[originaltext] On 27 August 1783, the people of the village of Gonesse, in Fr

On 27 August 1783, the people of the village of Gonesse, in France, looked up into the sky and saw a strange and terrible animal, it was huge and round and it was floating down from the sky. It landed in a field just outside the village. It was clear to the people of Gonesse that they had to defend themselves. The animal was clearly some kind of terrible "Monster". They were afraid of the monster, but they were also very brave. They rushed out into the field and attacked the animal with knives and sticks and farming tools. The monster made terrible noises, like an animal that can breathe only with great difficulty. But that was not the worst thing. When the villagers cut into the monster’s skin, it gave off a horrible smell. And even after the villagers had cut the thing open, it still moved. Finally, the villagers tied it to a horse. The horse ran through the fields and the monster was torn to pieces.
   What was this terrible monster? The answer is that it was one of the first "hot air balloons" Its "skin" was made of silk and a kind of robber. The terrible smell was the hot air inside the balloon. When the hot air escaped through the cuts in the skin, it also caused the horrible noises.
6. What was this terrible monster?