Cussac Children Encounter

On the morning of August 29, 1967, around 10:30 AM on the Cantal plateau near Cussac, François Delpeuch (13½) and his sister Anne-Marie (9), accompanied by their dog Médor, were herding cows in a meadow beside Departmental Road 57. They spotted four small black figures, about 1-1.2 meters tall with pointed heads, on the other side of a stone wall. Initially thinking they were children, François called out. One figure was bent over, apparently picking up something, while another held a shiny mirror-like object. A dazzling silver spherical object, 2-2.5 meters in diameter, rested nearby. Upon noticing the children, the beings rose vertically one by one and plunged headfirst into the top of the sphere, which then ascended spiraling with a loud whistle, leaving a strong sulfur odor. The children ran home crying and told their father, the mayor, who immediately alerted the gendarmes. Officers arrived by 4 PM, noted the persistent sulfur smell, and observed a circular area of yellowed grass about 4-5 meters across that remained visible for days. The children were interviewed separately multiple times by gendarmes and later by GEPA investigators Joël Mesnard and Claude Pavy, who found their accounts consistent. A 1978 GEPAN (CNES) team also reviewed the case.