the two witnesses, who produced a detailed sketch of the mysterious machine.

Yesterday morning, the inspectors of the general Intelligence went on the spot where the two witnesses state to have seen the saucer land. They found a large circular trace there where the grass is burned.

SAUCERS, CIGARS, ETC.

A "cylinder"
landed on a road
of Seine-Inferieure

Cigar-saucers etc. still populate the skies of France...

Some of these craft would have even, once again, made contact with our land.

While driving through the town of Baillolet on the National Road 314, Mr. Henri Robert, veterinarian in Londinières (S.I.), saw four craft moving on top of each other, about 300 meters high.

Mr. Robert claims that one of them zigzagged in front of his automobile, that he felt a strong electric shock and that the engine of his car stopped.

The vet then saw on the road a strange fugure, about 1.20 meter-tall. The headlights of his car went out; when they reignited, a cylinder about three meters long took off from the embankment and headed north.

Mr. Robert told the gendarmes of Londinières about his adventure.

Two residents of Toulon, MM. Repellini and Ottaviani claimed to have seen, Thursday evening, a saucer land in the Chemin long district near Hyères.

The general intelligence air brigade went to Toulon and heard the two witnesses at length, they drew a detailed sketch of the mysterious craft.

The inspectors then went to the place where the two witnesses said they saw the saucer land. They noted a large circular trace where the grass is burnt.

A cultivator
shot a "fake Martian"

Mr. Maurice Ruant, farmer in Sinceny, near Chauny (Aisne) almost fell victim to the panic caused to some by the appearance of saucers or other flying objects. Saturday night, he was busy troubleshooting his car, in a meadow near his home, when two shotgun shots were fired in his direction. The pellets crashed into the body of the vehicle, not far from his head.

Mr. Maurice Ruant filed a complaint and the investigation immediately opened made it possible to quickly find the author of the two shots, who was a neighbor of Mr. Ruant, Mr. Faisan.

The latter told the police:

"I thought, seeing a figure moving in the light of two headlights, to be in the presence of a Martian repairing his flying saucer. I went to get my rifle and fired."

Written question about
the "saucers"

Following numerous appearances of flying objects of unknown type, currently reported in all regions of France, Mr. René Dejean, deputy of Ariège (socialist) addressed to the President of the Council a written question asking him in particular:

"Whether or not a service has been created to collect the existing documentation on this matter and to study the nature and origin of the said devices.

- If the information currently collected and gathered makes it possible to absolutely exclude the hypothesis of devices piloted or controlled by living beings of unknown species and origin.

- If the government has, on the contrary, sufficient information to attribute the production of these machines to the industry of a foreign State.

- If, in the latter case, the international agreements signed by France have already allowed consultations on the use of such devices in a possible conflict."

A VETERINARY,
EMPLOYEES
of the Orly Airport
CLAIM TO HAVE SEEN
"SAUCERS"

Toulon, Oct. 18

SINCE 48 hours, two Toulon residents, MM. Rappelien [sic], bar keeper, and Ottaviani, mechanic of the merchant marine claim to have seen Thursday a saucer landing in the district of Chemin Long, near Hyères, and give an absolutely identical description.

The air force general intelligence went to Toulon and heard at length the two witnesses who drew a long detailed sketch of the mysterious apparatus.

This morning, the general information inspectors went to the place where the two witnesses stated that they saw the saucer land, they noted there a large circular trace where the grass is burned.

***

Dieppe, Oct 17.

At nightfall, while driving through the town of Baillolet, on R.N. 311, Mr. Henri Robert, doctor-veterinarian in Londinières, saw four craft which were flying one above the other, at around 300 meters of height. Robert says that one of them came to zigzag in front of his car, that he felt a strong electric shock, and that the engine of his car stopped. The veterinarian then saw on the road a strange figure, about one meter tall. The headlights of his car went out, when they went on again a cylinder about three meters long took off from the roadsaide and headed north.

Mr. Robert told his story to the gendarmes of Londinières.

