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...mess evidently began in 1968, when Aldo Bonassoli, a telephone-company electrician in Ventimiglia, Italy, convinced Count Alain de Villegas, a wealthy private investor, that he could develop a technique for discovering oil from the air. A French intelligence agent learned of the project, and the Giscard government decided that it might be useful for detecting submarines. Villegas signed the first of a number of contracts with Elf-Aquitaine, and payments were made into secret Swiss bank accounts...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: France: Big Stink | 1/30/1984 | See Source »

...this affair while encouraging the government to move to the front with it." Meanwhile, Count de Villegas's chateau outside Brussels was burglarized last week, and his files were rifled by what Belgian police describe as "professionals." In Ventimiglia, Italian authorities offered police protection to would-be inventor Bonassoli after noticing unknown people around his house. Bonassoli, who left Villegas's employ in 1979 after a falling-out over money, reported that he is still perfecting the oil-detection device. But, says he, "I won't work with the French again. They mix science and politics...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: France: Big Stink | 1/30/1984 | See Source »

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