The 1954 French flap:

The Courier of the Somme

On the road from Ligescourt to Vron

Two young men say they saw a "flying saucer"

who took back the way of the sky 70 meters from them

On all sides the "saucers" and "cigars" continue to furrow the sky, People of good faith have seen them everywhere. The case becomes serious and the most skeptical of yesterday are now wondering if there is not something fishy.

And now, for the second time, a flying saucer appeared in the district of Abbeville. Two young people from Vron saw a flying saucer on the road.

The two young men had completed their work on Friday. It was 6:45 p.m. They were driving a bicycle on the paved road that leads from Ligescourt to Vron.

Suddenly, four kilometers from Ligescourt, Devoisin, traveling ahead, saw on the road, 150 meters away, a mass in the middle of the floor with on its left, something moving and he took it, at the time, for an animal.

Always pedaling, he thought of "flying saucers" and alerted his companion: "Look," he said, and he drove aside to free Condette's visual field.

Condette also saw, the saucer that flew away. Both were then about 70 meters from the amazing machine!

"I dreamed all night!"

That's what we have first learned from the two young men. Both are categorical. They did not seem to be pranksters or specialists in dirty tricks. Others have told us. We have seen this. And the two young men who were called on the construction site came to us cap in hand to tell us, barely recovered from their emotion of the day before: "Yes sir, it's true, we saw a saucer..."

In our business we see many men. We are used to hearing, understanding, judging. I swear I think these two young were not lying, or else, if there is no saucer, there is a supernatural phenomenon they are not the only victims of.

Devoisin who pedaled in front, saw a man.

- How was he, that man?

- I first thought it was a kid, then an animal... You see, when riding, without expecting it... One do not realize right away...

- He was tall, short, dressed like what?

- At a hundred meters, I realized it was a human being. You would have thought it was a diver and I think, without being able to say, because everything happened so quickly, it could have had a mask.

- A local guy who would not want to be recognized... But let's be serious... And what color were his clothes?

- I do not know... at the time, it made me feel funny... I did not see him for long because he bypassed his craft; which left immediately...

- You did not see if the door was open?

- No, because when we arrived, he went behind his "saucer"... All this happened in the time to ride barely a hundred meters by bike...

- And the saucer, how was it?

- In the form of a beehive, with a peaked roof ...

- Big?

Both say it could have been two meters high and it occupied nearly the width of the road. About three meters.

- What color was it, this saucer?

- Orange!

Both assert this...

---

In Beauchamp, it's been reported that flying saucers were seen, moving like a red disc above the forest of Eu.

In addition, an industrial Vimeu, back from a hunting trip in the Pas-de-Calais, also saw an "orange disc", that he was able to follow it for some time over the wood of Auxi-le-Château.

---

Devoisin and Condette then agree that the "saucer" was shaped like a beehive, or a haystack.

- But how did it took off, this "beehive-saucer-haystack"?

- It fled without noise... It first turned like a spinning top... Then shot straight up... At a speed of 40-45 kilometers per hour...

- What direction?

- It went to a beets field - which are high at the time - headed for the wood of the "Logis Vert" between Vron and Vironchaux...

- It went quickly, says Condette. It went into the slums and Devoisin was immediately climbed on a pylon supporting electrical wires to see it better.

- Yes, says Devoisin, it shaved the beets horizontally, as if she was going to mow the greens, and then it disappeared into the woods without a sound... But... It's amazing...

- You were not afraid? Did you not fall from the pylon?

- No, but I had never seen that...

- Did you sleep well that night anyway?

Condette said "yes". But Devoisin says he had "dreamed". And his grandfather, to with whom he spends the night, found the next day his bed all over, the sheets all upside down.

Serious young people

We let the young people go to work. Not a single second, they gave the impression of a smile and, frankly, to make fun of the world.

We went to Vron. Following the same path as the two workers the day before. Needless to say, we found no trace of the saucer.

In the country of the two "witnesses to the saucer," we went to greet the sympathetic teacher to complement our investigation, he said "they could not be bluffers, the two young men he had had in his classroom were unable to engage in such fancies..."

A mechanic told us: "I saw them coming back ... They were as pale as linen..."

Curious, we answered back that they told us not having been afraid...

- Let them say that! Today! But at the time... Devoisin looked indescribable... He looked like he was going to have seizures...

In this investigation, we would not distort anything. And we also met the parents who live on the hillside leading to Abbeville.

- How were they, your children, when they came back?

Here we are told that one was "really upset" there, that the other sat down with nothing to say...

They were both pale and their story, perhaps implausible to some, had a real content for those who know them and who saw or heard them after they were back to Vron at full speed...

Anyway, the sky of the district of Abbeville - we said that yesterday to the Deputy Prefect - seems to enjoy a curious and phenomenal privilege...

Albert ENDERLIN

FLYING SAUCERS
ALWAYS numerous

An inhabitant of the Méru region reportedly
glimpsed characters from another world

News about "flying saucers" continues to flow with disconcerting regularity, both in our region and in the rest of France. In the first case, it is at the limits of the departments of Somme and Oise, between Vironchaux and Vron (Somme) that two farmers, MM. Condette and Devoisin, said they saw last Friday around 6:45 p.m., an "orange-colored craft in the shape of a beehive, stabilized nearly one meter above the ground."

Having, they say, approached about 40 meters from the mysterious apparatus, they believed to distinguish inside "beings measuring no more than 90 cm to 1 m. in height".

"We tried to get closer, concluded the witnesses, but at this moment the craft disappeared, rising vertically at a frightening speed and in total silence."

The gendarmerie opened an investigation.

The other reports of saucers across France are rife, including the bizarre account of a road mender of bridges and roads who worked, in the rain, along the Coulommiers-Meaux road, not far from the Quincy-Voisins airfield, Mr. Bernard Goujon, 30-year-old.

Mr. Goujon claimed to have seen in a field, to the left of the road, about 200 meters from him, at the foot of a grove of poplars, a strange oval-shaped craft, measuring about 3 meters in diameter, and a height of 250 m. It was, he said, resting on the ground using three fairly high crutches. Its upper part had a small translucent dome apparently made of plastic. The whole craft was, he said, of a shiny metal like aluminum.

Mr. Goujon said that he had wanted to approach the craft, but when he arrived at about 150 meters, he was seized with tingling as if an invisible electric beam was darting at him.

"I felt, he said, paralyzed, and my sight was slightly scrambled. I then saw the saucer rise very slowly, silently, like a "dead leaf", up to 25 meters from the ground. It stopped for a moment, then still silently and without any luminous trail, disappeared at high speed."

Traces of about 10 centimeters deep were noted on the ground, and Mr. Goujon's comrades also claimed to have seen the "saucer" rise into the sky.

A LANDING
IN SAINT-CREPIN-IBOUVILLERS

Are they, once again, hallucinations or misinterpretationss with certain atmospheric phenomena? Still, since Friday evening, the population of the peaceful town of St-Crépin-Ibouvillers is literally upset by the story that has just been given to those around them and to one of our reporters, a young man from the locality, Mr. Eugène Delattre.

"It was exactly 7:50 p.m.," he said, "I was riding my motorcycle back home from Méru, where I work. Suddenly, a luminous mass similar to a shooting star caught my attention." The young motorcyclist further specifies: "I continued on my way nonetheless, when I arrived at the place called "La Croix d'Epine", between St-Crépin and Lormaison, the luminous mass swung vertically and landed about twenty meters from the road. No sooner had the craft landed that several small beings came out and headed for the road."

Mr. Delattre described this mysterious craft to us.

It appeared to be designed in two oval-shaped parts, superimposed 4 to 5 meters long. The interior appeared to be lit with a gray-blue light.

Mr. Delattre, in spite of his fright, would have clearly distinguished "two small beings", who, as he passed, remained motionless on the side of the road.

