The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Courrier Picard, France, on October 9, 1954.
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Every day has its "saucers", his "cigars" and other mysterious flying machines, seen here and there in the sky of our Picardy, not to mention other regions of France and elsewhere.
The most prudent circumspection imposing itself in this case, we will confine ourselves to mentioning, here, written or oral testimonies collected at various spots of the department, although some of these testimonies are apparently likely to arouse amused skepticism.
That said, it must be recognized that there is no smoke without fire, no "saucer", no "cup" or "croissants", usual accessories for the breakfast of the average Frenchman.
[Photo caption:] The fake "saucer" of Saint-Blimont. The meteorological device placed on the ground is surmounted by the frame supporting the parachute.
Admittedly, irony is easy in a matter which can come from the domain of unknown science, as from the simplest mystification, if not from collective suggestion.
However, there remains the fact that people, perfectly trustworthy and offering all the mental guarantees, were able to contemplate unusual apparitions which have also greatly impressed them.
So let us be careful not to conclude by stating that all the testimonies collected, without exception, are genuinely founded, as by saying that none is absolutely valid.
The last twenty-four hours have brought to the editorial staff of "Le Courrier Picard", the now usual windfall of more or less fugitive vision, more or less clear, more or less colored with meteoric craft.
One of these reports promised to be sensational.
Was it not, for the first time, the fall of a saucer that crashed on the ground near Saint-Blimont?
Some cultivators and workers in this commune having seen descend and land in a field, a "bizarre device", which emitted gleams, promptly alerted, Mr. Raymond Bouchet, head of grater.
The latter went on the spot to note immediately that the extraordinary machine was quite simply a kind of sounding-balloon belonging to the services of British Meteorology.
Helped by Mr. Gaston Lecomte, farmer, Mr. Bouchet carried the device - very damaged by the fall - in his office where he examined it at leisure.
Mr. Bouchet very complacently described the machine, essentially consisting of a balloon (exploded) of about four to five meters in diameter, a parachute mounted on a frame of aluminum tubes, in the shape of a cross, all retaining, by a ten meter wire, the meteorological device itself; which bore the mention of its origin as well as a card to be sent - in case of loss - to the Royal Meteorological Service of Great Britain.
As for the gleams seen, they are explained by the reflections of the sun on the aluminum tubes and the three spoon blades, activated by the winds.
Mr. Bouchet told us that the parts attached to the device were sent by him to the director of the Headstone Drive Meteorological Office, in Harrow (Middlesex).
Thus, the residents of Saint-Blimont, who thought they were the first Earthmen to actually have a special shipment from the planet Mars, had to resign themselves to a more... down to earth reality.
However in this same region of Abbeville, another appearance which dates back to Wednesday evening, around 6:00 p.m., was observed by a resident of Nouvion-en-Ponthieu, Mrs. Barotte, who was hanging out laundry in her yard. She perceived, she said, in the sky an object in the shape of a cigar reflecting various hues (red, orange, silver, etc ...)
Mrs. Barotte immediately called her neighbor, Mrs. Crouy, manager of a grocery store, and both distinctly saw the craft moving at low speed from East to West, that is to say towards the sea. They could follow it with their eyes until a cloud concealed it from them.
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Another Picard, but who hasn't seen anything like that - at least not yet - writes to us from Fouilloy, to inform us of the existence of interesting documentation about the unknown flying machines. It is found in two issues of a magazine. One is from July 1950 and contains an article titled "Flying Saucers and Cigars", signed by Henry Taylor, journalist and radio commentator, who gives personal explanations on the origin of these craft, their contexture, etc...
Unfortunately, the other article published in August 1952, under the title: "Are we being watched by other planets", and the signature of H. Darrach and Robert Ginna, opposes a formal denial to the first, revealing in particular that flying saucers were observed for the first time... in 1882.
All this, which is doubtless only anticipation speculation, hardly advances us and the problem remains posed.
It will remain so until the day when - everything is possible - the mysterious hairy air travelers and orange corsets wearers will agree to exchange impressions with us, instead of scurrying vertically when a terrorized Eartham approaches them.
