The 1954 French flap:

A METEOR IN THE SKY OF SAINT-NAZAIRE

SAINT-NAZAIRE. -- Yesterday morning in Saint-Nazaire, a moving ball of fire was seen by many people, including workers as they were heading to work around 7 a.m. Many witnesses to this phenomenon believe it was a meteor.

Flying saucers in the sky of the Peninsula

Whether they live in St-Brévin, in Le Croisic, in Savenay, in Le Pouliguen, in Pornichet, in Montoir, Donges, Mesquer, Ste-Marguerite en Brière or in Saint-Nazaire, very many people claim to have seen in the sky, on Thursday morning, a strange glow.

All the statements collected on this subject are striking in that they coincide exactly.

It is therefore difficult to doubt the good faith of so many people.

It was not quite 7 a.m. on Thursday morning when the fog covering the region began to lift shortly afterward, when a very bright glow—"that one could not stare at," several people told us—appeared in the sky moving from west to east. It described a rapid ნახევ-circle and disappeared immediately.

Before going to work, a cyclist coming from Pornichet, was the first to report the phenomenon, stating in particular: "I did not believe in it until now, but this time I am absolutely convinced."

During the day, numerous confirmations came from different people who are entirely trustworthy.

The most sensational collective testimony was provided by the users of the Mindin ferry who, while heading to the landing stage, saw this very bright streak of light in the sky.

Who will know exactly its origin? Some people point out, quite rightly moreover, that shortly afterward one could hear the characteristic whistling of the "Sabres" [F-86 Sabre jet aircraft] currently being received at the Gron airfield. Others think that it is rather a phenomenon due to the fog.

To these remarks, the witnesses point out that never has a jet aircraft been so dazzling, even when placed under the most generous sunlight.

But in Montoir, a person whose profession provides serious credibility to the statement he made, has already observed the same phenomenon three times.

If we are to believe customers of the Café des Lilas near the bridge of Le Pouliguen, a flying saucer crossed the sky over the seaside resort on Thursday morning:

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FLYING SAUCERS IN THE SKY OVER THE PENINSULA?

A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING IN MANY LOCALITIES SAW A STRANGE GLOW IN THE SKY ON THURSDAY

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"It was exactly 6:57," specify eyewitnesses of this sight, which seems to have deeply impressed them.

Mr. Sarrazin, owner of the establishment, adds his testimony to theirs.

"When, at their shouts, I stepped outside my doorway," he says, "the object had disappeared, but its glow still illuminated the whole landscape."

According to the customers, the object, which came from the sea and was heading toward the village of Careil along an ascending oblique trajectory, was visible to them for about ten seconds.

Orange in color, the luminous disc, which moved silently through space, was traveling at very high speed.

Several fishermen from Le Pouliguen who were preparing to leave the harbor also noticed the bright glow emitted by the "saucer," but when they looked up at the sky, the flying machine had disappeared.

The same phenomenon was observed near the Belon marsh in La Baule by workers of Mr. Maillocheau, a salt merchant in Le Pouliguen, and by a merchant from Guérande, as well as by several inhabitants of the town.

Two gendarmes from La Baule themselves, Messrs. Delangs and Rossignol, on patrol along the Grande Côte, stated that they saw this celestial "vehicle," which they nevertheless believe to have been an aerolite.

It is a pity that the mysterious object left behind only such fleeting traces.

IN LA ROCHE-BERNARD, COWS ARE SAID TO NO LONGER PRODUCE MILK!

Great excitement in the Hergnac region, La Roche-Bernard.

At daybreak, workers on their way to Saint-Nazaire for work saw an oblong-shaped object leaving behind it an intense luminous trail.

The brightness was such that at the beginning of the phenomenon, the witnesses thought it was the light produced by a car’s headlights suddenly reflected in the sky.

But imagination runs wild... Is it not said at the market that cows in the surrounding areas, whose udders are usually generous, were by chance found to have run dry? From there to saying that the "Martians" had come during the night to milk them, there was only one step. That step was quickly taken in La Roche-Bernard, where people spoke only of Martians, and some people—especially women—took pleasure in giving a physical description of them with such precision that one might think it accurate. If one did not know the natural enthusiasm of women for everything new, one might believe it to be true.

But have not all these enthusiasts of comets, fireballs, cigars, and flying saucers often been, like us, victims or witnesses of a mirage created by dawn or dusk when the sky comes alive with a thousand lights? It is then easy to give a shape or a name to this phenomenon which moves, harmonizes, or collides in this magnificent display that will always be called light.

Saucer, meteor, or anti-fog rocket?

After the passage of a flying saucer (?) over the St-Nicolas marsh, seen by two S.N.C.F. employees and whose report caused a stir at the time, the sky over Redon was recently again the scene of a luminous phenomenon.

Around 7:15 a.m., more than fifty workers from the Garnier factory, on their way to work and living in the Morbihan (Aneler, Rieux, St-Jean-la-Poterie), saw above them a glowing ball moving at high speed and emitting sparks.

At the same time, a driver from the C.G.E.A. bus, on his way to Muzillac, was surprised by the light spread abundantly along his route, wondering what kind of vehicle could produce headlights with such intensity. It was the famous phosphorescent object he saw for a few seconds.

The ball must have traveled across the sky of the Redon region for several minutes, as Messrs. Guyot and Jolivet, postmen in Bains-sur-Oust, saw it heading south; people from Laillé and Maure reported it moving from west to east; and Mr. Cavard, tobacconist on Grande-Rue in Redon, saw it head west.

Additionally, the phenomenon was also observed at around the same time in Sables-d'Olonne, Nantes, St Nazaire, La Baule, La Roche Bernard, Pontivy, and Brest.

To date, no one has been able to determine the nature of the object, except our colleague La Résistance de l'Ouest, who, appearing well-informed, writes:

"The flying saucers, streaking, blazing, or detonating, seen in the sky last Thursday would in reality be nothing more than a peaceful 'anti-fog' rocket currently being tested at a secret location, which we know is situated between St-Nazaire and Donges. This rocket, now in development, is expected to provide great service to navigation."

On November 4, towards 7 o'clock in Saint-Nazaire people saw in the sky, a kind of ball of pale pink color, diffusing a very sharp light and moving from west to east.