The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Bien Public, Dijon, France, pages 1 and 10, on October 27, 1954.
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Interviews collected by Gabriel HERE
THE NUMBER of "flying saucers" and, more generally, mysterious craft reported in the French skies has, in recent weeks, reached a level that even America (all proportions considered) never experienced, not even during the great wave of hysteria that developed there in 1952. Dozens of people at a time claim to have observed discs, spheres, cigars, even mushrooms or cucumbers of various colors. And the descriptions of dwarfs or hairy giants, or beings clad in diving suits, have been so numerous and so varied that they are now beginning to raise smiles.
The scientists and technicians themselves have begun to worry about these repeated sightings and the panic they might cause. In Sainceny [sic], near Chauny (Aisne), did a farmer not nearly get killed by a neighbor who, mistaking him for a "Martian" while he was repairing his car by the light of a headlamp, fired two shotgun rounds at him?
Since no scientist or technician has yet seen a "saucer," they rely on the countless testimonies
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"credible" that four men, counted among the most reliable figures in science, were kind enough to share their thoughts with us.
The first French specialist in "flying saucers" is undoubtedly Mr. Alexandre Ananoff, who is already preparing for interplanetary travel. Along with many foreign scientists, he aims to conquer the Moon first, then after that dead satellite, Mars and perhaps Venus. He has not failed to study the conditions of life on these globes lost in interstellar space. But what astronomical science has taught him is not encouraging.
– I would have been the first to be happy if the "saucers" were of planetary origin: perhaps the Martians would have allowed us to leave Earth more quickly to explore the universe. But we know that on Mars the conditions for normal life are not met. People often forget that gravity on that planet is three times weaker than on Earth. A Martian (if such existed) who weighed 50 kilos at home would feel like he weighed 150 kilos upon landing here. On Venus, life is probably possible, but only in a way similar to Earth 300 million years ago, meaning in plant form only. As for the other planets, they are too far away.
"It would also be strange that these "visitors" have not yet extended a hand since they are supposedly observing us."
Remembering, however, the technical advances of the German scientists now spread around the world, Mr. Ananoff believes in the emergence of revolutionary craft.
"The secret of the V-2s was well kept for ten years," he says. "The saucers may be improvements of one of the many projects under development at the end of the war. Their piloting may be done remotely or by small-statured humans capable of better withstanding the intense accelerations reported."
A pilot and still-active engineer, Mr. Gabriel Voisin has been following the evolution of aviation technology for fifty years. From the gliders he piloted at the beginning of the century to today's supersonic aircraft, he has seen the science of flight grow. That is why the extraordinary maneuvering abilities of the "saucers" lead him to deny a terrestrial origin:
"There is no human technology that could allow for such performance—trajectory and speed variations like those described, alas, too fragmentarily. A new technology is the result of slow maturation, known to the entire world and contributed to by all. A discovery is only the ray of sunlight that makes the flower bloom, nourished by all the roots."
– Does that mean there are no "flying saucers"? The universe is vast, and our notions of time and distance may have no relevance to those of other beings. Even here on Earth, in the famous Valley of the Giants, there are trees that are 2,000 years old.
– One must have a bit of imagination, and it's up to the astronomers to answer.
The father of the revolutionary aircraft once dubbed "flying stovepipes" has also taken an interest in the mysterious craft that seem to enter our skies. For him too, the lack of precision in "testimonies" is a handicap. But the extraordinary capabilities attributed to "saucers" and "cigars" also surprise him—he, who is building the aircraft of tomorrow:
"The current state of technology does not allow for imagining a craft capable of both hovering in place and reaching the speeds attributed to the 'saucers' within seconds. Such a craft, powered by thermal energy, would require an enormous quantity of fuel—if we assume it comes from America or Russia. Instead of 10,000 calories, it would need 100,000 per kilogram of fuel. Atomic energy, for its part, is not yet sufficiently controlled to power aircraft of such small size."
He adds, however:
"There is a limitation in the current state of our technology. But it is not inconceivable to imagine that intelligent beings (in the case of extraterrestrial origin) are ahead of us. Progress cannot be denied. What will we be capable of in 50 years? The propulsion systems we use today are still very crude and have a ridiculously low energy efficiency."
Mr. Leduc, a specialist in thermal energy, naturally pointed out the difficulties that would arise in terms of propulsion. That is his field. But he also notes:
"During their lightning-fast accelerations, the "unidentified craft" have never produced the characteristic sonic boom of supersonic flight. We also know that at 4,000 km/h, air friction would raise the outer temperature of the craft to 600°C… although one could imagine, on the one hand, a coating material that resists that temperature, and on the other, that part of the fuel's energy is used for conditioning the cabin and structure."
Mr. Leduc reflects for a short moment, but concludes:
"I still believe that no human today is capable of building such astounding machines. Besides, what nation that had developed such extraordinary craft would risk flying them over other countries, at the risk of a breakdown—always possible—that could reveal its secret?"
And after a final hesitation:
"Could flying saucers then truly come from another world?"
Astronomers, capable of calculating the precise time of eclipses, weighing celestial bodies, and determining their trajectories—or even analyzing the atmosphere of nearby planets—are not swayed by the vague descriptions of "saucers" that we receive daily. Mr. Danjon, director of the Paris Observatory, offers a firm conclusion:
"All the "testimonies" that could be verified were either hoaxes or the product of sick imaginations. 'Saucers' are a new form of the eternal belief in the marvelous: the 'visions' we are so generously given are more a matter of psychopathology than astronomy."
Though for scientific rigor the technicians prefer not to make absolute statements outside their own fields, each at least denies the possible existence of saucers within his area of expertise.
Are the famous craft then truly nothing more than a myth?
Gabriel HERES
