The 1954 French flap:

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September 10, 1954, Quarouble, Nord:

Reference number for this case: 10-sep-54-Quarouble. Thank you for including this reference number in any correspondence with me regarding this case.

Reports:

[Ref. cdn1:] "LA CROIX DU NORD" NEWSPAPER:

A resident of Quarouble

says: "I saw a

flying saucer

two little being with helmets

of glass> jumped into the craft" Will the epidemic of flying saucers which usually rages in July and August reach its climax in September this year? A few days ago, it was near Amiens that walkers claimed to have seen a mysterious craft. As they approached, the machine rose into the air and when the gendarmes went to the landing site, they did not, of course, detect any suspicious traces. In the night from Friday to Saturday, a saucer reportedly landed this time on the territory of the commune of Quarouble, located in the Valenciennes area, near the Belgian border. Mr. Marius Dewilde, 34, who occupies a house at P.N. 79, on the railway line, claims to have seen the craft within five meters. Two little beings "At around 10:30 p.m., said Mr. Dewilde, when I was busy reading and my wife had gone to the next room, I heard my Continued on the last page,

in the fifth column, under the title

"SAUCER"

SAUCER dog howling to death. Thinking that a prowler was trying to enter my backyard, I went out, armed with a flashlight. Then I saw, about six meters away, a dark shape, which I took for a cart of farmers abandoned in the fields. As my beast continued to bark, I saw small beings emerging from a nearby path. They were running towards the railway crossing. The beam of my lamp lit the head of one of them. I was dazzled by a reflection similar to that which a glass object can emit. Almost immediately the door of the craft opened, closed, then it rose ten meters after oscillating for a moment. A very bright light gushes out, like a lightning of magnesium, and the saucer, like a ball of fire, took the direction of the West." Metallic spacesuits Mr. Marius Dewilde, after alerting his wife and neighbors, hastened to the police station of Onnaing, where he told his astonishing adventure. From the description he gave of the craft, one could estimate that the height of the flying machine was of the order of three meters, its diameter of six meters, its shape round or conical. The size of the extraordinary travelers did not exceed 1 m., and the two of them seemed to be wearing some kind of metallic spacesuits. No trace The air police, informed of the facts, went on Saturday afternoon to the place, but they did not find any clue likely to give more substance to the assertions of Mr. Dewilde, who is believed to a serious man little inclined to hallucinations. However, a part of ballast, freshly shattered, caught the attention of the investigators. Let us add that the saucer would have landed in a particularly calm place, more than 2 kms from the village, among the pastures and groves, well made to rest the unknown visitors of their interplanetary journey... and wait - in calm - the saucers to come...

[Ref. nmn1:] "NORD-MATIN" NEWSPAPER:

did

A FLYING SAUCER

land in Quarouble? A resident claims to have seen

the craft at six meters and have

been grazed by two of its occupants,

stocky, helmeted little creatures A new flying saucer has descended from the sky. It reportedly occurred in the night from Friday to Saturday on the territory of Quarouble at P. N. 79 on the railway track operated by the National Coal Mines. Mr. Marius Dewilde, 34, claims to have seen the object within six meters. Better still, two of the occupants of the saucer, surprised when they had descended to the ground, grazed him, he said, in their race to join the apparatus, which, as usual, left no trace. "It was 10:30 p.m.", Mr. Dewilde told, "my wife was in bed, I was reading by the fireside, when my attention was drawn to my dog's barking. The beast hooted to death. Believing in the presence of prowlers in my backyard, I went out with a flashlight. From my enclosure, in the night, less than six meters from the door of my house, I saw a dark mass. I thought it was a harvest cart. My dog ??then crawled towards me. At that time I turned my gaze to a small path leading into a pasture, I saw two men, small, who ran towards the P. N. Immediately I thought of smugglers bending under their load. They sometimes take this path but the two beings in a hurry almost brushed against me. I pointed the beam at my flashlight. The beam was reflected on the head of one of them as on glass. The head seemed to me rather large, but I did not have the time to detail it. At the same time the door of the craft opened. A Read more on the last page

under the title

SAUCER [Photo caption:] Mrs. Dewilde, in the absence of her husband, shows Commissioner Fouchet the place where the craft landed. (Nord-Matin photo.)

SAUCER bright light dazzled me like a flash of magnesium. Blinded, paralyzed by fear, I saw the door close, the craft oscillate slightly, rise to ten meters, then flash like a lightning in the direction of Anzin, that is to say west." Mr. Dewilde, invited to describe the saucer, also indicated that it was round, possibly conical. According to his indications, one could estimate that it could measure about 3 meters high and 6 meters in diameter. As it climbed, it let out a little smoke and reddened until it looked like a ball of fire. When he had recovered, Mr. Dewilde went to wake up his wife, the neighbor, ran to the gendarmerie of Onnaing, where he arrived around midnight. Commissioner Gouchet found before him a man trembling with all his limbs, suffering from intestinal contractions which ruled out the hypothesis of comedy. Mr. Dewilde had been afraid, he said, of the stocky, helmeted little beings, also afraid of the lightning that occurred when they opened the door of the saucer. His demeanor indicated that one is not dealing with a simulator. The Quarouble resident is also known for a skeptic, a tough guy, his friends say. And he's smart. Before concluding, it may be useful to locate the place where the saucer came to land. P. N. 79 is in the fields, at least two kilometers from the village. The house of Mr. and Mrs. Dewilde is isolated in the middle of fields and groves. In front of the door passes the railway track on which the craft landed, which, if the witness is to be believed, almost brushed against the barrier of the small courtyard. Let's add that yesterday the air police came to inspect the place. No trace was found. It was only observed that a piece of ballast had been freshly removed. On the path taken by the little men, no footprint has remained. It is true that the hard ground in this place is daily searched by the cattle.

[Ref. ner1:] "NORD-ECLAIR" NEWSPAPER:

IN QUAROUBLE, NEAR VALENCIENNES

A gatekeeper warns the police: "A flying

saucer and its two occupants

landed near my home" WILL THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, a film projected on many screens of the region, generate an epidemic of flying saucers likely to disturb the sleep of the inhabitants of our peaceful countryside? We may fear it. A few days ago, it was near Amiens, that two peaceful strollers perceived, while walking, a mysterious machine which flew away with the backfires and the usual illuminations, without leaving any valid traces for the attentive eyes of the gendarmes. On the night of Friday to Saturday, the affair happened, this time, in Quarouble, a small locality in the Valenciennes area, close to the Belgian border. The Onnaing police station and the nearby gendarmerie brigade were alerted in the middle of the night by Mr. Marius Dewilde, 34, living in a small house hidden in the countryside, near the railway crossing 79. Mr. Dewilde, still under the influence of emotion, began to tell the most extraordinary adventure that he lived. TWO SMALL AND BULKY SHAPES "It was around 10:30 p.m., he said. I was reading by my fire while my wife had gone to the bedroom. Suddenly I hear my dog ??howling to death. I was thinking of some prowler trying to enter my backyard. I opened the door and went out, a flashlight in my hand. I immediately saw a dark mass five or six meters from the house. I thought a farmer had uncoupled his cart on the edge of the neighboring field. It was then that from a path appeared two low and stocky shapes grazed me. The beam of my lamp lit one of them: I was able to discern an enormous head protected by a kind of glass or plastic helmet. The size of the strange being did not exceed one meter. But hardly had I recovered from my surprise when an opening was made in the craft, the mysterious travelers rushed inside and the "Saucer" rose vertically, gaining an altitude of ten meters, then swung west, it disappeared at a prodigious speed, like a ball of fire. NO TRACE From the claims of Mr. Dewilde, who passes for a serious man, little inclined to hallucinations, it appears that the flying machine could measure six meters in diameter by three meters in height approximately. It was round or conical in shape. The scene which lasted only a few moments did not allow the author of the story to report other details. Anyway, the Air Police went to Quarouble on Saturday afternoon. Despite the careful research that was carried out in the area around the landing, there was no evidence to support Mr. Dewilde's claims. Let us add that the mysterious travelers had chosen for their place of visit, a particularly quiet site, very suitable for resting them from their extraterrestrial journeys. And we calmly wait for the next ball, the next spindle, where the next cigar, even if we don't keep a level crossing...

[Ref. vdn1:] "LA VOIX DU NORD" NEWSPAPER:

Flying saucer in Quarouble? A mysterious craft and its passengers

in the beam of a flashlight A few days after the appearance in the region of Amiens of a flying saucer which was reportedly seen by two workers going to their work, a phenomenon of the same kind reportedly occurred, according to the words of a reident of Quarouble, Friday evening, on the territory of this locality. The saucers seem to literally pile up in our crowded sky. Mr. Marius Dewilde, 34, worker at the A.N.F. at Blanc-Misseron, domiciled at level crossing 79 in Quarouble, who narrates the facts which he claims to have witnessed, is formal. Living in the gatekeeper's house located in a particularly deserted place along a disused railway, Mr. Dewilde was at home Friday evening and ended the evening by reading a weekly newspaper. It was around 10 p.m.; he was about to go to bed when his attention was attracted to the repeated barking of his dog. The animal being free in the enclosure which surrounds the small house, Mr. Dewilde, after taking an electric flashlight, went out to find out what was causing the agitation of his dog. Like in the science-fiction

novels We will now leave it to him to personally describe the scene he claims to have had before his eyes. "When I open the door, I don't see anything at first, but my dog ??turns alternately towards me and towards the railway line which runs along the house, I observed a little more attentively. I distinguished then, posed on the track a few meters from me, an oval, domed mass that might have been about six meters long and three in height. I thought it was a harvest cart abandoned by some farmer. I did not get more time to look at it any longer, because the dog was barking at another direction, I pointed my flashlight in the direction that it indicated to me. "In the beam, I perfectly saw two strange beings moving quickly towards the dark mass, four to five meters apart. They were small, no more than a meter I thought, and stocky. They had big heads on which the beam of my flaslight was reflected as if it were a glass globe. Dumbfounded, I also saw a square of bright light opening on the side of the craft. Frightened now, I closed my eyes for a moment. "When I opened them again, the light was gone, and the slightly swaying machine went up vertically, emitting smoke. Having [reached] a height of about ten meters, the underside reddened and the craft disappeared quickly. I didn't hear any noise except a breath at the start. It had hardly lasted more than fifteen seconds. As soon as I had enough strength to run, because my legs were numb, I woke up my wife." Official research Some time later, Mr. Dewilde reported to the Onnaing police station, where the officers on duty saw him arriving with strong emotion. He told them the extraordinary story that we have just given. Saturday morning, Commissioner Grouchet went to the scene to carry out an investigation. After careful research, he found that he could not find the slightest trace, either on the ballast or on the rails or in the immediate vicinity of the witness's home. In the afternoon, the Air Police inspectors also visited Quarouble. Other witnesses saw

the saucer of Amiens Traveling by car with his wife and mother-in-law, Mr. Robert Chovel, of Origny-en-Thiérache, was surprised to see moving at a relatively low altitude a luminous disc which went towards Lechaudron. He was able to follow the moves of this strange machine for quite a while. According to his statements and those of the witnesses, the craft is provided at the rear with a tube through which luminous smoke escapes. Note also that it was the same evening when a similar craft was reportedly seen around Amiens.