We must specify that at the same time this new flying saucer was seen by a resident of Lormaison, Mrs. Breton.

"Flying saucers exist"
a German scientist asserts

Flying saucers exist and represent at least 10 percent of the craft observed in the sky, Professor Hermann Oberth, German rocket specialist, and honorary president of the "German Astronautical Society", just declared during a lecture in Hamburg.

According to this scientist, it is possible that these craft are guided by crews of creatures similar to humans, but probably several thousand years ahead of our time.

To explain why a flying saucer has not yet crashed to earth, Professor Oberth suggests that pilots may have perfect mastery of their apparatuses and may not desire any contact with earthly creatures.

Considering another possibility, Professor Oberth recalled that the saucers observed could be considered as an improvement of the V-7, German rockets from the end of the war, of which several prototypes would have fallen, according to them, in Russian hands in 1945.

* * *

The passing of flying "saucers" or "cigars" is reported almost everywhere in the skies of France.

Mr. Anicet Corneille, agricultural worker, declared to have seen Friday evening, in Comines, a machine having the shape of a cigar, 8 to 10 meters in length and three meters in width, which moved at about forty meters height and gave off a bright purple glow, after flying over the city for a few seconds.

These statements were confirmed by a motorist from Tourcoing passing through Comines.

Mrs. widow Janiki, residing in the village of Le Cerisier, commune of Levrous (Indre) warned the gendarmerie that she had seen in the sky a luminous craft with a diameter of about 3 meters and which was at the height of the buildings.

Widow Lacotte, living about 800 meters from Ms. Janiki's home, said she witnessed the same phenomenon.

An employee of the slaughterhouse, Mr. Angelo Girardeau, 53, living in Breuil-Chaussée (Deux-Sèvres), who, Sunday morning, went to his work reportedly saw a circular craft near which there was a being who appeared to him dressed in a diving suit. That being moved towards M. Girardeau who, frightened, fled. Shortly after, the circular craft set off again at very high speed.

Two young people from Vron (Somme) said they saw on the national road, between Crécy and Ligescourt, a curious machine around which prowled oddly shaped individuals. They approached the craft, resembling a haystack, but the craft took off.

The two young people told their adventure to the gendarmes.

The saucer seen by roadmenders along the road to Coulommiers only existed in their imagination.

Written question

In a written question, Mr. Jean Nocher, deputy for the Loire, told the Secretary of State for Air of the emotion aroused in the public by the many and various testimonies concerning the "flying saucers".

He asks him "whether his predecessors at the Secretary of State for the Air had been concerned, as in the United States and the U.S.S.R. for many years, to open an investigation into the presence in our atmosphere of unidentified flying objects.

If so, he asks him for the publishable results of his investigations; if not, he asks him to constitute a Commission broadly extended to all the scientific branches concerned in order to objectively study this phenomenon by freeing the truth from the errors or possible mystifications."

TWO YOUNG PEOPLE OF VRON
saw a mysterious craft take off
ridden by a diver

Abbeville. -- Like a bit everywhere, the "saucers" and "cigars" crisscross the sky of Picardy. This time it was two young men from Vron, in the district of Abbeville, who, returning from their work on bicycles, saw between Ligescourt and Vron, a mass in the middle of the road.

Rolling on all pedals to cover the few 15 meters that separated them from the craft, they saw it fly away while they still were some 70 meters away.

These two young people, Bernard Devoisin and René Condette, both aged 18, are formal. Devoisin, who was pedaling at the head, saw a man dressed like a kind of diver, who bypassed his craft, which left immediately. But all this, he says, barely lasted the time to cycle 100 meters.

As for the "saucer", of orange color, it had the shape of a hive, with a pointed roof? It was about the width of the road, about three meters. It spun towards a field of beetroot, which it grazed, then it headed towards Vironchaux.

Their statements caused a great stir in the region, which has already had the privilege of seeing these enigmatic craft move in its sky. These are serious young people, incapable of imaginary fantasy, and whose physical appearance, by the way, said a lot about the emotion, if not the fright that "the appearance" had brought them.

Mysterious craft
crisscross the sky
of our region

Flying saucers, flying cigars, other mysterious craft continue to appear everywhere. During the last weekend, the presence of strange craft was reported in the skies of Côte d'Ivoire, in the Finistère, in the Deux Sèvres and in the Indre.

Many people, including the officers of the High Mountain School, said they saw for more than an hour a brilliant machine moving between Mont Lachat and Mont Blanc.

The pilot Guiron indicated that, flying at an altitude of about 2,000 meters, he saw a craft which, he said, said, had no resemblance to a normal plane. Moreover, the direction followed at high speed by this craft excluded the hypothesis of a sounding balloon.

Our region has not been spared either, and there were numerous reports of bizarre craft.

Weird object in the Somme...

Bernard Devoisin and René Condette, 18 years old, two young men from Vron, in the district of Abbeville, saw a mass right in the middle of the roadway.

Rolling at full pedals, to cover the few 150 meters that separated them from the apparatus, they saw it fly away while they were still 70 meters away.

Bernard Devoisin, who was pedaling at the head, saw a man dressed like a sort of diver, who bypassed this craft, which left immediately.

As for the orange "saucer", it was shaped like a beehive, with a pointed roof. It was about the width of the road, about three meters.

... and above Jeumont

In the evening from Saturday to Sunday, two resedents of Jeumont stated that they had seen, while driving around Solre-le-Château, a saucer-shaped object which, after having moved a few seconds above the City, rose vertically and disappeared.

Many witnesses near Cambrai

Miss Anne-Marie Perut, 20 years old, whose father is a gendarme at the Marcoing brigade, a few kilometers from Cambrai, told the following story:

"Sunday around 8:30 p.m., going to the window, I saw two large luminous balls: a large one and below a smaller one. It seemed slightly swinging from right to left, like a balloon basket.

"I called my father who laughed at me. I insisted and, finally, he came to see and it was then that he alerted the other gendarmes present in the barracks. The families joined us and so around twenty people could see what we had seen.

"For a quarter of an hour we saw this luminous appearance comparable to the moon, but larger. Round, the object took the form of a cigar, then a crescent. It set off towards Villers-Pouich, then came back to disappear for good."

The gendarmes who confirmed this fact to us declare that this luminous ball could be at an approximate altitude of 6 to 700 meters.

Appearance near Armentières

Sunday, between 9 p.m. and 9:20 p.m., a craft, in the shape of a golden half-moon, barred in the center by a greenish line, hovered above rue Fleury, in La Chapelle d'Armentières. All the residents observed the craft for a long time. One of them used binoculars to better define its contours, then suddenly the saucer disappeared in the direction of Fleurbaix.

Landing of a cigar
near Lille

Sunday was the ducasse in Chéreng, a small town not far from Lille. At 07:20 p.m., a few locals saw a cigar landing on the Marque footbridge. The landing, preceded by a shower of sparks, was made without noise, but the craft disappeared before the arrival of the witnesses. With the joyous atmosphere of the party suggesting a joke, many people did not believe the witnesses' story - but the confirmation was made on Monday.

A saucer on the plate
of Lorette

Sunday around 9:30 p.m., several people were aware of the presence of unknown type of craft on the Lorette plateau.

Mr. Lecoq J-Bte. of Liévin, distinguished in the sky around the lighthouse of Lorette, a luminous craft having the shape of a crescent which oscillated slightly. He stopped several people to make them note this apparition. From this oblong-shaped craft, the lower part was detached and descended towards the ground and came to resume shortly after its position against the upper part. The saucer then descended into the valley.