***

Paris, Oct. 17

Two employees at Orly Airport, MM. Raymond Castel and Charles Sirest told the air police that they saw, on the night from Saturday to Sunday, around 9:30 p.m. a flying saucer cross the sky of Orly from east to the west, "at the speed of a jet plane."

Reached above the town of Paray-Vieille-Poste, that is to say on the edge of the West-East runway, the mysterious craft, which, according to witnesses, was traveling at an altitude of 300 meters, stopped for ten seconds, spinning on itself and emitting rays which were intensely reflected on the ground.

FLYING SAUCERS

A veterinarian meets a "Martian"

Dieppe, 18. -- At nightfall, while driving through the town of Baillolet, by car, on the R. N. 316, Mr. Henri Robert, doctor-veterinarian in Londinières, saw four craft which were flying one above the other, at around [???] meters of altitude. Mr. Robert said that one of them came to his car, that he felt a strong electric shock, and that the engine of his car stopped.

The veterinarian then saw on the road, a strange figure, about four feet tall. The headlights of his car went out. When they re-ignited, a cylinder, about three meters long, took off from the roadside and headed north.

Mr. Robert told his story to the gendarmes of Londinières.

Chatellerault, 18. - Saturday evening, around 8:30 p.m., three firefighters, Captain Huguet, Lieutenant Doussineau and Warrant Officer Berreau, saw moving in the sky, towards the castle of Targe, a large disc projecting sparks, and followed by a very long luminous trail. They stopped their car. The disc, they say, passed over them and they heard a hissing sound.

The grass is burnt...

Toulon, 18. -- Two Toulon residents, Mr. Rappelini, bar owner, and Ottaviani, mechanic of the Merchant Marine, claim to have seen a saucer on Thursday evening landing in the Chemin Long district, near Hyères, and give an absolutely identical description of it.

The General Intelligence Air Brigade went to Toulon and heard at length from the two witnesses, who drew a detailed sketch of the mysterious craft.

Sunday morning, the General Intelligence inspectors went to the place where the two witnesses said they had seen the saucer land. They found there a large circular trace where the grass is burned.

In the sky of Orly

Paris, 18. -- Two employees from Orly airport, MM. Raymond Castelle and Charles Sirest, told the air police that they had seen, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, around 9:30 p.m., a flying saucer cross the sky of Orly from east to west, fast "like a jet plane". When above the commune of Paray-Vieille-Poste, that is to say along the west-east runway, the mysterious craft which, according to witnesses, was moving at an altitude of 300 meters, immobilized for ten seconds by turning on itself and emitting rays which were intensely reflected on the ground.

THE OPINION OF AN ITALIAN SCIENTIST
ON THE
"FLYING SAUCERS"

Rome, 17. -- Many Italians having observed "disks", "saucers", "cigars" etc... flying in the sky of the peninsula, the "Giornale d'Italia" interviewed professor Antonio Eula, Chair of Aerodynamics, at the University of Rome.

This eminent scientist about the possible origin of the so-called spacecraft of other planets, said in particular: "We do not fully know the mysteries of our solar system. Astronautics, when it can be put in practice, will perhaps allow us to penetrate them. But we know from now on that beings similar to us cannot exist on the planets currently known. If there are, they can only be profoundly different. So is it absurd to speak of Martians capable of human activity."

In response to another question, Professor Eula said he did not believe he was authorized to exclude, in an absolute manner, that it could be "experimental devices intended for military use, and protected by an impenetrable secrecy." In conclusion, the professor said: "If this last hypothesis corresponds to reality, the time will come when their secret will be revealed, because no secret of a technical nature can be preserved indefinitely."

To excuse his delay, a roadmender invents a saucer story

Dijon, 18. -- Ten days ago, Mr. André Narcy, 47, a roadworker in Mertrud, arrived at work breathless: "I saw a flying saucer", he affirmed. And he gave a lot of details: an orange colored object posed in a field, a small being dressed in a fur coat. A nice vertical start of the mysterious craft. With two of his comrades, MM. Riel and Henry, he went back there. All three declare that in fact the dew had dried on some surface, that the grass had taken "a slightly milky hue", that one saw traces of "round feet", etc...