[Ref. nll1:] JOURNAL "NORD LITTORAL":

Close to Valenciennes, a worker

declares to have seen

two strange beings near a mysterious craft Valenciennes, September 11. -- A resident of Carouble, near Valenciennes, Mr. Marius Dewilde, 24, a worker at the Ateliers du Nord de la France, in Blanc-Misseront, residing at the level crossing No 79, said that Friday evening, around 10 p.m., his attention was aroused by his dog's barking. He went out immediately, armed with his electric lamp, and saw on the railroad running alongside his house, in a particularly deserted place, a dark mass, of oval shape, which could be 6 meters long and 3 meters high. Turning his lamp to another direction, Mr. Dewilde saw two strange and stocky men, whose height did not exceed one meter, quickly moving towards the craft. These men had a short head on which the rays of his lamp were reportedly reflected as if they were glass globes. A few moments later a square of intense light appeared on the sides of the craft. The witness then reportedly closed his eyes and, when he opened them again, the light and the strange beings had disappeared. The craft swayed slightly, climbed vertically, giving off smoke. Arrived about ten meters from the ground, the lower part of the craft reddened and it disappeared quickly. Mr. Dewilde reported this strange appearance to the police at Onnaing. No trace was found.

[Ref. vmr1:] "VAR-MATIN REPUBLIQUE" NEWSPAPER:

Near Valenciennes Strange beings and a mysterious machine appeared to a workman... Valenciennes, September 12. -- An inhabitant of Quarouble, close to Valenciennes, Mr. Marius Dewilde, aged 34, workman in a workshop of the north of France in Blanc Misseron, domiciled at the railway crossing #79, stated that Friday evening, around 10 p.m., his attention was drawn by the barkings of his dog. He came out immediately, equipped with a flashlight, and saw on the way skirting his dwelling, in a particularly deserted place, a dark mass, of oval form, which could be six meters in length and three in height. Directing his lamp in another direction, Mr. Dewilde saw two strange and squat men, whose size did not exceed one meter, moving quickly towards the machine. These men had a short head on which the rays of the lamp is said to have been reflected as if they were spheres of glasses. A few moments later, an intense square of light appeared on the sides of the machine. The witness is said to have then closed his eyes. When he reopened them, the light and the strange beings had disappeared. The apparatus, slightly swinging, went up vertically while releasing smoke, arrived at ten meters of the ground, the lower part of the machine reddened and it disappeared quickly. Mr. Dewilde announced this strange appearance to the police force of Onnaing. The Air police force went on the spot but no trace was noted.

[Ref. lie1:] JOURNAL "LIBERTE":

AT THE 4 CORNERS OF THE CITY AGAIN

A FLYING SAUCER ... A flying saucer crossed the sky of the Valenciennois. The better still, it landed, that's how we tell you. And it is Mr. Marius Dewilde, residing on the National Road, in Quarouble, who has just revealed it to the police station. Friday, around 10:30 p.m., Mr. Dewilde heard his dog howl. Thinking he was dealing with thieves, he took an electric flashlight and went to the garden. It was then that he saw a "dark mass" six meters in diameter and three meters high. While he was going around the "craft", little men, barely a meter tall and wearing a plexiglass helmet jumped into it. The mass then rose rapidly, accompanied by lightning and rockets, and disappeared towards Anzin. We bet that the Police Commissioner took this "statement" most seriously. From there when all the cops and sub-cops will soon be armed with a spyglass, there is only one step... Here is the sad result of a hysterical campaign sharpened by the radio, the cinema and a press which carefully maintains in the skull of its readers a cold war psychosis. But should we laugh about it?...

[Ref. lau1:] "L'AURORE" NEWSPAPER:

An inhabitant of the Nord

claims to have seen

the two passengers

of a flying saucer... Recently, in the Somme and the Pyrenees, flying saucers were seen in the sky. Mr. Marius Dewilde, aged 34, workman of the steel-works of Blanc-Misseron, resident of Tuarouge [sic, Quarouble], in the Nord, saw, him, the other night, at about 2:30 a.m.. within [... ] approximately of his garden, a dark, high shape of 3 meters height and a diameter of 5 meters. Then two strange small beings, measuring approximately one meter, came running out a nearby path. Then, the apparatus, whose door had opened and closed again, rose of ten meters, after having wavered one moment. A very sharp light spout out and, similar to a ball of fire, the machine disappeared towards the West.

[Ref. cpd1:] "LE COURRIER PICARD" NEWSPAPER:

A MYSTERIOUS CRAFT seem near Valenciennes VALENCIENNES, September 12. -- A resident of Carouble [sic], near Valenciennes, 31, Mr. Marius Dewlive [sic], 34, worker at the Ateliers du Nord de la France, in Blanc-Misseron, domiciled at the level crossing nr. 97, said that Friday evening around 10 p.m. his attention was aroused by his dog's barking. He went out immediately, armed with his electric flashlight, and saw, on the railroad running alongside his house, in a particularly deserted place, a dark mass, of oval shape, which could be 6 meters long and 3 meters high. Turning his lamp to another direction, Mr. Dewilve saw two strange and stocky men whose height did not exceed 1 meter, quickly moving towards the craft. These men had a short head on which the rays of his lamp reportedly reflected as if they were glass globes. A few moments later, a square of intense light appeared on the sides of the craft. The witness then reportedly closed his eyes and when he opened them again the light and the strange beings had disappeared. The craft, swaying slightly, went up vertically, emitting smoke. Arrived about ten meters from the ground, the lower part of the craft became red and it disappeared quickly. Mr. Dewilve reported this strange appearance to the police at Onnaing. The Air police went to the location but no trace was found.

[Ref. las1:] "LIBRE ARTOIS" NEWSPAPER:

Did a flying saucer

land in Quarouble? A resident claims to have seen the craft at 6 meters and to have been grazed

by 2 of its occupants, small stocky and helmeted beings A new flying saucer descended from the sky. It reportedly occurred in the night from Friday to Saturday on the territory of Quarouble, at P. N. 79 on the railway track operated by the National Coal Mines. Mr. Marius Dewilde, 34, claims to have seen the object within six meters. Better still, two of the occupants of the saucer, surprised when they had descended to the ground, grazed it, he said, in their race to join the craft, which, as usual, left no trace. "It was 10:30 p.m., said Mr. Dewilde, my wife was in bed, I was reading by the fireside, when my attention was drawn to my dog's barking. The beast was howling to death. Believing in the presence of a prowler in my backyard, I went out with a flashlight. From my enclosure, in the night less than six meters from the door of my house, I saw a dark mass. First I believed that it was a harvest cart. My dog ??crawled towards me. At that time I turned my gaze to a small path leading into a pasture. I saw two men, little ones, who were running towards the P.N. Immediately I thought of smugglers bending under their load. They sometimes take this path but the two beings in a hurry almost brushed against me. I pointed the beam of my flashlight. The ray was reflected on the head of one of them like on glass. The head seemed rather large to me, but I did not have the time to detail. At the same time the door of the apparatus opened. A bright glare dazzled me like a flash of magnesium. Blinded, paralyzed by fear, I saw the door close, the craft oscillate slightly, rise to ten meters, then go away like lightning in the direction of Anzin, that is to say to the West." Mr. Dewilde invited to describe the saucer, also indicated that it was round, perhaps conical. According to these indications, it was estimated that it could have measured approximately 3 meters in height and 6 meters in diameter. As it rose, it let out a little smoke and reddened until it looked like a ball of fire. When he had recovered, Mr. Dewilde went to wake up his wife, the neighbor, ran to the gendarmerie then to the police station of Onnaing, where he arrived around midnight. Commissioner Grouchet found before him a man trembling with all his limbs, suffering from intestinal contractions which ruled out the hypothesis of comedy. Mr. Dewilde had been afraid, he says, afraid of the stocky and helmeted little beings, also afraid of the lightning that occurred when they opened the door of the saucer. His demeanor indicated that one was not dealing with a simulator. The Quarouble resident is also known for a skeptic, a tough guy, his friends say. And he's smart. Before concluding, it may be useful to locate the place where the saucer came to land. P. N. 79 is in the fields, at least two kilometers from the village. The house of Mr. and Mrs. Dewilde is isolated in the middle of fields and groves. In front of the door passes the railway track on which the craft landed, which if we believe the witness, almost brushed against the barrier of the small courtyard. Let's add that the day before yesterday the air police came to inspect the place. No trace was found. It was only observed that a piece of ballast had been freshly shod. On the path taken by the little men, no footprint remained.

[Ref. nnm1:] "LE NOUVEAU NORD MARITIME" NEWSPAPER:

After the Amiens region, DID A "FLYING SAUCER"

VISIT THE VALENCIENNES REGION? Valenciennes, 12. -- A "flying saucer", as two workers from the Amiens region claim to have seen, reportedly landed in Quarouble, near Valenciennes, according to Mr. Marius Dewilde, 34, a worker at the A.N.F. of Blanc-Misseron. Mr. Dewilde, who occupies a gatekeeper's house, along a disused railway track, in Quarouble, was at home on Friday, around 10 p.m., when, intrigued by his dog's barking, he went outside. Mr. Dewilde saw, on the track, "an oval mass in the shape of a dome which could be about six meters long and three meters high". Pointing an electric lamp in another direction, he saw "two strange beings, small - no more than a meter - and stocky. They had large heads on which the ray of my lamp was reflected, as if it were was a glass globe. Dumbfounded, I also saw a square of bright light opening on the side of the craft. Frightened this time I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them again, the light had disappeared and the machine, swaying slightly, climbed vertically, giving off smoke." The police, alerted, did not find any trace of the craft.