A flying pot
in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire

A saucer was seen in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, on Sunday evening, by Mr. Louis Lherbier, general insurance agent, rue Marcel Lancino. The latter being in his yard, was intrigued by the presence of a small reddish ball seeming to move in the air. He called his wife, as well as Mr. Robert Mairesse, an employee of the mines and his wife. The four people saw very well the thing which ultimately took the form of a pot turning on itself. Then after a few minutes, this strange object rose quickly in the air and disappeared.

A kind of beehive
posed on the road,
near Abbeville,
and a disturbing
dwarf spacesuit

Two young people, Bernard Devoisin and René Condette, domiciled in Vron, working at the Enterprise Delpierre, had just left Friday around 6:45 p.m. a building site in Lugescourt [sic] and returned home by bicycle.

Four kilometers from Lugescourt, they saw about 150 meters in front of them, placed on the tarmac road, a mass of orange color in the shape of a hive, with a pointed roof, which could be two meters high and which held the entire width of the road, about three meters.

Devoisin, who pedaled head on, even saw something moving on the left. He took it from afar for an animal, but which seemed to be clothed in a diving suit. It happened very quickly, and we can understand that in their turmoil, the young people did not have time to realize.

In any case, at their approach, the mysterious being, small in size, disappeared from their sight by circumventing the saucer, which set off immediately about 70 meters from the cyclists.

The craft disappeared quickly, without noise, and the two witnesses returned upset "pale as sheets" a mechanic said. Add that these are serious young people, well regarded by all, and their teacher considers them incapable of bluffing.

Multicolored half-moon
in Armentières

The sky of the Armentières region has also been visited by a flying saucer.

The thing happened on Sunday between 9 p.m. and 9:20 p.m. A flying object, a sort of golden half-moon, marked in its center by a greenish bar, stopped above rue Fleury, at Chapelle-d'Armentières.

All the inhabitants observed at length "the thing". It was, moreover, one of them who, using binoculars, was able to specify its shape. Suddenly the saucer moved away, after gaining altitude, in the direction of the Pas-de-Calais.

Almost everywhere

Also, it is reported in Beauchamp that the saucers were seen as red disks moving above the forest of Eu and above the wood of Auxi-le-Château.

***

In addition, an industrialist from the Vimeu, returning from a hunting trip in the Pas-de-Calais, also saw, an orange disc that he was able to follow for a while.

***

Finally, on Saturday evening, two residents of Jeumont who remain anonymous but whose good faith cannot be doubted saw a bizarre saucer-shaped object above the city before climbing vertically and disappearing.

A GERMAN SCIENTIST:

"The flying saucer pilots are Uranids"

Flying saucers circulate even on Sundays. Martians spend their weekend on earth. They were seen in the Somme and in the Deux-Sèvres departments.

- They're not Martians, but Uranids, reveals a German scientist, Professor Oberth, a rocket scientist.

According to him, 10% of the objects observed are indeed flying saucers and it is possible that they are maneuvered by creatures similar to humans. He proposes, to designate these unknown beings, the term "Uranids".

- The "Uranids", he says, are probably thousands of years ahead of our time.

Considering another possibility, Professor Oberth recalled that the saucers observed could be considered to be an improvement of the V-7 [sic, V-2], German rockets from the end of the war, several prototypes of which, according to the scientist, fell into the hands of the Russians in 1945.

Two young people saw "Uranids" yesterday in the Somme. Between Crécy and Ligescourt, they saw a curious machine around which lurked individuals of odd shape. They looked like a haystack, they told the gendarmes. When they got closer to the haystack, it "took off".

An employee of the Bressuire slaughter center, Mr. Angelo Girardeau, 55, living in Breuil-Chaussée (Deux-Sèvres), said he too, saw Sunday morning, on his way to work, a circular machine near which stood a being who appeared to him dressed in a sort of diving suit. The "Uranid" went towards Mr. Girardeau who, frightened, fled. Shortly thereafter, the craft departed at a very high speed.

Says German rocket specialist

Unknown humans:

THE URANIDS!

Hamburg, 4. -- Flying saucers exist and represent at least ten percent of the objects observed in the sky, said professor Hermann Oberth, German rocket scientist and honorary president of the "German Astronotical Society" last night, during a conference in Hamburg.

Professor Oberth added that it is possible in his opinion, that these craft contain crews of creatures similar to humans, and proposed, to designate these unknown beings, the term "Uranids". The "Uranids", continued the German scientist, are probably thousands of years ahead of our time.

To explain why no "flying saucer" has yet crashed on earth, Professor Oberth suggests that pilots may have perfect control of their machines and that, for some reason human intelligence cannot can imagine, they may not want any contact with terrestrial crops.

Considering another possibility, Professor Oberth recalled that the observed saucers could be considered as an improvement of the V-7, German rockets of the end of the war, of which several prototypes would have fallen, according to the scientist, in the hands of the Russians in 1945.

The National Assembly
will take care
of flying saucers

While, on all sides (Deux-Sèvres, Côtes-du-Nord, Finistère, Nord, Indre) people of very good faith declare having seen these days in the sky or on the ground flying saucers and cigars, the presence of these craft concerns parliamentarians.

Today, it is Mr. Rocher [sic, Nocher], deputy of the Loire, who expressed to the Secretary of State for Air the emotion aroused in the public by the many and diverse testimonies concerning the "flying saucers".

flying saucers
and cigars

No flying saucer near Melun

MELUN, 4. -- The road menders who claimed to have seen a flying saucer, near the Coulommiers-Meaux road, gave up on their statements and admitted that they had fabricated their story.

They will likely be charged with contempt of court.

However, the flying saucers have not finished haunting the sky and even the country, if we believe the following testimonies:

Vic-sur-Sère, 4. -- Several people affirmed having seen, going towards the south, a machine having the form a cigar giving off a slight plume of smoke.

Nevers, 4. -- The representative of a Clamecy Insurance Company declares to have seen an orange-colored luminous disc which was moving in the sky and which, after having changed altitude several times, disappeared vertically.

Bressuire, 4. -- An employee of the Slaughter Center, Mr. Angelo Girardo, 55, living in Breuil-Chaussée (Deux-Sèvres), declared having seen Sunday morning, on his way to work, a circular machine near which was a being who appeared to him dressed in a kind of diving suit. The being in question went to Mr. Girardo who, frightened, fled. Shortly after, the circular machine set off again at a very high speed.

Abbeville, 4. -- Two young men from Vron (Somme) said they had seen on the Route Nationale, between Crécy and Ligescourt, a curious machine around which individuals of odd shape prowled. They approached the craft, which they say looked like a haystack, but it took off.

Châteauroux, 4. -- Mrs. widow Janiki, living in the village of Cerisier, commune of Levreux (Indre), told the gendarmerie that she had seen in the sky a luminous machine with a diameter of about 3 meters and which was at the level of the buildings.

Mrs. widow Barotte, living about 200 meters from Mrs. Janiki's home, said she had witnessed the same phenomenon.

Châteauroux, 4. -- Mrs. Baron, resident of Vatan (Indre), said that on Saturday evening he saw a luminous ball in the sky.

She alerted her husband as well as fifteen people from her neighborhood, all of whom saw aat a very high altitude, the yellow "greenish" craft moving up and down in the sky.

Saint-Brieuc, 4. -- Several people claimed to have seen, 400 or 500 meters from them, last night, around 10:15 p.m., a "flying cigar", at an altitude of about 50 meters. The craft, they said, could be 15 meters in length and intermittently lit with pink gleams. It moved silently.

Brest, 4. -- Mrs. Henry, farmer in Guesnou (Finistère) said she saw Thursday, then Friday, in the evening at the same hour in the sky, a purple cylindrical craft which moved silently from West to East.

Lille, 4. -- Mr. Anicet Corneille, agricultural worker, said he saw on Saturday evening, in Comines, a machine in the shape of a cigar from 8 to 15 meters wide, which was moving at forty meters in height and produced a vivid purple glow. After flying over the city for a few seconds, the craft reportedly disappeared in the sky.

