The 1954 French flap:

Two village women in the Yonne saw a flying saucer and its pilot

AUXERRE, September 28 ("France-Soir" dispatch). -- Two residents of the village of Diges (Yonne), Mrs. Widow Geoffroy and Miss Gisèle Fin, reported seeing, yesterday around 9 a.m., in a clearing in the communal woods, a dark and dull-colored craft shaped like an upside-down saucer, measuring 5 to 6 meters in diameter, about one meter in height, and resting on what looked like skids.

Next to the craft stood a man of average height, dressed in dark clothing and wearing a kind of cap. Miss Fin, who saw the object from about thirty meters away, specified that the man appeared to be working near his machine. When she passed by again a few moments later, the craft had disappeared without a sound.

Meanwhile, in Neuvy-Sautour, Mr. Alcide Vallet, a painter, saw during the night an oval luminous object moving through the sky, followed by small stars that seemed to be attached to it. This first object was preceded by another identical one, but without the stars. Both objects were moving from south to north.

A "flying half-cigar" over the beach of Carry-le-Rouet

CARRY-LE-ROUET, September 28 ("France-Soir" dispatch). -- Three women from Marseille vacationing in Carry-le-Rouet claim to have seen, above the town's harbor, the descent of the "flying half-cigar" recently observed by thousands of Romans.

Mrs. Taupié-Laitage, Mrs. Pignol, and her 18-year-old daughter Isabelle, state they saw a "half-cigar" descend vertically and then depart silently, leaving a trail of smoke behind. The same phenomenon reportedly occurred again the next day.