The Valensole Case A French Close Encounter Of The Third Kind

This case is considered one of the classic UFO reports and was one of the best authenticated close encounter incidents in continental Europe, which included not only physical trace evidence, botanical data and physiological data, but also detailed descriptions of the beings associated with the UFO. This incident came to be known as "The Valensole Case". Not only because it was one of the most thoroughly investigated by private UFO investigators on record, but was also investigated by French government agencies from the same day of the event.The following UFO and aliens sighting occurred in a lavender field near the town of Valensole, located in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the south of France.On July 1, 1965, at about 5:45 am (05.45 hrs.), 41 year old French lavender farmer, Maurice Masse, was smoking a cigarette as he was about to start his tractor which was parked behind a pile of stones about two meters high, when he suddenly heard a whistle-like sound that spread throughout the area. From that location he couldn't see what it was, but believing that it could be a military helicopter making an unauthorized landing on his property, he decided to head towards the source of the sound. When he came out from behind the pile of stones, he was stunned to find an odd looking object sitting in the middle of his lavender field at a distance of about 90 meters (295 feet).He approached the object quietly walking along a vineyard and among some rocks while staring at it carefully. The object was the size of a Renault Dauphine automobile (3 to 3.50 meters wide, with about 2.50 meters high), was shaped like a rugby ball and was of a dull neutral color. It had a transparent cupola on top and 6 legs mounted on a central pivot which sunk into the ground, reminiscent of a huge spider.As he neared the object, he observed two small humanoids resembling "eight year old boys" about 1.2 meters tall (about 4 feet). Since he was more curious than afraid, he continued heading toward them when he noticed their abnormally large heads in relation to their bodies (about three times that of a human head) and their general morphology was similar to ours, but obviously were not human. They were crouching and examining some lavender plants when finally one of the beings spotted him coming toward them eight meters (26 feet) away. Both of them got up and the other one pointed a pencil-like object at Masse which paralyzed him, but apparently he did not lose consciousness and was able to keep observing. The being then placed the object into a small case or holster on its left side and began to speak in an unknown language with his partner.This allowed the witness to carefully examine the beings and the craft better while remaining immobilized for a few minutes. They wore a gray-green one-piece suit, were bald, pumpkin-like heads, large slanted eyes, white skin, long ears, high fleshy cheekbones and with a small circular mouth. He remembered that there was then a sort of telepathic communication with these beings with a sense of benevolence. These two beings then stayed for a few minutes conversing with each other, looking at him most of the time. He noticed that their eyes were moving and heard a gurgling sound that surely came from their throats. They almost had no neck as their heads were tucked into their shoulders.About four to five minutes later both beings moved on toward the craft and entered through a sliding door. Once inside, the door closed automatically sliding from the bottom-up. Through the transparent cupola, Masse could see both beings sitting near the controls where they were apparently looking at him from inside the object. With the whistling sound again, the craft hovered briefly while the 6 legs turned in a clockwise direction and retracted inside. Then the craft took off toward the west at high speed.PHYSICAL TRACE EVIDENCE:Masse remained paralyzed for about 15 minutes after that and upon regaining movement he inspected the spot where the UFO had landed and found a deep crater and the ground was extremely moist despite the fact that it had not rained for some time. On the night after the encounter, Masse and his 18 year old daughter went back to inspect the landing site and noticed that the soil, which was once extremely moist, has now become as hard as concrete compared to the surrounding soil which crumbled when held.French government officials and the police found geometrically spaced indentations covering the area and a three meter wide circular area in the middle of rows of lavender plants which appeared to decay in proportion to their distance from the central column of the craft. An analysis found a higher amount of calcium at the landing site that was found to be much higher than in samples taken from other areas in the field. Around the perimeter a number of lavender plants were stunted and withered looking. Masse did make an attempt to replant on the landing site, but these plants also died. The most remarkable of the ground traces was that no lavender plants would grow at the landing site for ten years.After the incident, Masse was overcome with drowsiness and found it difficult to stay awake for more than four hours at a time. He slept 12 to 14 hours on the first day and then the next day he slept nearly 24 hours. It was recorded that he continued sleeping 12 to 15 hours each night for several months after the incident before regaining his normal sleep habits.THE INVESTIGATION:"Besides being investigated by French government agencies when it happened, a number of UFO investigators interviewed Masse (including the distinguished Professor Jacques Vall'ee) and concluded that Masse is sincere and a man of good character. Vall'ee declared, "Throughout these discussions with Mr. Masse, I had the feeling that I was in the presence of a very intelligent man, capable of deep emotions and rational thoughts. He is also quite humble"."Masse was regarded as absolutely trustworthy by police investigators. Lieutenant-Colonel Valnet, and Maitre Chautard, leading the gendarmerie and the Mayor of Valensole, in fact everyone who investigated the case, concluded that Maurice Masse was telling the truth.A famous French ufologist, Aim'e Michel visited Masse on Aug 8, 1965, and at the end of the interview showed Masse a drawing of the Socorro UFO which Masse took to be his object, stating: "Someone else has seen my UFO". Michel stated: "If the witness has invented that story, he invented something entirely consistent with what we already know; particularly consistent with what happened last year in the United States in a place called Socorro" (referring to Officer Lonnie Zamora's UFO sighting near the town of Socorro, New Mexico of 1964)."Michel reported that Masse appeared anxious, nervous and distressed at the interview. Masse said of the beings: "They were good and they did not wish to do us any harm"." Jimmy Guieu, a French writer and investigator, went to the scene wanting to collect some soil sample from where the craft had landed and broke the blade of his knife as the ground was very hard.Masse fled to the coast to avoid the press and the curious. The effects from this UFO and aliens sighting were felt for many years after the incident. Maurice Masse passed away on May 14, 2004.