[Ref. lin1:] "LIBERATION" NEWSPAPER:

This man claims to have seen Martians A metal-worker of 34 year old, Mr. Marius Dewilde, resident of Quarouble (the Nord), claims to have seen Friday, at about 10:30 p.m., on the railway located at a few meters of his garden, a dark mass which he initially took for a cart. But he heard steps on other side of the balustrade of the garden and directed his flashlight in this direction. He then saw two beings covered of diving-suits. They were of small size, not more than one meter, but very broad of shoulders. They had legs proportioned with their size, but Mr. Dewilde does not know if they had arms. He then wanted to prevent the escape to the two strange characters, but a port-hole of square design opened in the dark mass posed on the way. A green ray spout out and Mr. Dewilde was, it seems, paralysed on the spot. When the projector died out, he finally recovered his freedom of movement, but the two "Martians" had gone up in their apparatus which had risen above the ground vertically. It was a machine having the shape of a cheese cover, 3 meters high, a diameter from 5 to 6 meters, which disappeared quickly towards the west. The Air Police force investigated, but fail to find any trace on the way crossed by the "Martians." We quite expected that.

[Ref. ppe1:] "PARIS-PRESSE" NEWSPAPER:

This newspaper as some other did, gave the account by the Witness Marius Dewilde:

"My wife and my son just went to bed, and I read by the fireplace the account of the accident of "L'Abeille". The clock hung above the cooker marked 10:30 P.M., when my attention was drawn by the barkings of my dog Kiki. The animal howled madly. Suspecting the presence of some prowler in the yard, I took my flashlight and went outside." "While arriving in the garden, I saw on the railway, within less than six meters of my door, on the left, a sort of dark mass. It must have been a peasant who left his carriage there, I initially thought. I will have to inform the police officers at the police station tomorrow, so that they remove it, or there will be some accident at the first hour." "At this time, my dog came towards me, crawling, and suddenly, on my right, I heard a noise of hurried steps. There is a path which one calls "the path of the smugglers" because smugglers use it sometimes, at night. My dog had turned again to this direction and had started again to bark. I lit my flashlight and projected its light towards the path." "What I discovered had nothing in commun with smugglers: two "beings" as I had never seen before, at no more than three or four meters of me, just behind the palisade who only separated me from them, were marching one behind the other in the direction of the dark mass which I had noticed on the railway. One of them, the one that went in front, turned to me. The beam of my lamp came right at the place of its face, a reflection of glass or metal. I had the clear impression that its head was enclosed in some diving-suit helmet. The two beings were besides clothed in one piece suits, similar to those of the divers. They had a very small size, probably less than one meter, but extremely broad of shoulders, and the helmet protecting the "head" appeared enormous to me. I saw their legs, small, proportioned with their size, it seemed to me, but on the other hand I did not see an arm. I am unaware of whether they had arms. The first second of stupor went by, I rushed towards the door of the garden with the intention to circumvent the palisade and to cut their path to capture at least one of them." "I was at no more than two meters of the two silhouettes when, spouting out suddenly through a sort of square of the dark mass that I had initially seen on the rails, an extremely powerful illumination, like a magnesium flash, plugged me. I closed my eyes and wanted to shout, but I could not. I was like paralysed. I tried to move, but my legs did not obey me any more. Thrown into a panic, I heard as in a dream, within one meter of me, a noise of stepping on the cement flagstone which is posed in front of the door of my garden. In fact the two beings moved towards the railway." "Finally, the projector died out. I regained the control of my muscles and run towards the railway. But already, the dark mass which was landed there rose off the ground while slightly balancing as would an helicopter." "However I had been able to see a kind of door closing itself. A thick dark vapor spouted out underneath it with a light whistle. The machine went up to the vertical to about thirty meters, then, without ceasing taking altitude, fled towards the west in direction of Anzin. From a certain distance, it took a reddish luminosity. One minute later, all had disappeared."

[Ref. lqh1:] "LE QUOTIDIEN DE LA HAUTE-LOIRE" NEWSPAPER:

AGAIN A SAUCER NEAR VALENCIENNES An inhabitant of Quarouble sees two small helmeted beings get in it A new flying saucer is said to have come down from the sky and to have landed in the night from Friday to Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on the territory of Quarouble, close to Valenciennes, near the railway crossing 79, on the railway used by the national collieries. "It was 10:30 p.m.," Mr. Marius Dewilde, aged 34, noted, "when my attention was drawn by the barkings of my dog. Believing in the presence of prowlers in my farmyard, I went outside equipped with a flashlight. At less than six meters of the door of my dwelling, I saw a dark mass. In a small path, emerging in my grazing ground, I saw two small men who ran towards the railway crossing. I directed the ray of the lamp. The ray was reflected on the head of the one of them as on glass. Besides, this head appeared rather large to me, but I did not have time to detail it, at the same time the door of the machine opened. A sharp light dazzled me as it would have happened with a magnesium flash. Dazzled, paralysed by the fear, I saw the door being closed again, the apparatus oscillate slightly, rise at some tens of meters, then to slip by like a flash in the direction of Anzin, i.e. towards the west." Mr. Dewilde, invited to describe the saucer, further indicated that it was of round form, maybe conical. According to his indications it was estimated that it could be approximately three meters high and six meters in diameter. At the time of its rise, it let escape a little smoke and reddened until resembling a ball of fire. When he had recovered his spirit, Mr. Dewilde went to awake his wife, a neighbor, and ran to the gendarmerie, then to the police station of Onnaing. Police chief Gouchet found in front of him a man shalking of all his members, suffering of intestinal contractions which obviously excluded the assumption of an act. In his district, Mr. Dewilde has the reputation of being a balanced and intelligent man. Yesterday, the Air Police force came to inspect the location, but no trace were found. It was only observed that a piece of the ballast had been recently exposed.

[Ref. fas1:] "FEUILLE D'AVIS" NEWSPAPER:

Two passengers of a flying saucer were seen... Recently, in the Somme or the Pyrenees, flying saucers were seen in the sky. Mr. Marius Dewilde, 34 years, worker steelworks Blanc-Liseron [sic], residing in Tuarouge [sic], in northern France, saw him the other night, around 22 pm. 30, 7 meters from his garden, a dark shape, high of 3 meters and a diameter of 6 meters. Then two small strange beings, measuring about a meter, came running from a nearby trail. Then the unit, the door opened and closed, rose a dozen meters, after hovering a moment. A very bright light burst and like a fireball, the spacecraft disappeared towards the west...

[Ref. tst2:] "THE STAR TRIBUNE" NEWSPAPER:

2 Little Armless Men 'Visit' Frenchman in Flying Saucer QUAROUBLE, FRANCE -- (Reuters) -- A steelworker here claimed a baby flying saucer paid him a visit over the weekend here and two little armless men in space helmets came out for a look around. But when he run up for a closer look, Marius DeWilde said, a bright green light seemed to paralyze him abd the strange machine made a clean getaway. DeWilde, 34, said he was reading a book in his kitchen Friday night when his dog began to bark. He peered out the window and saw a "black mass" of some kind on the nearby railroad line. When he flicked on his flashlight he saw two little creatures about three feet tall, but with wide shoulders, he said. He described the men as having legs, but no arms, and big space helmets on their heads. He said the "saucer" was something like a "cake cover," about 18 feet in diameter. Last he saw of it, he said, was a cloud of black smoke hissing out as it rose into the air. Police said they found burn marks where the "cake cover" is said to have landed, but could find nothing else.

[Ref. lob1:] NEWSPAPER "L'OBSERVATEUR":

Did a "flying saucer"

land in Quarouble? A resident claims to have seen

the mysterious machine at six meters

and have been grazed by two of its occupants There is hardly a week without mentioning here or there the appearance in the sky of one of these mysterious craft called "flying saucers." This time it was our region that would have been the scene of such an appearance, which, if the witness was to be believed, would be truly disturbing. Here's what it is about: A resident of Quarouble, near Valenciennes, Mr. Marius Dewilde, 34, a worker at the Ateliers du Nord de la France in Blanc-Misseron, residing at level crossing No. 79, said that Friday evening, around 10 p.m., his attention was aroused by his dog's barking. He went out immediately, fitted with his electric flashlight, and perceived on the railroad alongside his house, in a particularly deserted place, a dark mass, of oval shape, which could have been 6 m. long and 3 m. high. Turning his flashlight to another direction, Mr. Dewilde saw two strange and stocky men whose size did not exceed one meter moving quickly towards the craft. These men had a short head on which the rays of his lamp were reportedly reflected as if they were glass globes. A few moments later a square of intense light appeared on the sides of the craft. The witness, dazzled, then reportedly closed his eyes and when he opened them again the light and the strange beings had disappeared. The craft, swaying slightly, went up vertically, emitting smoke. Arrived about ten meters above the ground, the lower part of the machine reddened and it disappeared quickly without leaving any trace on the ground, in these places daily trampled by the cattle. The police superintendent who carried out the investigation declared that the witness was obviously still under intense fear and that his behavior was not that of a simulator. In addition, the Quarouble resident is known as a "tough guy", a skeptic and also an intelligent man.

[Ref. nmn2:] NEWSPAPER "NORD-MATIN":

The flying saucers Traces have been

found in Quarouble

on the railway by

the air police While the population of the Valenciennes borough continues, for the most part to doubt the story of Mr. Dewilde, the Authorities take the landing of flying saucers on our territory very seriously. Others have spoken of Martians. On the origin of the beings who would have explored the pastures on the edge of P.N. 79, it is perhaps better to assume nothing. The fear that Mr. Dewilde felt at their sight, if we admit that his adventure had really been lived, has certainly distorted his assessments, both on the size and on the appearance of the occupants of the saucer. Especially since the night from Friday to Saturday was particularly dark. One thing is official, however: representatives of the air police have discovered, on the railway sleepers, deep claws and impact spots which may lead to believe in the landing in this location of a craft. They also found ballast stones with suspicious traces. We add that young people from neighboring villages, namely Onnaing and Vicq, saw in the sky, at the time indicated by Mr. Dewilde, and heading west, a luminous disc. In any case, the case seems disturbing. A farmer from Corrèze

claims to have been kissed

by a pilot

of a "flying cigar" The adventure of Marius Dewilde, this farmer from Quarouble, who saw two men embarking in their sidereal machine, is not unique. There is better, if we have to believe a farmer in the hamlet of Mou- Read more on the sixth page under the title:

SAUCERS

SAUCERS rieras (Corrèze). The latter, Mr. Antoine Mazaud, reportedly made an extraordinary encounter on September 10. It was 8:30 p.m. that day, night was beginning to fall and the farmer was following a hollow path when he found himself face to face with a medium-sized stranger wearing a motorcycle helmet without earmuffs. The two men were both surprised and the farmer, somewhat worried, made a gesture of defense with his pitchfork. It was then that the individual approached the cultivator, his hand extended, as if to show him his good intentions. Then, fearing that he would not be understood, he approached the farmer, uttering incomprehensible words and kissed him. He then walked away to a bizarre craft shaped like a cigar. And, before Mr. Mazaud recovered from his surprise, the craft took off vertically and disappeared towards the West. Subsequently, the farmer returning home told his wife about his adventure, but asked her not to say a word to anyone. "They would make fun of me," he said. Mrs. Mazaud could not resist the pleasure of telling - under the seal of secrecy, of course - this adventure to a neighbor and soon the whole country knew about it. The Ussel gendarmerie questioned Mr. Mazaud who confirmed his story. But it was too late to find traces. Mr. Mazaud is not considered, in the country, as being subject to hallucinations. A flying saucer

in Finland It should also be noted that several people said they saw a "flying saucer" last night near Helsinki. The strange object, circular in shape, moved at about 800 meters of altitude. It emitted an intense light by leaving in its wake a long reddish tail about three times longer than the diameter of the saucer. The strange vision was visible for seven seconds.

