The article below was published in the daily newspaper La Bourgogne Républicaine, Dijon, France, pages 1 and 12, on January 9, 1954.
See the case file.
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Marseille, 8 (A.C.P.). -- Strange facts to say the least were recorded on the airport of Marignane; which make it possible to ask the question: did a flying saucer land?
These facts go back to Monday evening, and there is only one witness: the firefighter on duty, Chesneau.
One dark night, a little after 9 p.m., Chesneau was on duty at the Boussiron hangar.
Suddenly, he saw, coming from the south, "a rounded and luminous craft" which descended at moderate speed in what he judged to be the direction of the strip. The craft soon touched the ground, bounced slightly a few times...
However, one did not expect a plane at that time in Marignane. Maybe it was a lost aircraft, some private plane without an onboard radio?
Out of professional consciousness, the firefighter phoned the tower. But, while he called from inside, the craft must have disappeared because the calls from the control tower remained unanswered.
Continued on page 12, under the title
FLYING SAUCER
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A car inspected the track, all headlights on, but found nothing. The same was true of all the night patrols carried out by the gendarmerie patrols, who guard the aerodrome.
When the day broke, more careful research revealed, scattered on the strip, about twenty metallic debris, among which several small rods about fifteen centimeters long, curved at one end and ending at the the other by a ball a little bigger than a marble. Traces of yellow metal, contrasting with the blackish gray hue of the ball, suggest that it has been soldered to the rod.
As usual, the greatest caution is required when it comes to flying saucers. However, the various hypotheses put forward to explain the event were discarded. If it had been a meteor, it would have fallen vertically [!], and the debris would be different. It cannot be an airplane. A balloon? Then its course would have followed the wind direction, while the "thing" was heading in the opposite direction.
Already, two years ago, it was reported that a "flying saucer" had landed and left Marignane. The witness was then a customs officer.
