Document transcript

Smoking Pram (AI13-KE)

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL:

(interview with [REDACTED], conducted with the aid of a French translator on Nov. 17, 2009 in a retirement home in [REDACTED], France)

A: Where were you on August 2, 1979, Mr. Beaulieu?

RB (translated from French): So specific a date! (laughter) As if I could ever forget. I was called to a fire at the Rue [REDACTED].

A: What did you see?

RB: Smoke, white like a new Pope, rising up from the windows of a small shop. I sent my men in. I was fire chief back then.

A: What happened next?

RB: We pulled the shop owner out. He was already dead. Smoke in his lungs. We found the source the source afterwards. A baby's walker. Poured water onto it, but that only encouraged the smoke. We pulled the carriage outside. Smoke kept shooting out! A crowd gathered. People said it was a miracle. But I disagreed. It seemed to me like more of an omen. We brought the strange thing back to the fire hall. Some Americans, like yourself, came later and took it away.

(end of relevant portion)