[Ref. cdn2:] "LA CROIX DU NORD" NEWSPAPER:

In Quarouble A mysterious craft would have

indeed landed on the railway track Suspicious traces were found on the disused railway track, where Mr. Marius Dewilde claims to have seen a flying saucer, posed during the night from Friday to Saturday. After carefully examining the sleepers near P.N. 79, air police inspectors noticed that one of them bore symmetrically arranged marks, a kind of "claw", we were told, at the Onnaing police station. The wood received deep prints in five different locations and investigators believe they may have been caused when the craft landed. In addition, some of the stones from the ballast were removed. Their appearance and abnormal arrangement caught the attention of the inspectors. However, no footprints were noticed around the house. But it may be that the paths hardened in this place by the passage of many cattle did not keep track of the strange little beings seen by Mr. Dewilde. Let's add that several people, including a young man from Onnaing, said they saw Friday around 10:30 p.m., a luminous ball moving towards the West.

[Ref. ner2:] NEWSPAPER "NORD-ECLAIR":

Traces are found

on the railway

where a resident of Quarouble

claims to have seen a saucer A farmer from the Corrèze claims to have

kissed the passenger in a "flying cigar"! The mystery of flying saucers fascinates public opinion. It is no longer from America or Australia that the testimonies come, but from France. They multiply in a quite peculiar manner. We reported the declarations of Mr. Dewilde, of Quarouble. The latter, semsible man, claims that "he saw." A farmer from Corrèze just made such surprising revelations. On the other hand, a German scientist publishes a study disputing the existence of mysterious craft. Who is right? Suspicious traces were found on the disused railway track, where Mr. Marius Dewilde claims to have seen a landed flying saucer during the night from Friday to Saturday. After carefully examination of the sleepers near P. N. 79, the air police inspectors noticed that one of them bore symmetrically arranged marks, some sort of "claws", we were told at the Onnaing police station. The wood has received deep prints in five different locations, and investigators believe they may have been caused when the craft landed. In addition, they collected some of the stones from the ballast, whose appearance and layout had caught their attention. However, no footprints were noticed. But it may be that the paths hardened in this place by the passage of many cattle, did not keet trace of the "strange little beings" seen by Mr. Dewilde. Let us add that several people - including a young man from Onnaing - stated that they saw Friday at around 10:30 p.m., a luminous ball moving towards the West. Continued on page 9

under the title: SAUCERS

Saucers "The passenger

of the saucer

kissed me" Tulle. -- The gendarmes of the Bugeat brigade (Corrèze), learning yesterday morning, by public rumor that a farmer in the hamlet of Mouriéras, commune of Bugeat (Corrèze), Mr. Antoine Mazaud, had conversed with the passenger in a "flying saucer", went to the farmer, to have these rumors confirmed. Mazaud tells them that on September 10, at 8:30 p.m., returning from his fields, he met an unknown individual of normal size, wearing a helmet without earmuffs, on a path, 1.500 meters from his home, who shook his hand and kissed him, saying unintelligible words. The man then climbed into an unlit cigar-shaped craft, three to four meters long which, taking off vertically, set off towards the West, making no more noise than a bee. Mr. Mazaud then declares that he did not want to speak about this story, because he feared that one would scoff at him. Balls of fire? The eminent German astronomer Hans Haffner claims that flying saucers, apart from hallucinations and aerial reflections, are balls of fire produced by lightning at high altitude. He claims his theory fits with all sightings of flying saucers reported so far. "Let's get rid of the flying saucer psychosis," he writes. "Flying saucers are actually a natural phenomenon that occurs in the layer of air surrounding the earth." Mr. Haffner, professor of astronomy at the University of Hamburg and head of section at the Hamburg-Bergedorf Observatory, says that all of the flying saucers that have been seen so far can be classified into four groups: Hallucinations and visions 1) Hallucinations, more frequent than generally believed. 2) Optical illusion even deceiving the lens of the camera. The so-called flying saucer photographs are reflections often seen when taking photos against the light. 3) Weather balloons. 4) Unknown flying objects. All the objects of the fourth category can be explained by what we know about balls of fire produced by lightning. This phenomenon rarely occurs and we only have two or three photographs. The size, shape, speed, color, brightness, duration, electrical composition and mode of dissolution of these balls of fire are "remarkably similar" to descriptions of flying saucers, Professor Haffner writes. The balls of fire often emit very bright rays of light, which also matches the story of people who say they saw saucers.

[Ref. nnm2:] "LE NOUVEAU NORD MARITIME" NEWSPAPER:

Are flying saucers

a manifestation of lightning? Hamburg, 15. -- The eminent German astronomer Hans Haffner writes in the weekly "Die Zeit" that flying saucers, apart from hallucinations and aerial reflections, are balls of fire produced by lightning at high altitude. He says his theory fits with all of the flying saucer sightings reported so far. "Lets put an end to the flying saucer psychosis," he writes. "Flying saucers are actually a natural phenomenon that occurs in the layer of air surrounding the earth." Mr. Haffner, professor of astronomy at the University of Hamburg and head of section at the Hamburg-Bergedorf observatory, says that all of the flying saucers that have been seen so far can be classified into four groups: 1. Hallucinations, more common than it is generally believed. 2. Optical illusions, fooling even the lens of the camera. The alleged photographs of flying saucers are reflections often seen when taking photos against the light. 3. Weather balloons. 4. Unknown flying objects. All the objects of the fourth category can be explained by what we know about the fireballs produced by lightning. This phenomenon rarely occurs, and we only have two or three photographs. The size, shape, speed, color, luminosity, lightness, electrical composition, and mode of dissolution of these fireballs are "remarkably similar" to the descriptions of flying saucers, Professor Haffner writes. Fireballs often emit very bright rays of light, which again corresponds to the accounts of people who say they saw saucers. Likewise, fireballs can change shape and direction in less than a second, just like saucers. The changes in direction of the fireballs produced by lightning are easily explained by the influence of magnetic fields and by the faster cooling of one side of the ball. Finally, the fireballs always disintegrate suddenly, sometimes silently, sometimes with a loud detonation. THE "FLYING SAUCER"

OF QUAROUBLE

LEAVE TRACES The three "apparitions" of the Amiens region, of Quarouble and of Bugeat, reopened the flying saucers file. And the Air police resumed their investigation. Officers went to Quarouble and looked closely at where Mr. Dewilde claims to have seen the suspicious craft on Friday evening. They noted on the ballast, contrary to what had been first said, traces may have been left by a craft; which of course remains to be identified. Also, several witnesses stated that they saw, on the evening of the "landing", a luminous object moving in the sky. This information should be compared to the testimonies collected both in the Amiens region and in Limousin. People also claim to have seen a luminous object at the time when the "flying saucers", seen respectively by two Picardy masons and by a Bugeat cultivator, took off. The investigation continues.

[Ref. las2:] NEWSPAPER "LIBRE ARTOIS":

The flying saucers

traces were found

in Quarouble on the railway

by the air police While the population of the district of Valenciennes continues, for the most part to doubt the story of Mr. Dewilde, the Authority takes the landing of flying saucers on our territory very seriously. Others have spoken of Martians. On the origin of the beings who would have explored the pastures bordering the P.N. 79, it may be better to assume nothing. The fear that Mr. Dewilde felt at their sight, by admitting that his adventure had been truly lived, has certainly distorted his assessments, both on the size and on the appearance of the occupants of the saucer. Especially since the night from Friday to Saturday was particularly dark. One thing is official, however: representatives of the air police have discovered, on the railway sleepers, deep claws and impact points which may lead to believe that a craft had landed at this place. They also found ballast stones with suspicious traces. We add that young people from neighboring villages, that is to say from Onnaing and from Vicq, saw in the sky, at the time indicated by Mr. Dewilde, and moving towards the West, a luminous disc. In any case, the affair seems disturbing. A CORREZIAN FARMER

claims to have been

KISSED

BY A PILOT

OF "FLYING CIGAR" The adventure of Marius Dewilde, the Quarouble farmer, who saw two men getting into a sidereal machine, is not unique. There is better, if one has to believe a farmer from the hamlet of Mouriéras (Corrèze). The latter, Mr. Antoine Mazoud [sic], reportedly made an extraordinary encounter on September 10. It was 8:30 p.m. that day, night was beginning to fall and the farmer was following a hollow path when he found himself face to face with a medium-sized stranger wearing a motorcycle helmet without earmuffs. The two men were also surprised and the somewhat worried farmer made a defense gesture with his fork. This while the stranger approached the farmer, his hand extended, as if to show him his good intentions. Then, fearing that he would not be understood, he approached the farmer, uttering incomprehensible words and kissed him. He then walked away to a bizarre craft shaped like a cigar. And, before Mr. Mazeud recovered from his surprise, the craft took off vertically and disappeared towards the West. Subsequently, the farmer returning home told his wife about his adventure, but asked her not to say a word to anyone: "They would make fun of me," he said. Mme Mazaud could not resist the pleasure of telling - under the seal of secrecy, of course - this adventure to a neighbor and soon the whole country knew about it. The Ussel gendarmerie questioned Mr. Mazaud who confirmed his story. But it was too late to find traces. Mr. Mazaud is not considered in the country as being subjected to hallucinations.

