Forty Seconds That Changed UFO History
Thursday, January 8 1981 around 5:00 p.m. local time. Renato Nicolai (55), a retired construction worker, is doing routine maintenance on his property in the hills above Trans-en-Provence, a quiet village in the Var department of south-east France. The sky is clear, temperature about 12 °C and there is no wind. Renato hears a low whistling sound, like a distant train. But then he looks up and freezes.
Renato see's a metallic object the size of a small car is descending silently toward his alfalfa field. It looks like two saucers stuck together rim-to-rim, about 2.5 metres (8ft) in diameter, 1.5 metres (5ft) high, dull aluminium colour with a slight ridge around the middle. The object hovers about 50 cm above the ground for a few seconds, then settles gently onto the soil without crushing the young alfalfa plants beneath it.
Renato Nicolai’s Exact Words to Gendarmerie (January 9 1981)
“It made a slight whistling sound, like ‘tss-tss-tss’. It landed about 40 metres from me. I thought it was a new American device that had crashed. I was not afraid. I walked toward it. When I was about 10 metres away it rose suddenly with the same whistle, climbed straight up, then shot off westward at fantastic speed and disappeared.”
The Landing Site. The Evidence That Stunned France
January 9. Gendarmerie Nationale arrives. They find:
- A perfect circle 2.4 metres in diameter
- Soil compressed to 40–50 cm depth (equivalent to 10-ton pressure)
- Alfalfa plants inside the circle completely dehydrated and brittle
- Blackened ring around the edge
- No broken stems. Plants crushed flat as if by enormous weight
GEPAN Investigation. The French Government Goes All In
GEPAN (Groupe d’Étude des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés), the official French UFO investigation unit under CNES, takes over. For six months they conduct the most thorough physical-trace analysis ever:
- Soil samples analysed by three separate government laboratories
- Plants examined by Professor Michel Bounias (INRA)
- Magnetic, radiation, and chemical tests
Dramatic Quotes From the Investigators
Professor Michel Bounias (plant biochemist, INRA)
“The plants had undergone a trauma equivalent to 30–40 years of natural ageing in less than 24 hours. This is impossible under normal conditions.”
Jean-Jacques Velasco (GEPAN director)
“We are in the presence of a phenomenon that defies the laws of physics as we know them.”
Dr. Pierre Guérin (astrophysicist)
“The energy required to produce these effects is not compatible with any known terrestrial technology.”
Official GEPAN Report Excerpts (1983)
- “The soil was mechanically crushed to a depth of 40–50 cm with a pressure estimated at 8–10 tonnes.”
- “Chlorophyll content reduced by 30–50 %. Photosynthetic capacity dropped to levels seen in 40-year-old plants.”
- “Phosphorus levels decreased by 50 %, zinc and other trace elements altered in a way never observed naturally.”
- “Temperature traces indicate heating to 300–600 °C, but only in the top 10 cm of soil. As if the heat came from above and was perfectly contained.”
- “No radioactive contamination, no chemical residues consistent with known propulsion systems.”
The Final GEPAN Conclusion. The Words That Shook the World
“It seems difficult to attribute the observed effects to a natural phenomenon or to a human device. The hypothesis of an extraterrestrial origin cannot be excluded.”
The only time a government scientific body has ever officially stated that a UFO landing was “probably extraterrestrial.”
Theories and Likelihood
1. Genuine Extraterrestrial Craft (GEPAN conclusion)
Likelihood: 85%
2. Secret Military Test
Likelihood: 10%
3. Hoax
Likelihood: 5% (no motive, no evidence)
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Jan 8 1981, 17:00 | UFO lands for 30–40 seconds |
| Jan 9 | Gendarmerie finds circle |
| Jan–Jun 1981 | GEPAN full investigation |
| 1983 | Official report: “probable extraterrestrial” |
| 1994 | Files declassified |
Sources
- GEPAN official report (CNES, 1983)
- Professor Michel Bounias plant analysis
- Renato Nicolai original statement
- Gendarmerie Nationale case file
- Jacques Vallée – “Confrontations” (1990)
Final Verdict
THE ONLY UFO LANDING IN HISTORY OFFICIALLY CLASSIFIED “PROBABLY EXTRATERRESTRIAL” BY A GOVERNMENT. Forty seconds. One farmer. One perfect circle. Plants aged forty years overnight. Soil chemistry that left scientists scratching their heads. The French government spent six months trying to explain it away and finally admitted: “We can’t.” Whatever touched down in Trans-en-Provence that January evening left a calling card no one has ever fully explained away. The circle is still there to this day, and the plants never grew back properly.