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The article below was published in the daily newspaper L'Authie, Authie, Somme, France, page 3, October 23, 1954.
See the case file.
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An unknown object in the sky. - Thursday October 14, around 5 p.m., MM. Maurice Niquet, 17 years old, farmer; Georges Percheval, 33 years old, agricultural worker; and Emile Oncle, 55 years old, a farmer, were in the fields.
They were busy either cutting down barley or pulling out beets, when their attention was drawn to a brilliant object in the sky, at a great height, vertically above the hamlet of Hardinval, towards the south of the national road Abbeville-Doullens.
The craft, spherical in shape, moved slightly vertically and descended to a height of 50 meters. It might have a diameter evaluated at 10 meters, emitting gleams of all colors like a rainbow, these were reflected towards the ground and on the two horses led by Mr. Niquet. The horses, seized by fear, had to be uncoupled and held by the bridle.
The craft oscillated and it turned on the vertical plane first slowly then, the rotation increasing in speed, it took altitude obliquely in the direction of the South-West, went up to a very great height and disappeared, all this without any noise.
The three witnesses were amazed at this phenomenon which lasted more than 20 minutes.
The Doullens gendarmerie wrote up a report of the facts.
