The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Berry Républicain, Bourges, France, pages 1 and 10, on October 16, 1954.
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Marcel DEVOS
There is not a single mystery in this sweet country of France. Not to mention the mystery of "leaks", there is also the unknown - or the stranger - of flying saucers. But there is yet another mystery, no less impenetrable for being less well-known.
Has it ever happened to you, by chance, to be struck by a burning thirst in the middle of a leisurely stroll, and consequently, to have sat down at the terrace of one of those establishments traditionally known as a café? On the terrace, or inside - it matters little, for the result is the same...
You drink - if you wish. Then you leave a tip so that the waiter, in turn, can drink to your health. Spontaneously...
Spontaneously? Not always. There are laws of propriety. So you give the man who served you a gratuity that logic would suggest be proportionate to your generosity - which custom, if not written law, requires to be proportionate to the amount of your bill. And if, due to a lack of change or as part of an interesting psychological experiment, you give him less than 10% - or preferably 12% - you are entitled, as a bonus, to a full-blown scene, or at the very least, a disapproving eyebrow that will invariably fill you with the shame reserved for the rude, the killjoys, the stingy, the miserly, the tight-fisted, the ill-mannered, and all other unsociable beings.
Read more on PAGE 10
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Continued from PAGE ONE
Avignon, October 15. -- Yesterday, in the early afternoon at 1:30 p.m., the population of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse was in a stir.
A "white disc" was slowly hovering above the small town; it was clearly visible through good binoculars.
This white disc was topped by a dome of the same color. The circular lower edge intermittently emitted two bright lights varying from white to violet, passing through red.
The Caritat Air Base (Vaucluse) was alerted and immediately dispatched two jet aircraft, which soon appeared. After circling twice over Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, they gained altitude and dived toward the disc.
The radio onboard the jets, in communication with the base, announced that the object was in sight and was being chased, but it was escaping because its speed exceeded that of the jets.
From Vaucluse, one could clearly see the disc darting away, followed by the two jet planes.
Paris, October 15. -- The Secretary of State for the Air communicates:
"Contrary to what certain daily newspapers reported this morning, the Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (Air) wishes to clarify that the two pilots from the Orange base who flew at various altitudes over Fontaine-de-Vaucluse on the afternoon of October 14 observed no unknown object during their search.
The two pilots are experienced officers, and their report is unequivocal."
CASABLANCA. -- The daily "Maroc-Presse" of Casablanca reports that an engineer from Meknès, who was driving to Port-Lyautey, claimed to have been stopped yesterday morning in the Mamora forest by a man wearing a shiny suit.
This man, about 1.20 meters tall, then walked toward a craft parked on the roadside. As soon as he entered the craft, it took off and vanished at high speed.
TOULOUSE. -- Mr. Roger Ramond, a city councilor in Vielmur-sur-Agout (Tarn), reported having seen, at 11:30 p.m. yesterday, a craft shaped like an elongated balloon, about 2–3 meters long and 1–1.5 meters high, orange in color. The light it emitted brightly lit the vineyard stumps within a 50-meter radius. This appearance lasted until 2:15 a.m., then the object slowly rose vertically to about 20 meters off the ground and vanished in a flash without leaving a trail.
NIMES. -- Two people reported seeing a greenish glow in a field last night while returning home, a few kilometers north of Nîmes. They approached and saw a device identical in shape to a rugby ball, seemingly resting on struts. The strange device suddenly rose into the air, emitting a faint noise and gradually changing to an orange color.
GRAULHET. -- A leatherworker from Graulhet reported seeing a silver craft at high altitude yesterday afternoon, heading northwest. At first he mistook it for a jet plane, but, seeing no contrail, he fetched binoculars and clearly saw a wide, flexible disc undulating as it moved rapidly.
Then the craft appeared to explode midair. A silver ball, about one meter in diameter, separated from the main mass and continued on its path until it disappeared. Meanwhile, the rest of the object fell in several pieces, resembling cloths of various sizes, drifting in the sky - some even got caught on telegraph wires.
About fifteen people witnessed this unusual event, and fragments of the material were collected. They appeared as agglomerated silver filaments that crumbled when touched.
LONDON, October 15. -- A 23-year-old Englishwoman from Southend, at the mouth of the Thames, claimed to have seen a flying cylinder that had landed on a road crossing a park in the town.
According to the "Evening News", the young woman encountered this metallic cylinder late last night. It was about four meters tall and three meters in diameter. A tube the size of a human body was attached to the outside. It had neither wheels nor legs, and a faint silver glow seemed to emanate from within.
She fled, and when she looked back after running 100 meters, the cylinder had disappeared without a sound.
BANGKOK, October 15. -- Hundreds of people witnessed a flying saucer in the late afternoon over Bangkok.
While the Siamese, with serene and skeptical composure, watched the sky dotted with white cumulus clouds, the Europeans, highly agitated, pointed out a glittering disc - apparently about a third the diameter of the full moon - which appeared to be traversed by a wave that progressively silvered its surface from left to right, much like certain neon advertising signs.
The saucer slowly drifted from north to south for about fifteen minutes before vanishing.
Meanwhile, a Thai weekly reported "multiple sightings of flying saucers over the Siam–Burma border". Some of these craft were said to have landed in the jungle.
Finally, according to the same weekly, a "mysterious ray" had allegedly carbonized several villagers.
