The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Patriote de Nice et du Sud-Est, Nice, France, page 1, on October 31, 1954.
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THE HAGUE. -- "Flying saucers and similar objects must be classified in the realm of fables," is the conclusion reached by the astronomers at the Utrecht Observatory.
After reviewing and studying approximately 4,000 letters [1] they have received since 1947, in which unusual objects or lights in the sky were reported, the Utrecht astronomers stated that most people who believed they had seen a flying saucer were mistaken—either by condensation trails from jet fighters, weather balloons, shooting stars, or other natural phenomena. The astronomers conclude that these misinterpretations are due to the relatively short time during which such phenomena can typically be observed.
As for the possibility that the saucers are a human invention, "either American or Russian," it is rejected by the Utrecht astronomers, who believe that such revolutionary craft would not be sent over territory where they might crash. Furthermore, the astronomers point out, such an invention would render all current research aimed at improving conventional aircraft unnecessary. [2]
The latest hypothesis put forward in the Netherlands to explain sightings of mysterious objects is that radio, radar, and television waves may produce luminous effects when they come into contact with radioactive clouds or highly ionized atmospheric layers. [3]
Notes:
The newspaper was a Communist Party publication, whose doctrine held that "flying saucers" were fables - in fact, misinterpretations, or maneuvers of "American imperialist propaganda"; the American CIA, for its part, claimed they were Soviet propaganda.
It is clear that the article may have simplified the statements of the Utrecht astronomers or omitted entire sections.
[1] It is completely implausible that the Dutch astronomers actually received those "4,000 letters."
[2] These arguments are perfectly valid and will remain so for decades to come.
[2] Pseudo-scientific nonsense often put forward at the time. The astronomers of 1954 were competent in studying analog photographs taken through their telescopes, but had no particular expertise in electromagnetism. Ball lightning and the corona effect around high-voltage power lines do exist, but the data shows that very, very few so-called "flying saucer" cases can be explained this way.