The statements made by Mr. Corneille were confirmed by a Tourcoing driver passing through Comines.

DURING THE LAST WEEK-END

The flying saucers disturbed the Sunday rest of a certain number of Frenchmen

Chamonix. -- The chronicle of the flying saucers and other "cigars" continues to be abundantly provided. During the last weekend, the witnesses who have, indeed, seen mysterious machines are countless.

It is apparently Chamonix which should be given the priority, since, at the same moment, officers of the high mountain school, gendarmes, and pilot Guiron who flew over the area saw during more than one hour a white shining craft move between the mount Lachat and Mount Blanc.

Pilot Guiron said that, flying at approximately 2.000 meters above Faverges, he saw a craft which, he said, did not have any resemblance to a normal plane. Moreover, the direction followed at high speed by this apparatus excluded a sounding-balloon.

In Corbigny (the Nièvre), several inhabitants saw a luminous disc of orange color which moved in the sky and disappeared vertically after having changed altitude several times.

In Breuil-Chaussée, in the Deux-Sèvres, Mr. Girardeau, 55 years old, went to his work when, in a turn of the road, he noticed a circular machine "close to which was a being which seemed to him dressed in a kind of diving-suit". The "being" moved towards him and Mr. Girardeau fled, frightened. A little later the circular machine went away at high speed!

"You would have said a haystack"

It is also a curious machine around whose two odd individuals wandered that two young people people of Vron (Somme) stated to have seen. "We approached, they entrusted to the gendarmes. A haystack you would have said. Suddenly, the machine took off".

In the Indre, as well in Levroux as in Vatan, about fifteen people lengthily followed the moves of a luminous ball of yellowish color which went up and down in the sky and could have been three meters in diameter.

Mysterious craft
crisscross the sky of our region

Flying saucers, flying cigars and other mysterious craft continue to appear everywhere. During the last weekend, the presence of strange craft was reported in the skies of Ivory Coast, in the Finistère, in the Deux-Sèvres and in the Indre.

Many people, including officers from the High Mountain School, said they saw for more than an hour, a brilliant craft moving between Mount Lachat and Mount-Blanc.

Pilot Guiron indicated that, flying approximately 2,000 meters above Faverges, he saw a craft which, he said, had no resemblance to a normal aircraft. In addition, the direction followed at high speed by this craft excluded the hypothesis of a sounding balloon.

Our region has not been spared either, and there have been numerous reports of bizarre craft appearing.

ODD MACHINE IN THE SOMME...

Bernard Devoisin and René Condette, 18 years old, two young people from Vron, in the district of Abbeville, returning from their work by bicycle, saw a machine in the middle of the road.

Rolling with all pedals, to cover the 150 meters that separated them from the craft, they saw it fly away while they were still about 70 meters away.

Bernard Devoisin, who pedaled at the front, saw a man dressed like a kind of diver, who bypassed his craft, which left immediately.

As for the orange-colored saucer, it was shaped like a beehive, with a pointed roof. It was about the width of the road, about three meters.

... AND ABOVE
JEUMONT

In the evening from Saturday to Sunday, two Jeumont residents stated that they had seen while driving on rue de Soire-le-Château, a saucer-shaped object which, after having moved a few seconds above the city, rose vertically and disappeared.

MANY WITNESSES
NEAR CAMBRAI

Miss Anne-Marie Perrut, 26 years old whose father is a policeman at the Marcoing brigade a few kilometers from Cambrai, told the next story:

"Sunday, around 8:30 p.m., going to the window, I saw two large luminous balls: a large one and below a smaller one. It seemed to move slightly from right to left, like a gondola balloon.

"I called my father who laughed at me. I insisted and, finally, he came to see and it was then that he alerted the other gendarmes present in the barracks. The families joined us and so around twenty people could see what we had seen.

"For a quarter of an hour we saw this luminous appearance comparable to the moon, but larger. Round, the object took the form of a cigar, then a crescent. It set off towards Villers-Plouich then came back to disappear forever."

The gendarmes who confirmed this fact to us declare that these luminous balls could be at an approximate altitude of 600 to 700 meters.

APPEARANCE
NEAR ARMENTIERES

Sunday, between 9 p.m. and 9:20 p.m., a craft, in the shape of a golden half-moon, crossed in the center by a greenish line, hovered above rue Fleury, in La Chapelle d'Armentières. All the residents observed the object for a long time. One of them brought binoculars to better define its contours, then suddenly the saucer disappeared in the direction of Fleurbaix.

LANDING OF A CIGAR
NEAR LILLE

Sunday was the ducasse in Chéreng, a small town not far from Lille. At 07:20 p.m., some residents saw a cigar which landed on the Marque footbridge. The landing, preceded by a shower of sparks was made without noise, but the craft disappeared before the arrival of the witnesses. With the joyous atmosphere of the party suggesting a joke, many people did not believe the accounts of the witnesses - but the confirmation was made on Monday.

A SAUCER
ON THE PLATEAU
DE LORETTE

Sunday, around 9:20 p.m., several people were able to realize the presence of unknown type of vehicles on the Lorette plateau.

Mr. Lecocq J.-B., of Liévin, distinguished in the sky around the lighthouse of Lorette, a luminous machine having the shape of a crescent which oscillated slightly. He stopped several people to make them notice this apparition. From this oblong-shaped craft, the lower part detached and descended towards the ground and came to resume shortly after its position against the upper part. The saucer then descended into the valley.

A FLYING POT
IN ABLAIN-SAINT-NAZAIRE

A flying saucer was seen in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, on the evening of Sunday, by Mr. Louis Lherbier, general agent of insurance, rue Marcel Lancino. The latter being in his yard, was intrigued by the presence of a small reddish ball seeming to move in the air. He called his wife, as well as Mr. Robert Mairesse, an employee of the mines and his wife. The four people saw very well the thing which ultimately took the form of a pot spinning on itself. Then after a few minutes, this strange object rose quickly in the air and disappeared.

AN AUTHORIZED OPINION

"FLYING SAUCERS?
NOT SERIOUS!"

says Professor SCHATZMAN
Researcher at the Astro-Physics Institute

Paris. -- The "flying saucers", which poison the Western skies whenever important international events occur, extend their field of action over the African continent.

An official report to the Government of the Ivory Coast by the administrator of the Danane subdivision, 500 kilometers north-west of Abidjan, reported a "phenomenon" observed on 19 September, 8:30 p.m. to 09:05 p.m., by the said head of subdivision, Mr. Vernhet, his wife and Reverend Yvard, gathered in the courtyard of the Residence.

It was a luminous spot surrounded by a halo which at first grew rapidly, moving towards or away from the horizon. The witnesses saw the machine lighting a powerful headlight, sometimes directed upwards, sometimes downwards. The ovoid-shaped craft was surmounted by a cupola, and light rays seemed to be detached from each side.

When it disappeared after half an hour, the witnesses saw clearly - according to the report - two halos of light, oval in shape, forming at the presumed location of the craft which moved without any noise.

The same day, at Soubre, 250 kilometers north-west of Abidjan, similar phenomena were observed by the head of subdivision.

In France, flowering flourishes, passing through all forms of flying crockery: in Corbigny (Nièvre), it is a luminous orange disc moving vertically; in Breuil-Caussée [sic] (Deux-Sèvres) it is a diver mounted on a plate that scared an employee of the center of slaughter; in Vron (Somme), it is a millstone around which strange individuals prowl and flies away; in Levroux (Indre), it is a luminous machine 1 meter in diameter that is spotted "at the height of the buildings" by two widows of the area, and in Vatan (also in the Indre), it is a ball that 15 people see dancing like a dancer. In Milly-la-Forêt (S.-et-O.) it is a half-moon surmounted by a ring that appears to a restaurant owner.