In short, questioned again by the gendarmerie, Mr. Narcy did admit that he had put together this story from scratch to excuse his late arrival at work.

"Don't shoot the Martians...!"

ASKS A GERMAN THEOLOGIAN

A German theologian, Professor Philippe Dessauer, invites us, in the Catholic magazine "Wort und Warheit", not to shoot the pilots of flying saucers if we happen to meet them.

The warning is timely. Saturday, a farmer from the Aisne, in a car failure on the road, suffered two shots: seeing car headlights a villager had mistaken it for a flying saucer and the driver for a Martian. He had a hunting rifle and he fired...

The saucers continue to move. Two residents of Toulon claim that they saw, near Hyères, a mysterious craft of which they drew a sketch. General Intelligence inspectors went to the landing site and noticed a circumference inside which the grass was burned.

Covered in brown hair

Two employees at the Orly airport, MM. Raymond Castelle and Charles Sirets, told the Air Police that they had seen on the night from Saturday to Sunday, around 9:30 p.m., a flying saucer crossing the Orly sky from east to west, "like a jet plane". Arriving above the town of Paray-Vieille-Poste, that is to say on the edge of the west-east runway, the mysterious craft, which, according to witnesses, was moving at an altitude of 300 meters, immobilized for about ten seconds by turning on itself and emitting rays which were intensely reflected on the ground.

Our collaborator Paul Gérin saw the same phenomenon, at the same time, in Moret-sur-Loing, 40 kilometers south of Orly. It was, he tells us, a vulgar "shooting star" of exceptional brightness, which crossed the sky from east to west, at an apparently considerable height, and which disappeared on the horizon.

This rare, but not unprecedented phenomenon lasted a few seconds, it must have been seen throughout the Paris region.

As for the Martians, three have been reported for forty-eight hours. Two women claim that they met one in the Seine-et-Marne; but according to their description (it was covered with brown hair), it is not impossible that it is a common orangutan escaped from a zoo. A Seine-Inférieure veterinarian, Mr. Robert says he saw another one near Dieppe.

Hallucinations or realities?

New saucers seen in the sky of the Var

At the Brusc, in La Londe, in Mar-Vivo etc...

Should we laugh or worry? Should the most improbable hypotheses be considered in order to explain a phenomenon whose manifestations are certain, or should we simply jokingly recall all these so-called observations which have been pointing out for several days, and in all the azimuths, of flying saucers in our sky?

Clever, is the one who will settle the dilemma, if it can be resolved. Until last Thursday, indeed, cigars and saucers and other interplanetary vehicles had appeared only in regions far removed from ours. The Var and Toulon residents were astonished, then laughed at the peasants, who after having met a flying saucer to be finally paralyzed by a mysterious ray defending better than the most intractable guard the surroundings of a certain craft from somewhere else. And then, there were MM. Rappellini and Ottaviani, two well-known Toulonians, two sensible people, balanced and always considered as such, and their discovery on the evening of October 14th. A discovery that would throw emotion from St-Cyr to St-Tropez and Draguignan, fuel conversations in the workshop, office or school, make sensitive people shudder, disturb the healthiest minds.

Fugitive vision

Let us remember: coming back from Hyères on a motorcycle, these gentlemen stopped their machine to satisfy an urgent need while they were on the "Chemin Long", facing the radio station of the Navy. In order to conceal the sight, the two men walked a few steps towards the interior of the land and were face to face with a peculiar character, helmed like a motorcyclist but otherwise mounted.

A "flying saucer" is there, set on the ground, vibrating with a frightful power. A few words are exchanged with the astronaut speaking a very pure French. Then, under the stupefied looks of our fellow citizens, the passenger returns to his machine, closes the panel, accelerates the reactors. The perfectly circular "saucer" rises little by little, then suddenly goes in a frightening acceleration towards the east.

MM. Rappellini and Ottaviani rub their eyes to see if they have not dreamed.

But others too ...

