5 extraordinary and unsolved UFO stories: the still “unexplained” case of Valensole
Since the second half of the 20th century , reports have been multiplying. Almost everywhere in the world. People observe what they call UFOs. Unidentified flying objects. Often, scientists manage, after investigation, to explain them in a completely rational way. But sometimes, the mystery remains. As is the case, almost sixty years later, for the UFO of Valensole (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). A most strange story.
Image - Real Alien Royalty-Free Images, Stock Photos & Pictures | Shutterstock
IN SUMMARY
• UFO Traces in Lavender Field
• Inconclusive investigations
It was as the 1940s were drawing to a close that the first testimony came in. An American pilot in his thirties reported having observed nine " flying saucers " zooming at high speed over Washington State. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have described similar experiences. Or even more disconcerting ones. All over the world. And these observations are taken very seriously. In France, it is the Group for Studies and Information on Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena (Geipan) that studies them. A department of the National Center for Space Studies (Cnes) that analyzes reported cases of what we used to call UFOs - for unidentified flying objects - but which have since been renamed pans - for unidentified aerospace phenomena.
In the database of several thousand testimonies recorded by Geipan, mainly misunderstandings. Balloonsweather reportor drones that observers have misidentified. But also, a share - about 4% - of cases that remain unexplained. Strange, some will say. Unexplained, in any case...
At the top of the list, this story that took place in the heart of a peaceful village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. In Valensole, on July 1, 1965. That day, it is only five thirty in the morning, but Maurice Masse is already at work. He is a farmer. And it is in the middle of his field oflavenderthat he is going to have an experience that will change his life.
El aterrizaje OVNI de Valensole protagonizado por un agricultor llamado Maurice Masse el 1 de julio de 1965... Dos pequeños humanoides inmovilizaron al testigo... pic.twitter.com/JYeO3QC7TU
— Jose Antonio Carav@ca (@JoseACaravaca) January 30, 2021
His attention is first drawn to a shrill whistle. That of a helicopter, no doubt. But why would it have landed in his field? He has to take a closer look. Once the lavender plants are cleared, what Maurice Masse discovers has nothing to do with a helicopter. Instead, a machine "in the shape of a rugby ball " , "dark and matt" , as if perched on six legs. The size "of a Renault Dauphine" . And next to it, two strange little beings. With heads "in the shape ofpumpkin " , much too big to be human. Beings the size of eight-year-old children who seem intrigued by... a lavender plant. In their white overalls, they look harmless. Almost mocking. Despite the gaping hole that serves as their mouth. Maurice Masse is confident. He approaches. It is then that one of these small beings points a sort of pipe at him. The farmer from Valensole is paralyzed. He will remain so for several minutes. Until after the machine takes off.
Image - Яндекс
UFO Traces in Lavender Field
Inspecting the ground, he discovered "star-shaped traces with a cylindrical hole in the middle, in soggy earth ." But when he returned to show the place to his daughter, a few hours later, the earth had become "hard ascement " It is impossible to even stick a knife in it," say the villagers.
What would you have done in this man's place? He, unable to explain the "wonderful" encounter he had just had, confided his incredible experience to a friend the very next day. Asking him not to spread the story. For fear of being taken for a madman. But the friend could not help but talk about it to those around him. And the public rumor reached the ears of thegendarmes. An investigation begins. On the farmer first. First confirmation: he had neither drunk nor eaten since he woke up that morning. More generally, he is a man without a history. Who likes his peace and quiet. Not the type to seek notoriety. The buzz, one would say today. People who know him, closely or from afar, all confirm it. Maurice Masse is not a fabulist. He is undeniably a serious and credible witness.
Inconclusive investigations
Image- Virgin Group
At the landing site, there was not much left to exploit. Because many curious people had trampled the field before the arrival of the police. Barely enough to confirm that a craft had "possibly" been able to land there. "A shallow basin, about 1.20 meters in diameter with a hole about forty centimeters deep in the center. As well as four shallow furrows forming a sort of cross." Later analyses will simply show an abnormally low rate ofcalcium.
“ It wasn’t a helicopter ”
Image - Time
Among the most seriously put forward explanations, the theory of an army helicopter on maneuvers in the region is put forward. But Maurice Masse dismisses it out of hand. "The machine had neither rotor nor blades. I still claim to know how to recognize a helicopter . It wasn't one."
Maurice Masse will not come out of this adventure unscathed. He will quickly fall into a depression from which he will have difficulty recovering. This will not prevent him from maintaining his testimony until his death in 2014.
In 1965, Geipan did not exist. However, the successive organizations responsible for investigating UFOs - then pans - looked into this singular story. Without, however, publishing an in-depth investigation. Jacques Vallée, one of the great specialists in ufology - he inspired the character played by François Truffaut in Steven Spielberg's film, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" -, the study of UFOs - "ufo" for unidentified flying object , in English - spoke with Maurice Masse. And all the conclusions are the same: the case of the Valensole UFO remains, even today, "inexplicable"
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