The day in 1954 when 10,000 soccer fans in Italy saw cigar-shaped UFOs

It’s 27 October 1954. A reserve game between Fiorentina and nearby rivals Pistoiese is under way at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. A crowd of around 10,000 has gathered to watch. Among them is Gigi Boni (second left in the aboave picture) a lifelong Fiorentina fan who in later years would become the co-ordinator of the club’s supporters group.

Now in his eighties Boni still has vivid memories of watching in disbelief as UFOs hovered above the stadium.

“I remember clearly seeing this incredible sight. They were moving very fast and then they just stopped. It all lasted a couple of minutes. I would like to describe them as being like Cuban cigars. They just reminded me of Cuban cigars, in the way they looked.”

The stadium fell silent as the players and fans stood transfixed, staring at these strange objects in the crisp blue autumn sky. …

Ardico Magnini is something of a legend at Fiorentina. He was a key player in the Fiorentina side of the 1950s and also played for Italy at the 1954 World Cup.

“I remember everything from A to Z,” Magnini recalls. “While we were playing the match everything came to a stop because everybody was looking up at the sky intensely.

“It was something that looked like an egg that was moving slowly, slowly, slowly. Everyone was looking up and also there was some glitter coming down from the sky, silver glitter. We were astonished we had never seen anything like it before. We were absolutely shocked from the moment we saw it.”

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