The story might sound comical if the testimony of these people was not corroborated by a series of statements which, daily since then, are added to their assertions. Declaration by people as diverse as reliable, including traders, a retired policeman, fishermen etc...

It is this inhabitant of La Moutonne, near La Crau, who, like this butcher from Lafayette street in Toulon, saw the mysterious machine at the time when, flying over the trees, it took altitude. It is these brave men of our own who, now feeling the sky with understanding, clinging to an object of such a characteristic shape, brilliant or not, colored or not, spitting flames or not. So much so that the "flying saucer" of the "Long Chemin" must be regarded as a sure fact, regardless of our repulsion at such an obligation.

And yet ...

From La Londe to Mar-Vivo...

As if one saucer was not enough, others appeared at very different places, imposing on the azure of the celestial vault the enigma of their presence. Miss Michelle Volosinsky, who lives in Cordouan, in the Faveyrolles district of Ollioules, certifies to have noticed and observed on Friday evening between 07:30 and 7:40 p.m., when she was returning home, an extremely brilliant disc, motionless in the sky. After a few seconds, the disc started in a blazing way leaving a bright orange trail, absorbed by the night. It cannot in such a case be a shooting star or any meteorite since the disc was observed motionless...

That same Friday at 06:30 p.m., Mr. Victor Verse Junior was about to go home, when suddenly he was silented in awe when he saw passing over his head a "something" strange and luminous with a wake of lights. Believing he had an optical hallucination, he did not say a word. But the next day, his father-in-law, Mr. Eugene Martin, said he had seen the same phenomenon the previous day at about the same hour, over Notre Dame des Maures, 4 km from La Londe.

And that's not all:

Miss D... of the Anguille district, about 6 km from La Londe, on the same day around 6 p.m., was also drawing water from the family well, when she suddenly saw a luminous machine of spherical shape, yellowish, with violet phosphorescent tail, describe a parabola with probable landing site between the Aiguille and the Comtabou (rocks one of which is cut in two and where shepherds used to pass the sheep one by one to count them ) two peaks of the Moors. From La Londe we jump to Mar-Vivo where Sunday evening, also around 07:30 p.m., a resident assures to have recognized - the term is valid - a saucer. He was able to observe the craft for a good quarter of an hour, then the ship flew off towards Bandol like a normal plane.

Hallucinations or realities?

Thus, that same evening, Madame Laporte, mechanic at Le Brusc, accompanied by her daughter-in-law, had just come out into the garden of her villa, when a strange, very bright disc with red shades attracted their attention. The object was above the Chapel of Notre-Dame du Mai, motionless. A pair of binoculars was found and observation could be continued. Shortly thereafter, the machine moved into the sky for very long minutes, then disappeared. What about all this?

Must we believe in a collective hallucination? That would be too easy. Must we conclude that there are actual machines from other planets? This is daring. But then? The problem remains, with the phenomenon. It is certain that the celestial space is nowadays violated by machines of revolutionary design driven by an energy that escapes us. Theories have been advanced, announced, the one more audacious, more reckless, more crazy than the others. The saucers jealously guard their secret.

Parliamentarians begin to be moved

Foix, October 18. -- Following a number of appearances of flying craft of unknown type currently reported in all regions of France, Mr. René Dejean, MP of the Ariège (Socialist) sent a written question to the President of the Council, including:

"Whether or not a department has been set up to collect the existing documentation on the subject and to study the nature and origin of the said devices. If the information currently available, collected and recorded, allow to totally eliminate the hypothesis of machines driven or controlled by living beings, of species and origin unknown.

Wether the government has, on the contrary, enough information to attribute the production of these devices to the industry of a foreign state. If, in the latter case, the international agreements signed by France have already allowed the use of such devices in a possible conflict." Will we soon see a "saucer" committee...

