This article was published in the daily newspaper Le Quotidien de la Haute-Loire, France, October 7, 1954.
A retired miner, of Beuvry-les-B thune, known in his commune as a prankster, did not miss the occasion offered to him by the mystery of the flying saucers, to have fun on the residents of the nearby localities...
Inspired by the system of the Montgolfier, the restired chap manufactured machines which reached three meters in diameter. The envelope was made of strong gray paper sheets, carefully stuck. At the "saucer's" base was a small receptacle in which a tuft of packing soaked with a flammable liquid rested. It was then enough to ignite the packing to make the machine to rise and disappear at the liking of the winds, surrounded by yellowish and orange reflections. It is after the discovery, close to a haystack in which one of these machines had nearly set fire, that the gendarmes were brought to suspect the pensioner. One was to discover besides at his place many "flying saucers" models, prototypes which their inventor was preparing to launch in the sky of the Nord. The mystifier claimed that he already had built and launched more than one thousand of these machines. The ex-miner will undoubtedly be condemned to infringments for dangerous recreations.
Roadmenders who worked at the edge of the road of Coulommiers-Meaux, had stated to have seen, several days ago, in a field, community of Maisoncelles, a flying saucer resting on three crutches. One of them, Mr. Goujon, had even claimed that within 150 meters of the machine, he had been paralysed by an electric ray. The Gendarmerie of Coulommiers decided to question the witnesses. Several retracted immediately by declaring that they had a bad sight, that they were not sure of what they had seen, or that they saw nothing at all. The principal interested, Mr. Goujon remained very firm in his statements. So the Gendarmes took him along on the location, in the presence of some scientific personalities, on the other hand one photographed the holes left by the machine.
In the worldwide controversy on the flying saucers, a man comes to take a categorical position, which will not fail to cause many comments. Mr. Duncan Fletcher, vice-president of the astronomical association of Kenya, and a known astronomer, claims that "on board flying saucers, visitors from another world observe the earth and probably draw up the geographical map of it! For Doctor Flecher, innumerable reasons militate in favour of the existence of many planets able to harbour life. This life probably differs in a very considerable way of life as we know on Earth. Are the beings visiting the earth large or small, do they have blood in the veins, do they even have veins? Many questions which will have a response only to the moment when these beings decide to contact the humans. The most encouraging fact of the affair, added the Nairobi scientist, is that the unidentified flying objects do not appear to be piloted by beings having hostile intentions with regard to the inhabitants of our planet...
