Valensole UFO Encounter

Date: July 1, 1965

Location: Valensole, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hauts-de-France, France

At 5:30 a.m., Monsieur Maurice Masse went to work at his lavender field a little north of Valensole. He was lighting a cigarette before starting his tractor when he heard a high pitched whistling sound. He couldn’t tell where the sound came from, so he stepped out from behind the stone pile, and saw before him an oddly shaped object which he assumed to be a helicopter. He immediately realized it was not, for the thing looked like a huge rugby football, about the size of a Dauphine car and was topped by a cupola. It rested on six legs.

Despite the odd nature of the object, Masse was curious and walked toward it along among the lavender plants. As he approached, he saw two small beings of human shape bending over a lavender plant. Masse still was not frightened and walked toward them. When he was about 25' or 30' from them, one of the beings noticed him and pointed a kind of tube at him, which paralyzed him on the spot. Although rooted to the ground,

Masse was still able to observe what was going on, he described the two little men as about the size of an 8 year old child, but their heads were huge, about three times the size of an adult’s head. They were bald and completely hairless, and their skin as smooth as a child’s and very white. Their bodies were covered by a coverall like garment.

The size of the features of the beings was comparable to that of a human being except for the mouth, which was a lipless hole. Sounds made by the pair were unintelligible and did not seem to emanate from their mouths. Their general attitude as they looked at Masse was as if they were making fun of him.

After a few moments, the little men jumped into their machine by way of a sliding door and it took off, flying into the west at an angle of 45°. Its speed was great as it moved away, and a whistling sound like the sound which first attracted Masse was heard again.

The object left holes in the ground which were examined by many people, including police personnel after they learned of the report.

This case is considered one of the classic UFO reports. Investigations by official and civilian agencies confirmed Masses sincerity and good character. Laboratory study of the affected soil and plants confirmed the occurrence of an unusual event. Subsequently, Masse confided that in the course of the encounter he experienced some sort of communication with the entities.