This article was published in the daily newspaper L'Express, Paris, France, on February 20, 1956.
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Detected by the Orly radar
A mysterious machine, twice larger than the most powerful transport aircraft, was detected during four hours in the night of Friday to Saturday by the radar of Orly. Following this appearance, extremely rigorous instructions of discretion were given to the personnel of the airport. One now talks about a flying saucer, but the specialists do not believe in it, no object of this kind having ever been observed by astronomers.
It is either a a secret spy aricraft, or a parasitic image caused by uncontrolled interferences, comparable in the effects with the parasites which oppose radio broadcasts.
It is at 10:50 p.m. that an agent of air transport of Orly noticed on his screen this abnormal point.
It moved at a speed of 2.400 kms per hour, which increased even up to 3.600 kms per hour. The "thing" went to the meeting of the Air France plane from Paris to London. Its displacement was not at all scheduled in the civil or military night air traffic.
Calls by radio were sent to it in several languages. It did not answer. Besides, this silence can be explained by the fact that perhaps the craft did not have a listening instrument connected on the frequencies of Orly.
It changed course several times. It was motionless, then started again. Located at the vertical of the radio beacon of Gornetz-le-Châtel, close to Rambouillet, it flew in 10 seconds to Boissy-St-Leger. It had thus crossed 50 kilometers in 30 seconds. Its speed was thus 3.600 kms-hour.
The observers noticed that it was interested particularly in the landings and takeoffs of the other planes. It generally followed them at the start of Orly and Le Bourget.
The radar of Le Bourget did not record anything, besides. The official services make the greatest mystery around this appearance and keep a complete silence. The observatory of Paris did not note anything in the sky.