Finally, on Monday in Chamonix for more than an hour, the officers of the high mountain school, many gendarmes of Chamonix and a pilot specializing in high-altitude flight flying over the region at that time followed the moves of a brilliant machine of bizarre form between Mount Lachat and Mount Blanc.

The opinion of a scientist

If one addresses the most qualified scientific circles, there are two attitudes: that of refusing to answer on the pretext that the problem does not exist and that of critically examining the published testimonies and to provide public opinion, confused and excited by the Press, the positive element allowing to recognize the natural phenomena.

This latter attitude is that of Professor Evry Schatzman, a research fellow at the Institute of Astrophysics and a lecturer at the Sorbonne, to whom we have asked to enlighten our readers.

"Is it true that scientists are beginning to take the flying saucers seriously?"

- I have never met any astronomer who believes the flying saucer stories [ast]. I have personally read many books on this subject, seeking to grasp the exact meanings of the testimonies reported. By admitting descriptions made in good faith - which is always to be doubted - it always results in a perplexity as to the elements that can be drawn from it. In the majority of cases they are incomprehensible: the precise hour, the duration, the exact direction of the "phenomenon" is not known, nor even if it occurred by day or night. Or they are made unreliable by details that cannot be distinguished. And they are reported with the intention of making believe in the mystery. When one has a precise and complete description, one can do what is at stake and which can make illusion for the heated imagination of a public knowingly deceived for commercial and political purposes.

- Can you describe such phenomena?

- The list is long and not yet exhausted, because it is necessary to take into account still unknown atmospheric and meteorological phenomena. Among the phenomena which may give rise to misunderstandings, these are the most characteristic, not to mention the "visions" prompted by the causes of popular anxiety, such as these parachutists spotted by artillerymen in May 1940, who every night shoot at... Venus!

1. The rising and setting of the planets (Especially Venus and Jupiter).

2. The "shooting stars" and the "fireballs": one tonne a day arrives on the earth. The light is produced by the heating of the aura on the meteoric trajectory. The smallest shooting stars visible to the naked eye are grains of matter of 1 milligram which vanish completely between 120 and 90 kilometers. Only the fast fall on the ground limits the complete destruction of the bolides, that a longer course in the atmosphere would also annihilate.

3. The phenomena of "parhelia", which give rise to false suns, together with halos, and which are explained by the presence in the upper atmosphere of hexagonal prismatic ice needles. The concentration of light rays (sun and moon) in calm air on these crystals produces luminous spots on the right and left of the sun or moon at an equal distance from the halo radius of 22 degrees 5. A halo occurs more with other suns or other moons, with a double angular diameter.

Thus the inhabitants of Péronne "believed to see" an unexpected sun eclipse on June 20 and 21. A normal halo of exceptional intensity occurred, about which Daniel Roguet, astronomical correspondent, described the effects in these terms:

"At certain times, depending on the cirrhus [sic] variation, the inside of the halo was very dark gray-black and the iridescent colors of the halo as bright as those of a beautiful rainbow, beyond it, a milky sky, slightly ocher, forming a magnificent contrast with the central part".

4. The high-voltage power line balls that serve as landmarks for aviators were recently mistaken for mysterious craft by cyclists who at night saw these balls swept by the lighthouse of an airfield.

5. Weather balloons from meteorologists.

6. Ball lightning: these are configurations that occur at certain thunderstorms, with a precarious charge balance.

7. The phenomenon of mirage in the atmosphere. You know how it happens on the ground: the light rays do not propagate in a straight line in hot air, but they just reflect on the film of overheated air, for example by the road tar during the summer. You think you see puddles of water in front of you [mir1]. The inversion of temperature at altitude also causes a change in the index of refraction: hence the effect for an aviator to see a spot of light go straight ahead, while this point has its real source on the ground. [mir2]

The object, which always seems to be at the speed of the airman, is, moreover, characteristic of the object situated at very great distances.

- But is it not possible to scientifically design terrestrial craft comparable to the "saucers" seen here and there?

No, for the great velocities of which the "witnesses" claim these "machines" are animated could only be reached in regions of rarefied air, at the limit of the atmosphere. The mechanical action of the air on their surface would soon have dispersed the molecules of the substance which they would be made of.

In short, to summarize the scholar's thought, there are three elements to be distinguished in these flying saucers stories:

1. A scientific element: discussion of observations, explanation of natural phenomena, sociological explanation of the phenomena of collective hallucination [hal].

2. A logical element: inconsistency of opinions and testimonies.

3. A political element: excitement of public opinion, substitution of imaginary problems for real problems, etc. [pol]

Mr. Evry Schatzman has enumerated the phenomena of vision, false perception, and hallucinations which may explain the most precise and complete testimonies-which are a minor infirmity and always subject to caution.

There is no scientist to take seriously the assumptions made by scientific writers, science-fiction specialists and members of the Pentagon [pol], who have also renounced the theory of extraterrestrial craft, as revealed in the last book by Mr. Keyhoe.

The saucers museum is always empty of exhibits. And it is difficult to admit, if the "saucers" are terrestrial craft, that we never collected a single fragment [fra], never heard the supersonic detonation [sup], nor ever observed a perturbation in the air.

It should also be noted that "saucers" and "other cigarillos" seem to be systematically missig in the Soviet skies, Chinese skies and people's democratic countries... [pol] [est]

TWO YOUNG PEOPLE OF VRON
saw a mysterious craft take off
ridden by a diver

Abbeville. -- Like a bit everywhere, the "saucers" and "cigars" crisscross the sky of Picardy. This time it was two young men from Vron, in the district of Abbeville, who, returning from their work on bicycles, saw between Ligescourt and Vron, a mass in the middle of the road.

Rolling on all pedals to cover the few 15 meters that separated them from the craft, they saw it fly away while they still were some 70 meters away.

These two young people, Bernard Devoisin and René Condette, both aged 18, are formal. Devoisin, who was pedaling at the head, saw a man dressed like a kind of diver, who bypassed his craft, which left immediately. But all this, he says, barely lasted the time to cycle 100 meters.

As for the "saucer", of orange color, it had the shape of a hive, with a pointed roof? It was about the width of the road, about three meters. It spun towards a field of beetroot, which it grazed, then it headed towards Vironchaux.

Their statements caused a great stir in the region, which has already had the privilege of seeing these enigmatic craft move in its sky. These are serious young people, incapable of imaginary fantasy, and whose physical appearance, by the way, said a lot about the emotion, if not the fright that "the appearance" had brought them.

A STRANGE CRAFT MOVES ABOVE MONT-BLANC FOR MORE THAN ONE HOUR

CHAMONIX. -- A very large number of people, among whom were officers from the High Mountain School, gendarmes from Chamonix and pilot Guiron, a specialist in high mountain flying who flew over the area at that time, said to have seen for more than one hour a craft move between Mount Lachat and Mont Blanc.

Pilot Guiron reported that flying about 2,000 meters above Faverges, he saw a craft which, he said, bore no resemblance to a normal aircraft. In addition the direction followed at high speed by this craft excluded the hypothesis of a sounding balloon.

A Saucers Invasion

Moreover, one continues - jokes, hallucinations or trustworthy testimonies - to report everywhere the manifestation in the sky of saucers or other cigars.

VIC-SUR-CERE. -- Several people have said that they have seen a cigar-shaped craft heading south, with a slight smoke plume.

NEVERS. -- A representative of an insurance company in Clamecy, as well as several residents of Corbigny, said they saw an orange luminous disc moving in the sky and which, after having several times changed altitude, disappeared vertically.

BRESSUIRE. -- Slaughter center employee, Mr. Angelo Girardeau, 55-year-old, residing in Breuil-Chaussée (Deux Sèvres), said he had seen Sunday morning, on his way to work, a circular machine near which was a being who appeared to him dressed in a kind of scuba. That character went to Mr. Girardeau who, frightened, fled. Shortly after the circular craft departed at very high speed.

