The article below was published in the daily newspaper Le Républicain Lorrain, Nancy, France, page 6, on August 17, 1954.
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ROME -- A mysterious craft crossed the skies of Rome on Friday afternoon. It was observed for about 40 minutes by the observation station of the Military Command at the Ciampino airfield. According to information provided by the airfield, it was a "craft" in the shape of a "half-cigar", flying at a reduced speed, at an altitude of about 1,200 meters.
A trail of luminous smoke emerged from its narrower end. By following the craft's movements, the Ciampino observation station noted that it made, at one point, a "fall" of 400 meters before immediately regaining altitude by going from a horizontal to a vertical position. As the craft was heading out to sea, the Ciampino airfield reported its presence to the military control station at Pratica di Mare, about thirty kilometres from Rome, which managed to "capture" it on its radar and track it for about twenty minutes. The radar reportedly reported the presence of an antenna in the centre of the widest part of the "half-cigar". The Monte Mario observatory (Rome) ruled out the possibility that it was a bolide, as no celestial body had crossed the sky over Rome during the day. The craft was spotted again at 16:45 (GMT) and disappeared in a north-westerly direction at 18:23 (GMT).
