Olivier Pighetti

In August 1951, inhabitants of the picturesque French village of Pont-Saint-Esprit were suddenly tormented by terrifying hallucinations. People imagined lions and tigers were coming to eat them. A man jumped out of a window thinking he was a dragonfly. At least seven people died, dozens were taken to the local asylum in strait jackets and hundreds were affected.. Almost immediately, wild theories started circulating to explain the this mysterious...