ABBEVILLE. -- Two young men from Vron (Somme) said they saw on the national road, between Crécy and Ligescourt, a curious craft around which bizarre individuals roamed. They approached the craft, who, they say, looked like a haystack, but it took off. The two young people told their adventure to the gendarmes.

CHATEAUROUX. -- Mrs widow Janiki, residing at the Bourg du Ceris1er, commune of Levroux (Indre), told the police that she had seen in the sky a luminous craft of a diameter of about 8 meters and which was at the level of buildings. Mrs. widow Lacotte, who lives about 800 meters from Mrs. Janiki, said she witnessed the same phenomenon.

(See more on page 5)

A strange craft is moving...

(Continued from the first page.)

CHATEAUROUX. -- Mrs. Baron, living in Vatan (Indre), said she saw a luminous ball in the sky Sunday evening. She alerted her husband and about fifteen people from her neighborhood who, all, saw moving, at a very high altitude, the greenish yellow machine that went up and down in the sky.

An official report

Whereas these different appearances can make the skeptics smile, the information coming from Africa appears more serious. Because, probably not wanting to disdain any continent, flying saucers were seen in Côte d'Ivoire. The news came from an official report to the governor of Côte d'Ivoire by Mr. Vernhet, chief administrator of the Danane subdivision, a town 500 kilometers northwest of Abijan. The facts date back to September 19, but have only been made official today through specific inquiries and investigations.

In addition to the population, the head of the gendarmerie station, the chief medical officer of the medical center, the Reverend Father Vyard, of the Lyon missions, head of the subdivision, and his wife, gathered in the courtyard of the residence, and saw on September 19, from 8:30 p.m. zo 9:05 p.m., a craft exactly corresponding to those observed in France, but which did not land.

It was a luminous dot, surrounded by a halo that first grew rapidly, moving closer to or away from the horizon. The witnesses saw the craft light a powerful headlight, sometimes directed upwards, sometimes downwards. The craft, of ovoid shape, was surmounted by a dome and luminous beams seemed to be detached on each side.

When it disappeared, after having moved for half an hour, the witnesses saw very clearly two luminous halos of oval shape, to be formed on the presumed location of the craft. The latter moved without any noise. Administrator Vernhet has attached to his report a detailed sketch of the different phases observed, as well as of the shape of the craft.

On the same day, in Soubre, 250 kilometers north-west of Abidjan, and in the same direction, similar phenomena were observed. The head of the subdivision of Soubre confirmed the existence of the phenomenon he attended.

"The Uranids"

Moreover, the scientists who until now had remained silent on the flying saucers affairs, will they leave their prudent reserve?

"Flying saucers exist and account for at least ten percent of the craft observed in the sky," said Professor Oberth, German rocket scientist and honorary president of the "German Astronautical Society", during a conference in Hamburg.

Professor Oberth added that it is possible, in his opinion, that these craft contain crews of creatures similar to humans, and proposed, to designate these unknown beings, the term "URANIDS". The Uranids, the German scholar continued, are probably thousands of years ahead of our time.

To explain why no "flying saucer" crashed on Earth so far, Professor Oberth suggests that pilots may have perfect control of their craft and that, for some reason that human intelligence cannot imagine, they may not desire any contact with terrestrial creatures.

Looking at another possibility, Professor Oberth recalled that the saucers observed could be considered as a perfecting of the V7, German rockets of the end of World War II, of which several prototypes would have fallen, according to the scientist, in Russian hands in 1945.

Mysterious devices continue to crisscross the sky

The "flying saucers" continue to travel the sky. Some land and their occupants are trying to get to know the human... Thus Mr. Angelo Girardeau, residing in Breuil-Chaussée (Deux-Sèvres), stated to have seen yesterday morning a circular machine near which was a being who appeared dressed him in a sort of spacesuit. The being in question headed Mr. Girardeau who, frightened, fled. Soon after, the circular craft returned at high speed.

Two young men of Vron (Somme), say they too have seen on the road between Crécy and Ligescourt a curious craft prowled around which individuals oddly shaped. They approached the craft which, they say, like a wheel, but he took off.

The two young men have told their adventure to the gendarmes.

In Vic-sur-Cere, several people claimed to have seen, heading south, a machine having the shape of a cigar and giving off a slight plume of smoke.

In the Nièvre, a representative of an insurance company of Clamecy and Corbigny several residents reported seeing a bright orange disc which after repeatedly changed altitude, disappeared vertically.

A resident of Bourg-du-Cerisier, in the Indre, Mrs. Janiki, told police she had seen flying at roof height of a building, a luminous machine with a diameter of 3 meters. Ms. Lacotte, who lives 800 meters from Ms. Janiki, said he noticed the phenomenon.

In the century of flying saucers

After the basin
here is the... flying hive

Two young people saw this
mysterious apparatus on a road near Vron

It's the talk of the day.

"Did you see a flying saucer?"

No... and you... However, I seemed to me that I saw something strange, said a sales representative to a customer in our town these past few days.

And you gendarmes, who are often on tour day and night, did you see anything?

- Absolutely nothing...

And yet, there are some of these mysterious craft in the Picardy sky... of different shapes... and little men who, dressed in spacesuits, wander around this craft which transmitted electric rays making the approach difficult.

It is Friday, around 6:45 p.m., that two young men from Vron, Bernard Duvoisin and René Condette, 18 years old, who were returning from their work site following the road from Ligescourt to Vron, had their attention attracted to a craft... which had landed on the path they were following by bicycle.

This craft was orange, and how was this mysterious craft?

bell-shaped, they said.

And when we were about 70 meters from it, this bee hive ... without bees, but supposedly containing two little men, flew away and disappeared into the horizon.

So, everywhere cigars, saucers, basins, discs, light trails and odd people are seen...

The future will tell us what these craft are... but we remain skeptical while awaiting events.

***

AND STILL A SAUCER
IN THE REGION OF RUE
AND QUEND

Sunday, around 9:10 p.m., Mr. Georges Galand, butcher in Rue, who drove a car and had his wife by his side, was at a place called "Pont-à-Cailloux", Quend territory, when he saw a strange craft having the shaped like a cigar.

Having slowed down the speed of his car to better observe it, he noticed that this machine was flying at a reduced speed and at low altitude. This is how the Galland couple were able to follow it for eight kilometers.

It then turned towards Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmon.

Also, Mr. Georges Savary, of Rue, also had his attention attracted by the presence of a machine, having the shape of a red disc, which, according to his declarations, would have landed in a grassland about 400 meters from his home.

This craft would have left a few minutes later, in the direction of Le Crotoy. No traces were found at the landing site.

***

A BALL OF FIRE IN
THE SKY OF NOYELLES

Around 9:10 p.m., Mr. Carton, employed at the Saint-Frères factory, in Abbeville and living in Grand-Lavier, saw in the sky, about 8 to 10 kilometers away, in the direction of Noyelles-sur-Mer, a ball of fire, spinning and giving the clear impression of changing color.

This ball had the shape of two thirds of the moon and did not seem to fly at a crazy pace, since during a few minutes he followed it with the eyes as well as the Lecomte couple and two other people.

Then this mysterious ball... disappeared in the direction of Boulogne.

STILL THE FLYING SAUCERS

Some residents of Doullens saw
the mysterious craft

Saucers, cigars... and flying beehives keep crisscrossing the skies of Europe to Africa, if we are to believe the people, every day more numerous, who state they witnessed these curious phenomena.

- A shopkeeper from Amiens, Mrs. Nelly Mansart, grocer, 6, rue de la Morlière, who was driving, lived on Sunday evening, pathetic minutes. Indeed, she was followed by a saucer between Hérissart and Raineville.