[Ref. ner3:] "NORD-ECLAIR" NEWSPAPER:

FLYING SAUCER? Nothing is incredible

in the statement of

the gate-keeper of Quarouble AND THE AIR POLICE TOOK

ALL THIS CASE SERIOUSLY From our special envoy

MICHEL DUFOREST For the first time since the appearance of mysterious machines called "flying saucers", in Quarouble, close to Valenciennes, the traces left by one of these apparatuses were assessed. Six claws, laid out in half-circle on cross-pieces of a little used railway line, seem to prove that in this place a contact or a friction occurred between wood and a harder material. That is all that can be stated for the time being. But the services of the police force of the Air Force which photographed each print and took some of the scattered stones on the ballast perhaps already drew some other conclusions which they will jealously keep under the cover of military secrecy. For if the public remains skeptic with respect to all that refers to the "Flying saucers", it is not the same with the police force of the Air with which has a one section especially in charge of investigations in that matter. Hitherto, no material fact had come to corroborate the statements of the witnesses and perhaps this is why the traces in Quarouble will make it possible to see a part of the truth. MARIUS IS NOT ALWAYS KIDDING Undoubtedly, the story starts well for the disbelievers since it is told by... Marius Dewilde. But the burst of laughter which accommodates this firstname [*] ceases when the story is told. To obtain more guarantees, it is not to Mr. Dewilde that I asked to tell the facts he witnessed on Friday September 10. Because at this day, he could have been influenced by the questions of the investigators and tens of journalists who raveled at his place. The interrogations which he underwent to check if it did not lie or if he was not the victim of hallucination, could work his imagination, and, involuntarily, he would be likely today, to add details to the primitive account. This normal phenomenon happening to the most balanced men would be all too explainable since for almost a week now, Mr. Dewilde has read in the "trash press" about stories which do not have anything anymore resembling his statements. Continued in the last page

[*] The first name Marius is supposed to make everyone laugh because it is the generic firstname used in any invented exaggerated stories. "Marius" is the archetype of the simple guy from Marseille who would made any wild claims. Of course Mr. Dewilde's credibility has nothing to do with the archetypes attached to his firstname.

THE DOG BARKS IN THE NIGHT Mr. Dewilde's home - a railway crossing guard house - is isolated at the edge of a small wood, at approximately a kilometer and half from the national road of Valenciennes to the Belgian customs of Quiévrain. A dirt track, hardly suitable for motor vehicles, leads from the road to the house: it is actually used only by farmers who go to their fields. The house is located in a triangular space separating two railways. One, employed only by the mines, leads to the mine of Quiévrechain; a train a day passes by there. The other goes from Blanc-Misseron to Odomez; a merchandise train descends in the morning in the direction of the border and goes up the evening in opposite direction; it is on this railway that the traces are. Let us imagine that we are last Friday, Mr. Dewilde reads, in his kitchen, his illustrated weekly magazine. It is approximately 10:30 p.m. His wife and two sons aged 14 and 2 years 1/2 slept on the first floor - in the mansard-roofed room. For a few minutes already, Mr. Dewilde has heard the dog barking outside, but he does not pay attention to it. However, irritated by these barkings, he finally stands up, takes his flashlight and opens the door of the kitchen that gives on a small enclosure contiguous to the railway line, he shouts "Kiki, will you stop it already?" SMALL HELMETED MEN When he said these words, he saw a dark mass posed through the railway, which he mistakes for a carriage loaded with hay. A farmer - knowing that no train goes by at night - can, indeed, have abandoned its loading until the next day morning. At this point in time Mr. Dewilde hears noise in the small way connecting the two railways. Instinctively, he directs the flashlight in the direction of the place from which the noise comes. And in the ray of light a man appears - a small man who runs while moving towards the "dark mass." It is a child, he thinks, but while looking better, he sees a second man, behind the other, and so he supposes they are defrauders, for he thinks he makes out a heavy pack on their back. At this point in time light of the lamp has lights the head of one of the individuals and Mr. Dewilde realizes that it is covered with a kind of diving-suit or helmet out of glass. He also sees that the man carries a very full combination... And then brutally he is blinded by a light; which surprises him. When his eyes can see through the darkness again, the machine - which he mistook for a carriage loaded with hay - rises vertically while rocking, and moves away quickly above the railway releasing a small flame at the back, without making more noise than a gentle humming. Only then did Mr. Dewilde realize that he has just been the witness of an extraordinary event. He rushes into his home and shouts to his wife: "Come quickly, there is a "thing" which flies away on the railway. It is a weird machine, and there are men!" Awaken up too fast, Mrs. Dewilde does not react immediately, and when her husband returns outside, the mysterious apparatus had disappeared. Mr. Dewilde decides, at once, to go to warn the gendarmerie of Quiévrechain, in spite of the his wife who asked him to wait until the next day morning. "It is my duty to go there, he answered, according to Mrs. Dewilde. That will perhaps be useful to them." And, jumping on his motorcycle, he leaves for Quiévrechain - distant of more than 3 kilometers - skirting the railway which leads to Blanc-Misseron. AT THE POLICE PRECINT OF ONNAIN But there is no permanence at the office of the gendarmerie, and the door remains hopelessly closed, in spite of the insistence of Mr. Dewilde, to ring the bell and hit the door. He then goes into a nearby coffee shop, where he explains what he has just seen. The skepticism of the customers is shaken all the same by his account and his state of excitement. Somebody then suggests to him going to the police station of Onnaing. Mr. Dewilde thus resumes his road travel and crosses the six kilometers which separate Quiévrechain from Onnaing, where he arrives shortly before midnight. The officers in duty are also struck at his attitude: "he was pale, they told me, and was shaking like a man who had just had a great fright." However, the police officers refuse to wake up the chief detective, but they promise that he will visit Mr. Dewilde early in the morning. The latter thus regains his residence, at approximately four kilometers, and he buckles his night excursion. After his departure, the officers change their minds and alert the chief detective all the same, Mr. Gouchet, who will collect in the morning of the next day, the statement of Mr. Dewilde on premises of the adventure. In front of the sincerity of the witness, he will alert the Air Police force, and they will record the traces that we mentioned. THIS IS NOT A HOAX ... Such is the veracious story of the "flying saucer" of Quarouble. The police chief of Onnaing, like the investigators of the services of the Air Security, refuse to say anything more for the excellent reason that they know nothing more. All that they would add would distract away from the truth and would lead in the field of deductions and assumptions. One can admit initially that Mr. Dewilde, wanting to have people talk about him, invented this uncanny history completely. "If this were the case, answered Mr. Gouchet to me, Mr. Dewilde would be, at the present time, in jail for insult to the authorities. I have experience of interrogations, and I can vouch that Mr. Dewilde does not invent anything. This is also the opinion gathered by the Air Police force. you can't make up such a story without betraying yourself, at one time or another." There are also elements which prove the good faith of the witness. He crossed, in the middle of the night, some fifteen kilometers to inform the authorities. H showed signs of his fear. ... NOR MASS HALLUCINATION But if Mr. Dewilde did not want to mislead, he could have been mislead. Wasn't he victim of hallucination? Mr. Gouchet answers this question too. "I thought of that, too. Thus, I examined the last readings of Mr. Dewilde. In the evening of the event, he read a weekly magazine in which there was nothing about flying saucers." He is not stuffed with science fiction novels, and reads only few illustrated magazines in addition to his daily newspaper." Moreover, Mr. Dewilde is a balanced and sensible man, and he was in no way predisposed "to see a flying saucer." And furthermore, it is only when the apparatus flew away that he thought of the "saucers." Hitherto, he mistook the dark mass for a carriage loaded with hay, and the two men for defrauders. In addition, more than ten people stated to have seen, that evening, around 08:30 p.m., either a "fireball," or a "disc letting escape a trail of fire" in the sky. All testimonies agree to state that the disc moved towards Anzin. And actually, it is indeed towards this direction that Mr. Dewilde saw this mysterious thing which rested on the railway move away. Do we have then to suppose that there was a collective hallucination of people who did not know each other and were not together at this time? Some chattered on the step of their door, others were closing the window of their bedroom, some, finally, were going home. Last point to be cleared up: who were these "small men". In his statement, Mr. Dewilde says that they were no more than one meter tall. He initially thought that were children, then "defrauders carrying a heavy burden." finally, he saw that a "sort of diving-suit" covered them. Is all that incredible? Before, it is wise to specify that 1°) the scene did not last thirty seconds; 2°) the night of Friday to Saturday was extremely dark; 3°) the wind blew with strength. Mr. Dewilde thus did not have time to "examine" the individuals. He saw shades and his flashlight allowed him to note that they were covered with special clothes. But aren't aviators provided, them also, of a full combination and a special helmet allowing them to confront high altitudes? Can't men, of average size, curved so that they are not seen, appear as "small men" in particular when the width of their combination still makes them appear smaller? These plausible assumptions that the police force emits authorize to believe in the sincerity of the witness. MICHEL DUFOREST

[Ref. fas2:] "FEUILLE D'AVIS" NEWSPAPER:

Still the flying saucer problem Would they Martians landed on French soil? Following the information that we recently published about the two passengers of a flying saucer, we learned today the following details: Three inspectors of the air police returned to Quarouble (North) to hear Mr. Marius Dewilde, the man who "saw" two Martians to the garden gate. They left the village believe that on the night of Friday to Saturday, a mysterious flying object has landed, as stated by Mr. Dewilde, on the railway Saint-Amand - White-Misseron near the crossing 79 . The findings seem they could do, indeed, confirm the testimony of the metalworker. The latter said that on Friday to 22 pm. 30 he saw an oblong craft, 3 meters tall, long 6, placed on the track, a few meters from his house. Two beings of human appearance, very small and, apparently, wearing suits, were nearby. Mr. Dewilde walked toward them, but at that time, the craft leveled on him a beam of light green reflection, which had the effect of paralyzing it. When he regained the use of his limbs, the machine began to rise in the sky and two people were missing. Investigators have found no trace of the existence of these two characters. The surrounding ground, examined meter by meter, has not delivered a pitch mark. On the other hand, one of the sleepers showed signs that have been made by a machine at the time of landing. In five places the wood of the cross is tapped over approximately four square centimeters surface. These brands all have the same appearance and are arranged in a symmetrical manner, on the same line: three of them - those in the middle - are separated by a gap of 43 centimeters. The last two are distant previous 67 centimeters.

Martians in France! (CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE) A machine which would land on crutches and not on wheels like our planes would not leave different traces, satted one of the police of the air inspectors. The report Mr. Dewilde made also finds confirmation by testimonies of several residents of the area. In Onnaing, a young man, Mr. Edmond Auverlot, and a pensioner, Mr. Hublard, saw, at approximately 10:30 p.m., the hour indicated by Mr. Dewilde, a red gleam moving in the sky. The same gleam was seen from Vicq by three young people who left a ball. All these testimonys, these facts, give to the account of Mr. Dewilde a color of authenticity. However, many people remain skeptical. Mr. Dewilde is undoubtedly of good faith; but one year ago he was victim of a serious industrial accident (cranial traumatism), in the continuation of which he showed some nervous disorders. So one thinks he might have been the victim of " waked up hallucinations", well-known phenomenon in medicine.