WHILE THE INVESTIGATION CONTINUES ON THE 'DISCOVERY' OF HYERES

German engineer Von Zborowski made new revelations:

THE "FLYING TUBE" (built by SNECMA) can reach 2,500 kms per hour

Interpellation of a deputy of Ariège about the unknown craft reported in the sky of France

If new testimonies, especially those of Messrs. Laure, butcher, cours Lafayette, and Elie Gandolfe, gardener, near Hyères, seem to confirm the stories of MM. Repellini and Ottaviani, the interpretation of this case given by some newspapers is full of imagination.

Thus, one of these newspapers (La République, not to cite it), gives - textually - the following explanation:

"German scientist Hermann Oberth, inventor and builder of the "V-2" rocket said that the "Uranides", name of the inhabitants of a planet where oxygen would not exist in the gaseous state, which prohibits the development of an animal life, would be plants.

The planet in question would be outside the solar system, but the mysterious craft in which the intelligent "plants" would move would move at a speed of 300,000 km per second.

The devices seen above the earth would be in charge to supervising the progress of the earth in the atomic sciences.

If these plant beings decided to attack us we would be forced to make war on vegetables!"

Thus according to "La République" the Hyères engine came from an unknown planet and its pilots would be "Uranides". i.e.

Continued on page 5:
THE MYSTERIOUS GEAR

green vegetables, the family of leeks, carrots or turnips.

Rational Explanations

It belongs to the Air Force and the General Intelligence which is conducting the investigation, to tell whether Messrs. Repellini and Ottaviani told, yes or no, the truth.

But in one case as in the other this will not change the exitising issue.

Is there a new model of aeronautical aircraft half-planes, half-helicopter whose tests in the sky of France would have provoked in the public this epidemic of "sauceritis"?

A German engineer working in the factories of the S.N.E.C.M.A. just made new revelations on this matter.

During an international air navigation congress held in Duisburg (Western Germany), engineer Von Zborowski revealed the characteristics of a new type of aircraft created by the S.N.E.C.M.A.

This aircraft, called a "flying pipe", would have the advantages of the helicopter, but it could reach 2,500 km per hour, would not have wings, but only a fuselage comprising a cockpit and propulsion devices.

But its characteristics were refused to the French press, they are considered to be secret.

Admitting that engineer Zborowski had revealed only the above, there would already be something inadmissible. But one can easily imagine that this German engineer who had access to our secret services was more precise in front of the experts of his country, to whom he was speaking.

Questions at the House

The tests of these new machines would explain that almost everywhere in France the appearances of "balls of fire", "flying cigars" and other saucers are reported.

Moreover, as a result of these multiplied apparitions, Mr. René Dejean, deputy of the Ariège, had just sent the President of the Council a written question, asking him,

- "Whether or not a service has been set up to collect the documentation available to date and to study the origin of such devices.

- "If the information currently gathered makes it possible to absolutely exclude the hypothesis of vehicles piloted or guided by living beings of unknown species and origin.

- "If the government has, on the contrary, sufficient information to attribute the production of these machines to the industry of a foreign state.

- "If, in the latter case, the international agreements signed by France already permitted consultations on the use of such devices in a possible conflict."

Thus the affair takes on a more serious character and one starts to say that these "saucers" could in fact be machines of a new type and terrestrial indeed.

"STEALING" SAUCERS

Sunday morning, a man came to the wine trade owned by Mr. and Mrs. Navelo on alliance way with a Toulon newspaper in hand.

- You see, he said, pointing to the newspaper, I am Mr. Ottaviani who discovered the saucer.

Immediately, he added:

- We're going to celebrate this, so you will prepare for me seven bottles of sparkling wine and five bottles of white wine, that you will deliver at my home, 13 Boulevard Bauchière. Meanwhile I take a bottle of rum and a bottle of pastis, I will pay you all this at home.

It is by realizing that the numer 13 does not exist on Bauchière boulevard, that the mearchants understood that this individual, whose identity is unknown, had robbed them...

In Hyères, the Navy has a nose in the air

In the last hour, we are informed that the radio station of the Navy, located "Chemin Long" in Hyères, would have created a great night in charge of scrutinizing the night sky, in order to monitor the possible appearances of saucers or flying cigars.

Would the official services have more conclusive reports than those of Ottaviani and Rappellini?

