Menton, FR being encounter — 1954

An anonymous witness later described an encounter on a terraced path near Menton, subsequently identified with Gorbio, in spring 1954. He heard metallic clanking and voices while walking home. Descending stone steps, he reportedly found a luminous, five-metre domed disc about ten metres away, hovering roughly a metre above the ground. Two figures appeared beside it: a slender one about 1.6 metres tall and a shorter companion with a larger head. Their close-fitting luminous clothing covered their heads, with veils concealing their faces. The shorter figure allegedly directed a white light from a waist-level object at the witness, who felt unable to move. When it lifted its veil, he described a broad forehead, prominent cheekbones, pointed chin, beak-like nose, tanned complexion and an unnaturally white eye. The figures seemed to invite him aboard, then helped each other enter the object. After a blackout he reportedly saw it rotate, brighten and spiral away. Jean Chasseigne published the account in 1973, about nineteen years after the alleged event. The exact date was forgotten, and the 2:40 a.m. timing conflicts with a later radio account giving 10 p.m. No independent witness or material proof was established. The plate omits the distressing close approach and represents the early sighting as a composite.