- In Vron (Somme), two young men who were riding their bikes, noted an orange-colored object in the middle of the road. Beside it was a living being comparable to a child dressed in a spacesuit. This character climbed into the craft which, without noise, suddenly disappeared.

- Above Auxi-le-Château, the same craft was seen by a Vimeu industrialist, who was returning from hunting.

- Last Sunday, a flying saucer was seen in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire (P.-de-.C.). A resident of Liévin also distinguished a similar craft around the lighthouse of Lorette.

- In Boves, several residents saw Sunday evening at 8:30 p.m., a strange glow that looked like an orange disc.

Finally, in Doullens, at exactly the same hours, two young residents of Doullens, A.C., 18, and J.N., 17, who were going at the "Tivoli-Cinéma" also saw as a powerful hue of orange color. They thus contemplated this strange gleam for 10 minutes. Nothing came to their idea that they were in the presence of a saucer and it was only on reading the narrated account of the residents of Boves, in "Le Courrier Picard", that they decided to tell what they had seen.

It was while passing over the Pont des Tilleuls that they saw a bright orange glow between the great horseman of the Citadel and the Bois de Bretel, appearing behind the trees of the road at the horizon.

This glow, of a very bright brightness, had the shape of a triangle pointed in the air and included in an oval slightly less enlightened. Motionless, that steady glow looked like no electric light.

This vision had somewhat intrigued one of the two young people since the next day he went to the place where he had seen this apparition.

On the other hand, it came to us that several people living on the road to Abbeville had also seen this phenomenon.

RUE

(Continued from the First Page)

And here are
FLYING SAUCER
and CIGARS of the same name
manifesting themselves
in our region

When the newspapers devote a long article to the appearance of Flying Saucers, many people shrug their shoulders thinking and sometimes even saying: "This is a joke!"

Admittedly on our behalf we are not very convinced of the existence of these craft. Yet disturbing facts have just occurred in our region.

Last Friday at 6:45 p.m., two young residents of Vron, aged 18, masons at the company Delpierre of Vron, were returning by bicycle from Ligescourt, where he had worked all day.

These two young men who named René Condette and Bernard Devoisin, were in the vicinity of La Caplette, a few kilometers from Ligescourt, when Devoisin, who was driving ahead, suddenly saw in the middle of the road, 150 meters of him, a mass with something on the left which was moving and which seemed to him to be an animal.

The young man thought of the flying saucers and alerted his comrade, who also saw while they were about 70 meters from it, the saucer flying away!

***

Our colleague Enderlin of "Le Courrier Picard" interviewed the two young masons. Devoisin told him that he saw a man he had first taken for a child and then for an animal. It looked like a diver, he said. I did not see him for long because he bypassed his craft which left immediately.

As for this craft, about 2 meters high, it was shaped like a beehive or a haystack and it was orange in color.

From the information we have gathered, it appears that Devoisin and Condette are two serious young people unable to forge a story of this kind. We can take the facts they told and who had disturbed them for that matter to be absolutely exact.

***

But here on their return, residents of our good city of Rue saw, with their eyes saw, not a saucer but a flying cigar. It is Mr. and Mrs. Galland, the well-known butchers on Caudron Avenue.

Last Sunday, in the evening, they were returning from Berck, by car, with their son Patrick.

Around 9:15 p.m., while they were on the old Pont à Cailloux, they saw in the sky a flying object, of orange color, having the shape of a cigar.

This craft descended about 200 meters from the ground and followed the road from Quend to Rue to Herre. It was flying silently and seemed to want to escort us, says Mr. Galland.

But when it got to Herre, it branched off to disappear from sight. We had the impression that it had landed on the ground.

Mr. Galland adds: I would have liked to search for it and find it to look at it more closely; but my wife and son were not very reassured. And we went back to Rue.

Let's add that the same evening and at the same time two truck drivers belonging to the Oscar Savreux company in Rue, MM. Georges Savary and Maurice Véron, as well as Madame Savary, saw in the foraine bleue, about 400 meters from Rue, a brilliant colored craft, in the shape of a top, which landed on the ground.

Mr. Savary wanted to approach it, but the top flew away vertically at an extraordinary speed.

So in two days two mysterious flying craft crisscrossed the sky of our region. Will we stop there and will we soon know what it is, where it comes from and what is the aim of these enigmatic craft?

VRON

Quickly, Devoisin climbs up a pylon. At his feet his friend: "Too late, it disappeared."

Their work finished, Bernard Devoisin and René Condette, 18, return to Vron by bicycle. Suddenly, on the route from Lignescourt [sic] to Vron (near Abbeville) Bernard shouts: - Look, René, over there, 70 m away... It's not an animal. Here, in the middle of the road, a saucer! And the pilot... He must have seen us despite his diving suit and mask. - You think? - Surely, he goes around his beehive-shaped machine, orange in color, and presto! Without a sound, the craft flies... Where is it? There, above the beets, it heads towards the "Bois du Vert-Logis". Not so fast. It's going at 45 an hour. Yes, but what a mass! At least 2 m. tall and 3 wide... Looks like it's going to mow the trees. Will it land further?".

Two youth of Vron said they were walking along the national highway between Crecy and Ligescourt when they saw a "curious machine" and strange creatures. It fled as they approached.

October 3 [, 1954]

[... other cases...]

06:45 p.m.: Ligescourt(4 km WNW of,D.27,5 km East I.S.L. of Vron--Somme: circul. lumin. orange craft, in shape of "haystack" + sm.being/ground

[... other cases...]

October 3, 1954: Ligescourt(at 4 km WNW of,on Rte. Dptale.27,i.e. at 8 km ISL at the NW of Crécy-en-Ponthieu and at 5 km ISL in the East of Vron--Somme): Bernard Devoisin and René Coudette(circular craft 3 m * 2 m + small "diver")

October 3, 1954, 06:45 p.m., Vron (France):

Between Rue and Quend on Road D27, Rene Coudette and B. Devoisin were riding bicycles with a third witness when they saw an orange object, shaped like a honeycomb, on the road ahead of them. A strange "man" wearing a diving suit was standing close to it. When they got within 70 m of it, the object took off very fast. (Le Figaro, 4 Oct. 1954; France-Soir, Libération, la Croix, 5 Oct. 1954).

183 10/3/54 Vron

183) October 3, 1954, 06:45 p.m., Vron (France):

Between Rue and Quend on Road D27, Rene Coudette and B. Devoisin were riding bicycles with a third witness when they saw an orange object, shaped like a honeycomb, on the road ahead of them. A strange "man" wearing a diving suit was standing close to it. When they got within 70 m of it, the object took off very fast. (P32, M 118).

Ligescourt (Somme) 6:45 p.m.

Two young people discovered a craft in the shape of a haystack 3m wide and 2m high posed in the middle of the road. The craft was luminous orange in color. Beside it was a being the size of a child who was dressed likee a diver. The being climbed into the craft which took off as the witnesses approached...

54-41 Oct. 3. 1954 1845 Near Vron. France Type B

Two young cyclists, Bernard Devoisin and Rene Coudette, both 18, saw in the middle of the road an orange-luminous object of "haystack" shape, 3 yards wide and 2 yards high. Approaching to within 70 yards, they observed a being "the height of a child, dressed like a diver", which entered the UFO. The craft took off without a sound.

Investigator:

Source: Michel, Straight-Line Mystery, P. 118.

1954 CORR.

October 1, 1954 1845 Nr Lugescourt (Somme), France Type b

Two young men were bicycling when they saw on the road, 500 ft ahead, a bee-hive-shaped orange object about 9 ft in dimeter and 6 ft high. Then they sawa being of small stature dressed in a diving suit, who ran rapidly around the object. It took off without sound when the witnesses were 150 ft away.