Mystery - Administrative secret.

Joe Slugg, From Mars

A difficulty about flying saucers is that they have not been sufficiently down to earth. Now, however, there are signs that the Space King - or the ruling committe on the Soviet post-Stalin model - has given the order for "close contact" work to supersede the reconnoitring of our planet from high altitudes.

In other words, we can expecct the "Meet you under the post-office clock" sort of thing - that's if the post office has a clock. Anyway, two French motor cyclists found a flying saucer parked in the middle of a road near Toulon the other night, and had a short conversation with the captain before he re-enetered the machine through a triangular opening, took off vertically, and left an orange glow in his wake as he disappeared at great speed.

At first sight it may seem odd that the police denied that he was a Martian, did not know where he was, and spoke French instead of saying "Let's get to hell out of here." Was this machine really a "circular object," or merely the local concrete mixer with the village baker, upliflet by thoughts of Paris and the Folies Bergeres, was using as a flying bedstead? Inbelievers would have us believe that only men in their cups could see a saucer.

It would not need a Royal commission to establish the probability that an intelligence agent from another planet would deny his true identitiy on his first visit. When Colonel Lindbergh landed after his famous flight across the Atlantic 27 years ago he said to the cheering crowd: "I am Charles Lindbergh, from Michigan." In these less friendly times we must not expect a man n a flying saucer to say: "I am Joe Slugg, from Mars." As for speaking French, what intelligent visitor from another world, wanting to get a quick, precise idea of this one, would equip himself with any other language? If those qho constantly ridicule the flying saucer ever find one on their front lawn they will have got what was coming to them.

Toulon

Saucer of a futuristic style comprising a cupola with metallic pads and crutches. A Martian, having the Parisian aspect, came out of it. Sighted by an officer and the owner of the Bar des Pétanqueurs.

[Sketch caption:] Ottaviani had even drawn up a precise blueprint of his "saucer". Serious work with dimensions: 4 m. of diameter, 1 m. 50 high.

FOR OTTAVIANI
It was the butter saucer!

TOULON. -- Raymond Ottaviani, merchant navy officer, is the ingenious inventor of a new kind of scam: "the flying saucer swindle". Of course, he had seen one! For 8 days its existence was not in doubt. He gave such details: "It was on 3 crutches in the field near Hyères". Etc. And delighted dupes, crediting his account, the fruit of an imagination as picturesque as abundant in precision, immediately gave him credit for good bottles. Ottaviani, after having known ephemeral glory, is no longer pursued by a Martian ... but for food scam, in correctional court.

[Photo caption:] Compass in hand, Ottaviani dreams good wine and not saucers!

Elsewhere in France, French-speaking saucermen were reported. Two witnesses, M. Rappellini, a restaurant proprietor and a companion, M. Ottoviani, a mearchant navy engineer, insisted in the truth of their report of seeing a man stepping from a saucer and the short conversation which ensued. "Are you a Martian?" M. Rappellini asked. "No, French," the man, who was dressed in overalls, replied.

First of all, we should exclude the Carcassonne case and the Chemin-Long case, on which we have at present vera little information.

36. Encounter at Hyeres (Var ), October 15, by Raymond Ottaviani and Pierre Repellini: Toulon Le Petit Varois-La Marseillaise, October 17 and 18; Glasgow Daily Record, October 18; London Daily Telegraph, October 18; Radar Magazine, October 31. (Note: there is reason to view this report as suspect.)

54-75 Oct. 15, 1954 Hyeres-Toulon, France Type B

Jean Reppelini and Raymond Ottaviani were motorcycling between Toulon and Hyeres when a flying saucer landed on stick-like legs; it was discoidal with a cupola, and with 2 protrusions like ears. Out stepped a man in glowing gray coveralls. O. asked: "Are you a Martian?" "No, I'm French" was the reply. "Where am I?" On being told, he reentered the craft and ascended vertically.

Investigator: In Radar (Paris), 10/3l/54, the story is spoken of as a hoax by Ottaviani. Both Miohel and Vallee omit the case.