[Ref. cia1:] CIA:

INFORMATION FROM

FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROACASTS COUNTRY: Non-Orbit DATE OF INFORMATION: 1954 SUBJET: Military - Unidentified flying objects HOW PUBLISHED: Dail[y] newspaper DATE DIST.: 29 oct 1954 WHERE PUBLISHED: As indicated NO. OF PAGES: 5 DATE PUBLISHED: 31 Jul - 20 Sep 1954 LANGUAGES: Various SUPPLEMENT TO REPORT NO.: [Blackened out] [Blackened out] THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION SOURCE: As indicated SIGHTINGS OF UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS,

31 JULY - 20 SEPTEMBER 1954 WESTERN EUROPE [... (Reports from other countries) ...] France [... (Previous reports)] BELIEVE "FLYING SAUCER" PILOTS WERE SMUGGLERS -- Paris, Franc-Tireur, 16 Sep 54 (The following is additional information on reports of two cases cited in the FBIS [CIA reports such as this one] roundup of 14 September 1954) Two of the alleged landings (on 10 September) in France of "flying saucers" are considered by the local air police to have been nothing more than the landing of planes used in smuggling. Furthermore, in one case, the farmer in Correze Department stated that the pilot uttered unintelligible words; but the farmer was certainly no polyglot and could easily have been fooled. In the other case, in Valenciennes Departement, the witness may have been sincere, but it should be noted that he had a cranial traumatism one year ago and several nervous disturbances since. It is true, however, that in the latter case, the air police found four unusual marks on the railroad ties near the spot indicated by the witness, marks that could have been made by the tools of railroad workers. [... (Next reports)]

Note: the first case is the Antoine Mazaud case, refer to the corresponding file for September 10 in Mourieras, Correze.

[Ref. las3:] "LIBRE ARTOIS" NEWSPAPER:

"The saucer case"

made of Quarouble the meeting place

of all reporters from France The revelations of Mr. Marius Dewilde of Quarouble, who, a few days ago, claimed to have been grazed by the two passengers of a flying saucer, made of the modest village of the Valencienne region the meeting place for all the journalists from France and Navarre. For the past two weeks, Mr. Dewilde, or rather Mrs. Dewilde, received more visitors in his humble little house at the railway crossing 79 than the President of the Council himself. The "Martians of Quarouble", as one of our sensationalist colleagues put it, brought representatives of the written and film press to Mr. Dewilde's. Reporters, photographers, filmmakers, etc ... questioned their host in every possible manner, looking for the flaw in his story that would betray him. In vain: Mr. Dewilde has a version of the facts which, for the past two weeks, has not varied by an inch. Those who, in the village itself and around, had peddled the rumor that Mr. Dewilde would be only a visionary, a big mouth, or even a hallucinated, should only be careful. Mr. Dewilde went to the Onnaing police station with the intention of filing a formal defamation complaint against them. Mr. Dewilde, taken for an impostor by a part of his fellow citizens, had another mishap. Tenant of a house belonging to the S.N.C.F., he was told, a few days ago, to have to leave the premises as soon as possible. Reason: does not belong to S.N.C.F. To live happily, let's live hidden, said La Fontaine. The formula is good. Those who might have thought Mr. Dewilde interested will have to abandon this unfavorable prejudice: the Quarouble saucer costs him dearly. He hasn't finished paying the bill. This is an argument in favor of his testimony.

[Ref. lob2:] NEWSPAPER "L'OBSERVATEUR":

Because of "Mars", he is threatened with going to... the moon! Mr. Dewilde, the man who, in Quarouble, allegedly saw not only this mysterious machines which one baptized "Flying saucer", but also its two occupants, must not be far from cursing the day when this strange adventure happened to him! These revelations made of the modest village of the Valenciennes area where he lives, the meeting place for all the sensation press in France and Navarre. Reporters, photographers, filmmakers follow one another in the humble abode of railway crossing 79. In addition to the inconvenience caused by these untimely visits and these more or less sneaky interrogations in the hope that Mr. Dewilde will vary in his version of the facts, the latter now sees himself exposed to the malevolence of certain fellow citizens. Isn't he accused of being a visionary, a big mouth, a hallucinated, even an impostor? The applicant, exasperated by these rumors, threatened to file a defamation complaint against his detractors and went for that to the Police Commissioner of Onnaing. But this is not the most serious in the story of the "Martians of Quarouble". Tenant of a house belonging to the S.N.C.F., Mr. Dewilde was served a few days ago, to have to leave the premises as soon as possible. Reason: does not belong to the S.N.C.F. There you go! "To live happily, let's live hidden," says popular wisdom. Mr. Dewilde experiences it. If the man is a hoaxer, let's face it, his joke is expensive and he must start to regret it. If, on the contrary, he really lived the adventure he told, let's bet that if, one day, he sees his "Martians" again, he will be tempted to send his boot back... to their moon. And if he relies on the promises of the government to find new housing, let him remember that, for some time, it is the habit of governments to promise the moon.

[Ref. tst1:] "THE STAR TRIBUNE" NEWSPAPER:

Men Who See Saucers May Be In Their Cups LYON, FRANCE, -- (Reuters) -- France's flying saucer circus continued to rouse interest around the country Wednesday as more eyewitnesses accounts of "saucers", "plates" and other whizzing celestial objects kept pouring in. Now a farner says a creature came up to him on a lonely road, carressed his arm and burbled unintelligible noises at him. Then it went off towards its "saucer", which the farmer could not describe because a green ray temporarily paralyzed him.

[Ref. ner4:] NEWSPAPER "NORD-ECLAIR":

Troubles If you meet Martians or any other passenger of mysterious craft, go your way whistling, looking totally cool, and, above all, do not say a word to anyone about your adventure. So for Mr. Marius Dewilde, the impromptu visit he received, on Saturday evening, at Quarouble, was the beginning of the troubles. There were the gendarmes, the various police forces, the journalists, the photographers, the work buddies, the neighbors, the radio reporters, the cinematographic news reporters, the grocer, Mr. the mayor, the close relatives and distant cousins, etc... That's not all. Mr. Dewilde occupies a gatekeeper's house. And he is not a gatekeeper. The S.N.C.F. had the attention drawn to his case, he was asked to leave the premises. Don't talk to Mr. Dewilde any more of saucer stories: he's disgusted with them.

[Ref. cdv2:] "LE COURRIER DE VALENCIENNES" NEWSPAPER:

Because of Mars He is threatened to go live... on the Moon! Mr. Dewilde, a man who, in Quarouble, allegedly saw not only this mysterious craft which we baptized "Flying saucer" but also its two occupants, must not be far from cursing the day when this strange adventure occurred! These revelations made of the modest village of the Valenciennes region where he lives, the meeting place for all the sensation press in France and Navarre. Reporters, photographers, filmmakers follow one another in the humble abode of railway crossing 79. In addition to the inconvenience that these untimely visits give him and these more or less sneaky interrogations in the hope that Mr. Dewilde contradicts himself in his version of the facts the latter is now exposed to malicious attacks from some fellow citizens. One is accusing him of being a visionary, a crackpot, a hallucinated, or even an impostor? The concerned one, exasperated by these rumors, threatened to file a defamation complaint against his detractors and went for that to the Police Commissioner of Onnaing. But this is not the most serious in the history of the "Quarouble Martians." Tenant of a house belonging to the S.N.C.F., Mr. Dewilde was told, a few days ago, to have to leave the premises as soon as possible. Reason: does not belong to the S.N.C.F. There you go! "To live happily, let's live hidden," says popular wisdom. Mr. Dewilde experiences it. If the man is a liar, let's face it, his joke is expensive and he must start to regret it. If on the contrary he really lived the adventure he told, let us bet that if one day he sees his "Martians" again, he will be tempted to kick them... in the moon. If he relies on the promises of the government to find a new accommodation, he will remember that, for some time, the characteristic of Governments has been to promise the moon. From our colleague "L'Observateur."

[Ref. ler1:] "L'EST REPUBLICAIN" NEWSPAPER:

