The 1954 French flap:

"Martians" in Anjou!

In broad daylight, they took
...onions to a country woman

Our colleagues from "Le Courrier de l'Est" tell the strange adventure which has just arrived at a woman in a farm of Blaison (the Maine-and-Loire), Mrs. Besnier. Here is the account of our colleagues:

Mrs. Besnier returned from fetching onions and some cloves of garlic in her attic when at the bottom of the stone staircase which she had just walked down, she finds herself in the presence of space visitors. Mystification? Hallucination? We could not tell, and for this reason it appeared useful to us to go to the location of this short encounter and to get Mrs. Besnier who give some specifics about her testimony. She is a quiet woman of about sixty years old who is afraid of nothing and had heard of flying saucer only by snatches of conversations.

- A what time did "the thing" occur? We asked her.

- In the full afternoon, at about 03:00 p.m., not later than 03:30 p.m.

- How did you see the craft?

- While leaving the attic, I saw a circular object of the size of a respectable round table in the court. Was it made of wood, or of aluminum or of anything else, I do not know at all.

- And then?

- Then, at the time when I descended the last step, a small "mannequin" of the size of a child rushed onto me and took the onions which I held in a side of my apron.

- Did it have a human appearance?

- Yes. They were dressed with a brown costume which entirely wrapped them. On their mouth, a kind of pipe was fixed which came from a sort of hood, as some sort of small sulfate sprayer which they had on the back.

- How was their face?

- Their skin was yellow and they had small, black and piercing eyes.

Without any hesitation, Mrs. Besnier answered the questions that we asked her without slackening. She did not see the strange "mannequins," as she calls them, go up in their saucer; but "when I arrived in the yard after standing up again - for I fell on my back when I saw them and it hurt - I looked in the sky and I saw very high a brilliant star which sprang in the air."

The neighbors, the mayor of Blaison, which we asked for their opinion on the strange report, were unanimous. "It is not an invented story. This person is calm and never made any fuss." And as an ultimate proof that she really saw something, Mrs. Besnier did not eat during 48 hours, and, trembling, stiff with cold and seizure, she remained confined to bed some time.

233.

Location. Blaison Maine Et Loire France

Date: November 20 1954

Time: 1500

A Mrs. Besnier was returning from fetching onions and some garlic cloves in her attic at the bottom of the stone staircase and as she walked out of the attic she saw a circular metallic object apparently on the ground in her courtyard. It appeared to be made out of aluminum. As she descended the last step a small figure the size of a child rushed onto her and took the onions, which she held in a side of her apron. Other humanoids now became visible. The humanoids were human in appearance and were totally wrapped in a brown custom. On their mouths they carried a kind of pipe that connected into a sort of hood and apparatus attached to their backs. Their skin was yellow and they had small black piercing eyes. The witness ran and apparently did not see the humanoids return to their "saucer". Mrs. Besnier did not eat for 48 hours after the incident and remained confined to bed for some time.

HC addition # 2398

Source: LDLN # 325

Type: B?