Maurice Masse / Valensole CE3

At approximately 5:45 a.m. on 1 July 1965, Maurice Masse, a 41-year-old farmer and former resistance fighter, was preparing to work in his lavender field near Valensole when he heard a whistling sound. He saw an oval, rugby-ball-shaped object, matte gray and about the size of a Dauphine car, resting on six legs with a central pivot in a depression. Two small beings (about 1.2 m tall) with large heads, high fleshy cheeks, large slanted eyes, and wearing tight gray-green one-piece suits stood nearby making grumbling noises. As Masse approached to about 7–10 meters, one being pointed a pencil-like object at him, paralyzing him. The beings entered the craft, which rose vertically with a whistling sound, tilted, and accelerated away at extraordinary speed. Masse recovered mobility after about 20 minutes. Gendarmes arrived the next day, photographed and measured a star-shaped imprint about 1 m across with a 30 cm deep central cylindrical hole. The soil became unusually hard and lavender in the area failed to grow normally for several years afterward. The case was investigated by local authorities and later referenced in French official UFO studies.