A wave of strange "objects" is sweeping France Dark-lovers Martians lovers play pass walls But all those who have seen "saucers" are not dreamers A plague of "flying saucers" and other mysterious craft is sweeping Europe, and the number of recorded testimony shows that France appears to be particularly targeted. There is no day, since weeks, where many of these events are reported from the Vendée, the Moselle and the Quiévrain to the Bidassoa. In the Limousin, in particular, where a farmer was embraced on September 10, by a stranger; although he was peaceful, terror took hold, especially in the area of Roches (Creuse), where children no longer dare to go to school alone and where shepherdesses no longer want to keep their flocks since a dark shadow was reported hiding in the brushes. There is concern that the friendly Martian re-embarked leaving on the earth one of his companions. In Diges (Yonne), two women saw each in her turn, a cigar land in a meadow and its pilot was leaning, perhaps on its engine. The "being" was of normal size, dressed in khaki and wearing a cap, but they were so scared that by the same reflex, they fled and locked themselves in. Malenkov and Eisenhower shaking hands around a "saucer" A pseudo-writer, on the contrary, delighted that these fantastic creatures come to join his philosophical ramblings, assimilates the "anti-saucerists" to troublemakers and warmongers. He writes without smiling: "These cigars and saucers could well make all of us agree. Perhaps this is why some people do not want to hear about it. Think about it! Eisenhower and Malenkov shaking hands around a saucer! What an idea!" What to think of this new fever? Should we follow in their disdainful disapproval those who believe without verification, it is all hallucinations - sometimes collective - or should we believe with the others these are real craft originating from the human genius or more romantically coming from another world? No doubt it is better to examine things more closely. The case now takes a too serious turn for trafficking in nonsense or admit all the news. It is time to grasp the problem and reason healthily on the sum of elements accumulated since more than seven years. The first victim... For it is on June 24, 1947, that the first "saucers" were reported in the manner described thousands of times since. It was an American businessman, Kenneth Arnold, who saw that day "nine luminous discs flying in formation at high altitude" when he had taken off from Chehalis (Washington) on a personal plane. He could see that these "craft" were "flat like frying pans or saucers" before their disappearance and, if the case made little noise, the term "flying saucers" (soucoupe volante) was already launched. It took six months before a new apparition was reported again in America, but this one was to end in tragedy, beginning to worry the public opinion. On January 7, 1948, the police in Fort Knox (Kentucky) warns the military at the Godman Airfield that "a huge fiery object, surrounded by a reddish glow" was flying in their direction. Three reservists fighter pilots were in flight, precisely at that time, on "Mustangs" propeller planes, and the tower alerted the control. Captain Mantell, leader of the squadron, immediately saw the "object" and putting gas on dove after it although his two comrades and himself had left for a flight at low altitude and were deprived of oxygen masks. The two crew members did not exceed 4,000 meters. Only Mantell went up to almost 7,000 meters before telling on the radio, breathless: - It's frightening... These words were the last and no one ever knew what they meant. The plane broke up in flight and the body of the unfortunate pilot was found horribly disjointed. The first reaction of Mantell's friends was naturally to think that he had been "downed" by the mysterious craft. His exclamation seemed to indicate that what he saw was awful and that monsters had fired at him. This is the first victim - the first "martyr" - who tragically marked the true arrival of the "saucers" on earth. An investigation commission was appointed, but its work was long and hard at a time when the high-speed compressibility phenomena were still unclear. When it put out its report on the accident, it finally explained that the pilot had climbed too high, probably in the pursuit of an atmospheric phenomenon. Deprived of oxygen, he had probably exclaimed that he was losing consciousness. The aircraft, abandoned to itself, had probably dislocated by diving at nearly the speed of the "wall of sound". But psychosis was already on his way. What can the fairly conservative assumptions of technicians do against the taste of wonderful and the supernatural? ...and the first "hoax" It is in any case strange to see that the appearances of "flying saucers" multiplied at once in America where 1,192 cases were reported, in waves, from 1947 to 1952. And it is no less surprising to see that, little by little parallel waves manifested themselves in France three to five weeks behind those recorded in the U.S.A. Of course, the "pro-saucerists" interpret this pattern to their advantage: - We are part of the same humanity that the Americans and the "saucers" have no reason to despise us when visiting Earth. Their pilots wherever they come from can be as much interested in France and in the United States and if we see less it is because our territory is seventeen times smaller than that of the U.S.A. It is certainly flattering to our national pride. But more Cartesian than sentimental "anti-saucerists", are concerned with this regular shift: Just long enough to newspapers to inform you of the virus, they reply. After the Mantell crash anyway America was so gripped by the fear of the saucers deadly saucers that it accepted all the fables. The most sensational story was published by one Franck Scully of Denver, who told in a weekkly magazine, then in a book, how a circular machine, that came from another planet, crashed in the United States, described the autopsy by a famous practitioner of sixteen little creatures found on board and stated that metal debris from the machine, heated to 10,000 degrees, had not melted. The finally palpable "saucer" and these little men in blue linen clothes made such a noise that an investigation commission - again - joined in. Frank Scully, interrogated, had to admit the "hoax". His piece of metal melted at 637 degrees and the case ended with two convictions for fraud. But once again, the explanation came too late. The book beautifully sold and the author won a lot of dollars. 1953 has not been a hot year for "saucers". In France, the first known "saucer" was reported in Antibes, in August 1949, but the following came in waves, parallel, we repeat, to those in the US. There is a fever in 1950, two in 1951 and one particularly important in 1952. That year, there were eleven appearances in May, six in June, six in July, two in August and two in September, eight finally in October. This is precisely the time when America also see many "flying objects" and made us know its anxiety. We will see how calm then returned across the Atlantic. Here, 1953 was also quiet. The saucers disappeared from our skies until last August where a new wave started discreetly in Norway with the meeting of a helicopter by two young people who were picking blueberries. This time Europe had exclusivity. The wave grows slowly, recalling the Loch Ness [Monster] who in the past returned in the heart of summer to fill the gaps in the news. But the Scottish snake was a prisoner of the lake while the "saucers" do not recognize borders nor countries nor the dreams and the real facts are now mingled with the disorder. Awake hallucinations We must reject from the first five recent stories - the most sensational alas! - just too unreliable. In Vernon, the young witness has a strong imagination well known in the region. In Quarouble, near Valenciennes, the gatekeeper who saw "little people" was a victim, one year ago, of a head injury and is subject, since then, to nervous disorders. Prints appear on the wood of the railway track, but may give rise to infinite interpretations. Near Amiens, four pranksters had to admit they had wanted to make fun of their friends. In Bugeat (Corrèze), Mr. Mazaud has probably been embraced by someone but the air police firstly believes in a light aircraft that came in this deserted place at dusk, for a rendez-vous with a smuggler. In Craintilleux finally, near St-Etienne, the giant, Hitler lookalike, double-faced (one grimacing at the front and the other, jovial, at the back) climbed in his saucer without opening the door, in the manner of wall-crossing ghosts, really seems too childishly wonderful. Witnesses, actors and writers have probably the romantic spirit that suits this kind of occurrence. And the Martian they thought they saw will at least have the advantage of providing them something for a play or a novel. Medicine knows about these awaken hallucinations which can be experienced by completely normal people. Who did not see in the dark shadows move where there was nothing? It should be noted in this connection that virtually all reported landings of "saucers" took place at night and no one has yet seen Martians having a shape significantly different from ours in daylight. Should we conclude that all recorded reports are the work of unbridled imaginations? Certainly not. Kenneth Arnold and Mantell were not dreamers. Most French witnesses aren' either.

[Ref. fso1:] "FRANCE-SOIR" NEWSPAPER:

According to the account of the "witnesses" The average Martian measures from 1 meter to 1 meter 20 wears a motorcycle helmet and does not speak French The most recent testimonies of the strange passengers of saucers, cigars, and various apparatuses that landed in different regions of France agree on one point: the supposed Martians are small and different from those who appeared in Portugal and measured 2 m. 50. We summarize the witnesses report that can give an idea of what might be the "average Martian": Mr. Marius DEWILDE, 34, metallurgist in Quarouble (Nord), saw two beings measuring one meter, with wide shoulders, but apparently without arms. They were dressed in diving suits and fitted with helmets. They pointed at the witness a ray that paralyzed him for a few seconds. Mr. Pierre LUCAS, a baker in Loctudy (Finistère), saw an "individual" measuring 1 m 30 come out of a saucer and patting him on the shoulder uttering unintelligible sounds. His face was oval and hairy and his eyes were "the size of a raven egg". Mr. André NARCY, 48 years old, a roadmender in Mertrud (Haute-Marne), saw a 1.20-meter-tall being disembarking from a saucer "dressed in a coat covered with hairs". Mr. Antoine MAZAUD, from Bugeat (Corrèze), saw a "medium-sized" being wearing a motorcycle helmet. M. Lucien BORDET, storekeeper, 9 rue Lapérouse, Paris, saw at the Bois de Boulogne three "beings" of 1 meter in height, dressed in luminous outfits and wearing helmets whose portholes concealed their eyes. One of them, who appeared to be the chief, had "six rotundities on the abdomen".

[Ref. ssr1:] "SAMEDI-SOIR" NEWSPAPER:

The great joke of the "Martians" [...] Two divers play train Quarouble (Pas-de-Calais), Friday September 10, 1954, 22 h.15: MARIUS DEWILDE, aged 34, workman with the steelworks Blanc Misseron, reads a magazine in his kitchen (it would be interesting to know what this magazine was about) [the shipwreck of l'Abeille], On the first floor, Mrs. Dewilde and her son have rested already for a moment. All is quiet. Only the tick-tock of the clock and the crumpling of the turned pages break the silence. Suddenly, Marius Dewilde raises the head, attentive. Outside, Kiki, his dog, barks furiously as when a foreigner penetrates in the small garden. Somebody at this hour? Certainly not a visitor. Then? A tramp, perhaps, or a smuggler? Marius Dewilde takes a flashlight and goes outside on his doorstep. The fresh air of the night hits him in the face. During a few seconds, his eyes badly accustomed to the darkness cannot distinguish anything. Then, beyond the barrier which separates the way from the railway, he sees a dark mass, like a cart abandoned on the rails. "Hold on..., thinks Marius, a peasant uncoupled on the railway. I will have to warn the station so that it gets removed, that could cause an accident." Meanwhile Kiki, towards the right, continues to bark furiously. Marius Dewilde presses the button of his flashlight and directs the luminous ray towards the place where Kiki is. And then, he sees... Within three or four meters of him, on the way which passes in front of the house, two beings go one behind the other towards the dark mass seen on the railway. They are small (no more than one meter). The one from the pair who walks in front turns the head towards Marius Dewilde who has the impression to find himself in the presence of two extremely broad shouldered divers whose helmets throw metallic reflections. First amazed, Marius runs towards the garden's door, to cut the road to the unknowns. Then, in the dark mass posed on the way, a window of square design opens, from where spouts out a green ray which is directed at Dewilde. At once, the man is paralysed, nailed on the spot. His legs refuse to serve him. During several seconds, he is thus unable to make even one movement, then suddenly, the projector extincts, and Marius finds the use of his muscles. He runs towards the apparatus, but he is too late. With a whistle and a thick black smoke, the dark mass rises in space while slightly rocking. One would say a cheese cover three meters high and from five to six meters in diameter. The thing goes up... goes up... It takes a red-orange color, and disappears towards the west. Marius Dewilde and his Martians enter the legend. As in the Mazaud case, the police forces investigate. This time, it is the Air police forces. Why the Air police force? Well, because this is about a flying apparatus, of course. One "seeks" landing traces on the railway and one of "finds" it. Five scratches on the cross-pieces. One of the inspectors states: - AN APPARATUS WHICH WOULD HAVE LANDED ON QUILTS WOULD NOT LEAVE DIFFERENT TRACES! Marius Dewilde was victim, formerly, of a cranial traumatism in the continuation of which he had, one says, expressed some nervous disorders. Perhaps a psychiatrist would have questions to ask, but this assumption is excluded. Nobody will subject the witness to what Americans calls a "cross-examination", i.e. a true interrogation intended to find contradictions or the improbabilities in his account. In what authority, anyway, would this be done? Marius Dewilde is not a criminal or a madman. He does not threaten the safety of anybody. He did not call the police. He is perfectly free, like any French citizen, to tell what he saw or what he believed to have sees and to give of the events of which he claims to have been the witness any version which suits him or in which he believes. Under these circumstances, however, it is allowed to raise the question: where is the scientific truth? [Photograph with caption:] A few hours after Mazaud, Marius Dewilde, of Quarouble (Pas-de-Calais), saw, too, two "Martians". Moreover, he had the privilege of the diving-suits and the "paralysing ray". He also wanted, afterwards, to get a gendarme as witness.

