According to a key witness, professor Yves Rocard, one of the “fathers” of the French program, Challe called general Jean Thiry, the commander of the [test site], who knew him well... and told him : “Refrain from detonating your little bomb, keep it for us, it will always be useful”.
The CSEM and GOEN personnel were culturally inclined to be faithful to de Gaulle, since their mission was the nuclear program. But Thiry was hesitant about which party to support. His exact mindset is difficult to assess. Some claim that he initially decided to side with the rebels before changing his mind twenty‐four hours later. Others state that he was impressed with Challe’s order but that, in his phone conversation with Chaile, remained deliberately vague and uncommitted about his intentions.