UFOs in the daily Press:

DID A FLYING SAUCER
land on Moroccan soil?

So much has been said about flying saucers over the past six weeks that the news reaching us from Morocco will surprise no one - though it's not certain the reports will be met with complete credulity everywhere!

Our colleague "Maroc-Presse," who reports the astonishing story below, expresses some hesitation with the reserved headline: "Near Ifrane, a flying saucer landed on the ground... THE MOROCCAN SKY WAS DECIDEDLY TOO CROWDED."

However, there are several witnesses to the event, one of whom carries some weight: Mr. René Petitjean, Inspector of Water and Forests in Fez, who cannot be regarded as a fanciful observer.

Here is Mr. Petitjean's account:

"It was around half past midnight (during the night of July 16 to 17), when, returning from a fishing trip at Daïet-Aoua, in the Middle Atlas near the climate station of Ifrane (altitude 1,800 meters), my friends and I were preparing to leave when we saw a kind of fluorescence moving close to the ground. Naturally, we stopped and kept a respectful distance from the object. Then the shape began spinning rapidly in the air at high speed, without any noise, heading toward Fez. Despite this, we clearly saw the central cylindrical section, which appeared motionless, and the bluish spray of sparks emitted at takeoff."

The correspondent for "Maroc-Presse" in Fez, Mr. Georges Itié, a seasoned 60-year-old journalist who is not quick to believe in sea-serpent tales, went to interview Mr. Petitjean, who confirmed his impressions under conditions worth recording here.

Here is what the Inspector of Water and Forests said:

"I was about to get back into the car with my friends when we saw a slightly phosphorescent glow, which I initially took for the headlights of an approaching vehicle. But due to the bluish persistence of the luminous spot, I then thought it might be a leftover Bengal fire from the July 14th celebrations, perhaps lit by children for fun.

"Fearing, due to professional instinct, that the fire might spark a forest fire, I walked in its direction to ask them to put it out. That's when I realized it was neither car headlights nor a Bengal fire, but truly a strange, ovoid fluorescence, difficult to describe."

"One of my friends then joked about the possible appearance of one of those troubling phenomena known as 'flying saucers.' That's when we saw the object move along the ground and rise quickly into the air, seemingly startled by our presence, trailing bluish sparks."

- Could you give us the approximate distance between you and the object?

- Unfortunately, it's very hard to say, especially given the terrain at that location, which is rather open. My friends and I estimate it was between 500 and 1,000 meters away. But I really can't be more precise.

- How large do you estimate the object was?

- Again, it's hard to give a precise figure, due to the distance and light diffraction, but we roughly estimated it to be about twenty meters in diameter at its widest point.

- And finally, what was your reaction to the appearance of the "saucer"?

- We were very surprised - shocked, even frightened, to be honest. But a few moments later, we collected ourselves and agreed to go take a closer look. Unfortunately, we didn't have anything to light our way, and we saw nothing unusual - except perhaps a faint smell of sulfur and fuel.

"Personally, I can't believe in the existence of extraterrestrial apparitions, but it certainly seemed to be some kind of new experimental aeronautical device, equipped with radar and an advanced new radio-guidance system."

We now add this curious testimony to the flying saucer file. WHO CAN TOP THAT?