Source: London Daily Telegraph, 10/l8/54

10/15/54 bezween Hyères and Toulon

the witnesses were convicted of their hoax.
Mr. Ottaviani was prosecuted in correctional (eating without paying).

70 - October 14, 6:30 p.m., Hyères/Toulon, Var.

MM. Repellini and Ottaviani.

CE3 #65. Landing with a trace on the ground: a circle of scorched grass three meters in diameter was located by the police. (D.O. 58 and 59).

Local source: Le Petit-Varois-La Marseillaise, Toulon, October 18, 1954, p. 1 and 4.

Note: This source, not cited in chapter 6, gives important information: Mr. Repellini told the reporter who came to question him in his bar: "All my statements are true (... ) but it caused me so much trouble that in the future, if I saw a squadron of similar apparatuses, I would be careful not to say a single word about it."

Hassle, mockery, pressure, defamation, are the usual lot of witnesses to this type of observation. Elements that are ignored by the "socio-psychos"...

1954, October 17

France, between Hyères and Toulon

The stories told in the newspapers are often pure fantasy. Thus this one from the Reuters agency: Two motorcyclists near Toulon suddenly saw a flying saucer parked in the middle of the road. Mariro [sic] Rapellini and Pierre Ottoviani explained that while approaching slowly the saucer which was posed only on 2 feet, a man of medium size dressed in a gray jumpsuit came out of it. They began a courteous conversation in French, and the occupant assured them that he was not Martian but French. He asked the way and after having this information he entered his saucer which flew away with a great noise. ("Ufo's: a Century of Sightings" by Michael David Hall, Galde Press inc. 1999, p. 231)

4128: 1954/10/14 21:00 5 6:03:00 E 43:08:00 N 3331 WEU FRN VAR B:5

TOULON><HYERES,VAR:MAN EXITS SCR:OBS ASKS "MARTIAN?":ANSWER="NO,FRENCH":/r171

Ref#217 Jean SIDER: Le DOSSIER 1954 (2 vol.) Page No. 199 : COASTLANDS

166.

Location. Hyeres-Toulon France

Date: October 15 1954

Time: unknown

Jean Reppelline and Raymond Ottaviani were motorcycling between Toulon and Hyeres when a flying saucer landed on stick like legs; it was discoid with a cupola, and with 2 protrusions like ears. Out stepped a man in glowing gray coveralls. Ottaviani asked; "Are you a Martian?" "No, I'm French" was the reply. "Where am I?" On being told, he re-entered the craft and ascended vertically.

Humcat 1954-98

Source: Humcat quoting Newspaper source

Type: B

Location: Hyeres-Toulon France

Date: October 15 1954

Time: unknown

Jean Reppelline and Raymond Ottaviani were motorcycling between Toulon and Hyeres when a flying saucer landed on stick like legs; it was discoidal with a cupola, and with 2 protrusions like ears. Out stepped a man in glowing gray coveralls. Ottaviani asked; “Are you a Martian?” “No, I’m French” was the reply. “Where am I?” On being told, he re-entered the craft and ascended vertically.

Source: Humcat quoting Newspaper source

October 15 1954. 1830hrs.

HYERES (VAR : FRANCE)

Toulon bar owner Mr Repellini and his friend, merchant navy officer Mr Ottaviani were driving between Toulon and Hyeres when at a place called Chemin Long when they saw a strange metallic looking disc shaped object by the side of the road. The got out for a better look and from a triangular opening a man about 1.6m tall dressed in a grey-whiter suite made of a material resembling asbestos got out. Asked if he was a Martian, the stranger said that he was French and asked where he was. Told he was near Hyeres the stranger re-entered the object rose making a sound like stream or compressed air up to 50m and then headed off to Hyeres emitting orange lights and a sound like a coffee percolator.

• P Gross [*] citing Sider 1997 p200 citing various press sources

Evaluation [**] - Different sources give different times, various first names of the witnesses etc. It is probably a hoax (the conclusion of Michel Figuet) or if not, a confused description of a helicopter and its pilot.