[Ref. smh1:] "SYDNEY MORNING HERALD" NEWSPAPER:

France In Grip Of Flying Saucer Fever From June GODDARD In Paris FRANCE, the land of logic, is in the full grip of the fever of flying saucers and of little men in space helmets, who make friendly, if unintelligible, advances to startled peasants, or nail them to the spot with a hypnotic "green ray." For the past 10 days there have been unnumerable flying saucer reports from peasants, doctors, milkmen, butchers, farmers, housewives, gendarmes, teachers, from the Channel coast to the Mediterranean, from the Pyrenees to the Ardennes, from Britany to Alsace. According to all these witnesses, the sky over France is alight with sparkling yellow "saucers," bluish globes, "flying cigars," (Once as dramatically reported from Mulhouse in Alsace, surrounded by "12 little cheroots"), plain aluminum "saucers," luminous "cigars," 10 "saucers" which seemed to perform a sort of ballet in the sky, and sometimes just plain "mysterious machines." Unlike earlier flying saucers, those reported hovering over France fly low, sometimes at about 600 ft, and do not flash across the sky, but remain in view for as long as 15 minutes, or remain apparently immobile. They variously spit flames, form luminous curtains of light, change color, land and take off vertically without a sound. MANY French scientists, hitherto skeptical on the flying saucer question, are reported to be somewhat shaken by the multiplicity of reports, and by the fact that some are group observations, or individual reports which tally with others received from adjacent regions. On the subject of little men or Martians, they reiterate that astronomers have never made any observations which could indicate a high form of life on Mars. They point out that Mars is a thousand million years older than the earth, and that, if life did once exist there, it probably disappeared in the pink icy deserts which appear now to abound on the planet. The protagonists of the flying saucers and the little men from Mars have been greatly encouraged by an article in the serious journal, "Forces Aériennes Françaises" (French Air Forces) written by a young aeronautical engineer, Lieut. J. Plantier, and approved by an engineer-in-chief of the Air Ministry. Lieut. Plantier does not take sides, but merely demonstrates theoretically and by mathematical study that all the phenomenal behavior attributed to flying saucers is perfectly explicable if such machines were using cosmic ray energy, Lieut. Plantier shows that the reports that flying saucers remain motionless in the sky, accelerate from immobility to 10,000 m.p.h. in a few seconds without any noise, and that living beings can fly in them without being harmed by the acceleration, are completely logical if it is admitted that energy of cosmic rays has been harnessed and that machines can fly at the speed of light. IRRESPECTIVE of the views of scientists, however, French men and women continue to report daily appearances of saucers and cigars and their encounters with the space men. First reaction of the honest French citizen in the face of any unusual happening or danger - including, it seems, phenomena from outer space - is to inform the gendarmes. Accordingly, in villages and towns, bold gendarmes have been "alerted" as the French Press has it, and have been kept busy checking reports and examining alleged flying saucer landing areas for "traces." Two gendarmes at Chateauroux in Central France themselves saw three luminous green flying objects. Their police training immediately asserted itself, and they stopped a motor car driver and a cyclist so that they too could look and bear witness. Then the gendarmes made out a full report. The only tangible evidence to date of a landing is that produced by Mr. Marius Dewilde, a 28-year-old metal worker in the North near Valenciennes. M. Dewilde, a young man with a hairline moustache, a long - and it must be admitted, humorous - face, said he first saw the "Martians" from his garden near the railway line. "Two little beings, not more than three feet high," he reported, "each wearing a sort of diving suit with metal helmet, were standing near a 'flying cigar,' which had landed on the railway sleepers." M. Dewilde had no chance to shake hands or welcome the visitors in the name of the Fourth Republic for, as soon as they saw him, they hypnotized him with a "green ray" while they leapt into their machine which, of course, took off vertically in a thick cloud of smoke without making a sound. Next day the gendarmes "alerted" at once by M. Dewilde and two inspectors of the Air Force police, found a series of strange regular marks on the railway sleepers, which could have been caused by the "saucer" in landing. MOST intimate contact with the space men was reported by M. Antoine Mazaud, a farmer, aged 58, with a bushy grey moustache, who lives near Limoges in the Massif central plateau of France. M. Mazaud alleges that a "Martian" about three feet high emerged from a "flying cigar" and began to talk in an unintelligible tongue. When he realized that M. Mazaud could not understand him, he kissed the farmer on the cheek. M. Mazaud's argumentative fellow-countrymen, questioning this strange story, immediately wanted to know why a creature from another world should adopt the habit - not even universal on earth, they pointed - of kissing. "It is surprising that he did not pin a medal on your chest and kiss you on both cheeks," they scoffed. In view of this unsympathetic response to M. Mazaud's story, it is not surprising, therefore, that M. Yves David, a farmer of Chatellerault, concealed for some days the fact that he had been touched on the arm by a "space man" before being momentarily hypnotized by the "green ray" like M. Dewilde. M. David was afraid of being laughed at, he said, but eventually asked a friend if anyone else had seen the space man. The friend spread the news and, of course, told the gendarmes. Two women in the Yonne department gave independent reports of having seen a strange machine in a clearing with a pilot standing next to it. Neither stayed to investigate, however. DAILY the stories continue. No Parisians have yet reported an encounter with a "Martian," altough, as the wits point out, you would expect them to land on the "Champs de Mars" ("Field of Mars"), the esplanade in the front of the military school. Cartoonists are fully exploiting the "Martian" and flying saucer season. One, in true Gallic vein, has drawn the classic wronged husband who returns home unexpectedly. He has thrown open the cupboard door to reveal a strange little figure in a spaceman's suit and helmet, and is saying to his guilty wife, cowering in bed: "And that, I suppose, you'll tell me, is a Martian." Most celebrated flying saucer "spotter" to date in Paris is film star Michele Morgan, who reported seeing one near the Eiffel tower at about 10 p.m. When Mademoiselle Morgan later complained of the flood of telephone calls from fans and friends who wanted to hear further details, her mother made the dry and essentially French comment: "You lost a good opportunity that night to hold your tongue."

[Ref. tes1:] "EVENING STAR" NEWSPAPER:

In France, Rumors Are Flying...

Or Maybe They Are Saucers PARIS. -- Readers of the classical ad columns of the Brest Telegramme blinked recently at the following notice: REWARD Offer of 10 million francs (1000000) to any one who brings me a live inhabitant of planet Mars. Contact PRE in LOCRONAN (Finistère). It may that that Mr. Pre has his tongue in his cheek and a good more than 10 million francs in his pockets. But considering what is going on in Europe these says you never know... Cedric Allingham, if his interest has been more mercenary than scientific, might have warmed up. Mr Allingham is a [unreadable]. He is also a professional ornithologist and an amateur astronomer. His big chance came last February 18, about 3:30 p.m. on his course of a stroll between [... unreadable] [(Allingham claimed to have met Venusians...] chances of earning Mr. Pre's reward, he has no corner on the Martian market. Within recent weeks, European newspapers have been flooded with scores of hardly less intriguing reports: On the night of September 10, near Quarouble in Northern France, an oblong machine about 10 feet long landed on a railroad track a few yards from the house of farmer Marius Dewilde. Two small man-like creatures emerged, dressed in costumes that looked like divers' suits. As Mr. Dewilde walked towards the machine, he was paralyzed by a green light. By the time he recovered, the machine was high in the sky. Further investigations showed symmetrical scrapes on the wooden railroad ties, suggesting that the object had rested on a tripod undercarriage. The same evening a farmer named Antoine Mazaud of the Plateau of Millevache in Southern France turned in a similar report to the local authorities. Walking home, Mr. Mazaud had found himself suddenly face to face with a small, mysterious stranger, wearing something that looked like a crash helmet. Farmer Mazaud prudently extended his pitchfork. The stranger, on the contrary, held out his hands in a gesture of friendship, walked up, uttered a few sounds, and kissed Mr. Mazaud on the cheek. Before the farmer could recover his poise, the amiable intruder has climbed the roadside hedge and entered a cigar-shaped contraption which took off with a faint buzzing sound. On September 24 at 10 a.m. in the Gardunha Mountains near the Spanish border, three Portuguese peasants were stratled by a fast flying sphere which landed in a field 200 yards from them. This time, two tall creatures emerged in shiny metallic outfits and started collecting grass and stones in a brightly polished box. Spotting the peasants, they strolled over and invited the men by gestures to climb into their machines, where moving shadows could be seen behind the semitransparent center section. when the offer was declined, the strangers disappeared through a hatch. A few seconds later, the sphere took off vertically and rapidly disappeared. [In Portugal, a hoax. Case file here.] "Flying Mushroom" On September 30 at 5:10 p.m. Bernard Goujon and Armand Pichet were working on the road between Maisoncelles and Meaux when a "flying mushroom" eight feet wide settled gracefully nearby. Mr. Pichet, from a vantage point in the roadside ditch, urged Mr. Goujon to "run over and have a look." According to Mr. Goujon's report to the gendarmes, the mushroom seemed to be made out of aluminum and rested on three crutches. It took off as he approached "spiraling like an autumn leaf" and was lost in the clouds. Next morning the

[Ref. jdf1:] NEWSPAPER "LE JOURNAL DES FLANDRES":

FIRST MISDEED

OF THE "MARTIANS" It is sometimes better not to talk too much about flying saucers and their peculiar conductors. The proof is that Mr. Dewilde, the man in the Nord who saw "interplanetary men", has attracted the attention of the whole world, in general, and S.N.C.F. in particular. Which S.N.C.F. found that Mr Dewilde was not allowed to occupy a gatekeeper's house and therefore urged him to look for another accommodation.

[Ref. tie1:] "TIME" MAGAZINE:

The article below was published in Time magazine, USA, for October 25, 1954.

SCIENCE Martians over France One morning last October, Jean Narcy, a road mender of Haute-Marne, France, was riding to work on his bicycle. In a wheat field he saw a little whiskered man just under 4 ft tall, who wore a fur coat, an orange corset and a plush cap. "Bonjour, [Hello]" said Mr. Narcy. The little man muttered something like "I'll be seeing you." Then he jumped into a small (10 ft. in diameter) flying saucer, took off with a buzzing sound and disappeared into the clouds. With Narcy's "Hairy Martian" as a starting point, the French press run wild, and a deluge of Martians have been raining down ever since. They have come in flying cigars, crowns, comets, winged mushrooms, even a flying chamber pot. Unlike Americans who have seen flying saucers, the French "sighters" paid little attention to the vehicles. They were interested in the people from space. The Martians were anything but standardized. One who stopped Mr. Roger Barrault near the town of Lavoux had brilliant eyes, an enormous moustache, wore rubbers and spoke Latin. Another asked Mr. Pierre Lucas, a Breton baker, for a light. He was bearded and had a single eye in the middle of the forehead. Mr. Lucas could not remember what language he spoke. Paralysing Pygmies. As the Martian invasion of France proceeded, the invaders became