Investigator:

Source: J. Guieu, black Out, p. 159.

#270 (10/3/54) See HUMCAT #270

1954 Corrigenda

HumCat # 270

October 1, 1954 1845 Btw Vron and Ligescourt (Somme), France Type B

Note the correction on the date-not 10/3, as in Humcat.

Rene Condette {note variation on spelling--it's not certain that this is correct--tb.) and Bernard Devoisin approached the object to within 50 meters. Height of the entity is given as no more than 90 cm to one meter.

Investigator:

Source: Mesnard and Bigorne, "Les Humanoides en France" (unpublished), p. 134, citing l'Oise-Matin, October 4, 1954.

See 54-41 OCT. 3

28 - October 1, 6:45 p.m., Crécy/Ligescourt, Somme

MM. Bernard Devoisin and René Coudette.

The witnesses ride their bicycles on the D27. 4km from Ligescourt, they see an orange luminous craft 3m wide and 2m high. It is circular, in the shape of a haystack, and placed in the middle of the road. As they approached, the witnesses noticed near the object, a being similar to a child dressed as a diver. The character climbs back into the craft which takes off quickly and without making the slightest noise, while the witnesses are no more than 70m from the phenomenon.

Source: Figuet, p. 103.

3891: 1954/10/01 18:50 8 1:52:20 E 50:17:40 N 3333 WEU FRN SMM A:7

D27 nr CRECY,FR:2 OBS:OID/DIVING SUIT ENTERS SLNT 3M DISK+away:/r112p93

Ref#217 Jean SIDER: Le DOSSIER 1954 (2 vol.) Page No. 176 : FARMLANDS

[... Other cases...]

3 October Vron, France, (about 6:45 p.m.)

A "ship" and a "creature."

Michel wrote.

"On Sunday evening, October 3, two young men of Vron (Somme) were riding their bicycles along Route D-27. Vron is a little village five miles from both Rue and Quend, the area where, two and a half hours later, the second pursuit of a car by an unidentified object would take place.

"About 6.45, as the Vron cyclists were two and a half miles from Ligescourt, they suddenly perceived, 150 yards ahead, in the middle of the road, a sort of luminous device emitting an orange light The witnesses, Bernard Devoisin and Rene Coudette, both 18 years old at the time, tell the story.

"'It was circular, three yards wide, perhaps two yards high, and called to mind the shape of a haystack Near it something moved, which we first took for an animal But as we approached it we soon saw that it was a creature the height of a child, dressed like a diver. It entered the machine, which took rapidly to the air without a sound when we were no further than 70 yards away from it.'

"To those who interrogated them the two boys appeared to be sincere. It should be noted that the object they described—an orange-luminous disk with high-domed top—strongly resembles the one reported by hundreds of other witnesses in the hours that followed. As for the 'little creature' they claimed to have seen, it bears an unmistakable resemblance to those described by other persons many times in the course of the autumn of 1954" (xx)

• (xx.) Michel, Aime. Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery, pp. 118-119

94.
Location. Near Ligescourt Somme France
Date: October 1 1954
Time: 1645

Two young men were bicycling when they saw on the road, 500 ft ahead, a beehive-shaped orange object about 9 ft in diameter and 6 ft high. Then they saw a being of small stature dressed in a diving suit, which ran rapidly around the object. It took off without sound when the witnesses were 150 ft away.

Humcat 1954-16
Source: J Guieu in Black Out
Type: C

102.
Location. Near Vron France
Date: October 3 1954
Time: 1845

Two young cyclists, Bernard Devoisin and Rene Coudette, both 18, saw in the middle of the road an orange luminous object of "haystack" shaped, 3 yards wide and 2 yards high. Approaching to within 70 yards, they observed a being "the height of a child, dressed like a diver," which entered the UFO. The craft took off without a sound.

Humcat 1954-66
Source: Aime Michel
Type: B

TABLE 1. UFO OCCUPANT SIGHTINGS, 1954-1963

[...]

October 3, 1954 Bernard Devoisin, Rene Coudette, Ligescourt, France 6:45 P.M.

One child-sized being, diver's suit; glowing orange domed disc on road, bicyclists approached, being entered craft and took off.

[...]

October 1 1954, 1845hrs.

VRON (SOMME : FRANCE)

Between Rue and Quend on Rte D 27, 4km from Ligescourt, Rene Coudette (18) and Bernard Devoisin (18) were cycling with a third witness, when they saw a luminous, orange, domed disc, 3m wide, 2m high, resembling a haystack or honeycomb, on the road 20m ahead of them. A man, the height of a child, dressed like a diver, stood by the machine. As the witnesses approached to within 70m, the little man hurried back to the object, which took off very rapidly.

Alain Gamard citing Abbeville Libre 8 October 1954 + Le Journal du Rue 9 October 1954 + Le Courrier Picard 4 October 1954 + La Voix du Nord 5 October 1954 + Radar 17 October 1954.
Michel 1958, p.118.
Vallee case 183, citing Figaro 4 October 1954 + France Soir + Liberation + La Croix all 5 October 1954.
Richard Heiden citing Carrouges 1967, p.158.

Location: Near Lugescourt Somme France

Date: October 1 1954

Time: 1645

Two young men were bicycling when they saw on the road, 500 ft ahead, a beehive-shaped orange object about 9 ft in diameter and 6 ft high. Then they saw a being of small stature dressed in a diving suit, which ran rapidly around the object. It took off without sound when the witnesses were 150 ft away.

Source: J. Guieu in Black Out

Location: Near Vron France

Date: October 3 1954

Time: 1845

Two young cyclists, Bernard Devoisin and Rene Coudette, both 18, saw in the middle of the road an orange luminous object of “haystack” shaped, 3 yards wide & 2 yards high. Approaching to within 70 yards, they observed a being “the height of a child, dressed like a diver,” which entered the UFO. The craft took off without a sound.

Source: Aime Michel; Magonia 183

*Oct. 3, 1954 - Between Rue and Quend, France on Route D27, near the village of Vron, Rene Coudette and B. Devoisin were riding bicycles with a third witness when they saw an orange object, shaped like a beehive, on the road ahead of them. A small strange "man" wearing a diving suit, about 0.9 meters (3 foot) tall, was standing close to it. When they got within 70 meters of it, the object took off very fast. Less than three hours later, the same or a similar orange object chased a car down a road in Quend for eight kilometers, then flew away toward the sea. The witness was a butcher named Georges Galant. (Sources: Aime Michel, Flying Saucers and the Straight Line Mystery, pp. 118, 116; Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: A Century of Landings, p. 216, case # 183).

October 1 1954. 1845hrs.

VRON (SOMME : FRANCE)

Between Rue and Quend on Rte D 27, 4km from Ligescourt, Rene Coudette (18) and Bernard Devoisin (18) were cycling with a third witness, when they saw a luminous, orange, domed disc, 3m wide, 2m high, resembling a haystack or honeycomb, on the road 20m ahead of them. A man, the height of a child, dressed like a diver, stood by the machine. As the witnesses approached to within 70m, the little man hurried back to the object, which took off very rapidly.

Alain Gamard citing Abbeville Libre 8 October 1954. + Le Journal du Rue 9 October 1954.+ Le Courrier Picard 4 October 1954. + La Voix du Nord 5 October 1954 + Radar 17 October 1954.

Michel 1958 p118

Vallee case 183 citing Figaro 4 October 1954. + France Soir + Liberation + La Croix all 5 October 1954.

Richard Heiden citing Carrouges 1967 p158

19/ Courrier Picard oor July 8, 2021

Reference reported by François Maell.

The "Courrier Picard" for Thursday July 8, 2021, publishes an article on page IV in the section "Small village, great stories (1/8)" titled "A flying saucer in Vron". This is an October 1954 sighting recounted by the wife of one of the witnesses.