The article below was published in the daily newspaper L'Oise-Matin, Beauvais, France, page 10, on October 25, 1954.
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A single "flying saucer" was reported, during the weekend, in the skies of France.
Consumers at a café in Wittenheim said they saw, on Saturday evening, around 11 p.m., at about 500 meters of height, a circular craft turning rapidly on itself and moving at a moderate pace. The night was very clear and the witnesses noted, they say, that the craft was animated by a movement of horizontal rotation which gave it the appearance of a saucer and it also revolved around a central core, evoking then the shape of a cigar.
After about ten minutes of maneuvers, the craft, whose outer edges had passed successively from red to brown, then to bright red, and whose incandescent central core was surrounded by sparks, quickly disappeared, the witnesses also said.
The testimonies collected for more than a month about the "flying saucers" and "flying cigars" seen in the skies of Italy, were the topic of a press release from the Ministry of the Forces of Air, in Rome.
"Until now," the press release said, "radar devices have not detected any craft of this kind, with the exception of airplanes and weather balloons whose characteristics are known."
"Special instructions were given to the commanders of the detection stations to intensify surveillance during the twilight and night hours, during which, according to witnesses, the "flying discs" were seen, the statement added.
"As for the documentation on the flying "disks" that the Italian Air Force possesses, it is only, specifies the press release, a few testimonies emanating from officers who would have seen these craft above the Thyrrenian coastline, moving in a south-north direction at a speed greater than 2,000 kilometers per hour."
