Valensole Landing 1965: The Lavender Field That Met the Stars

Valensole Landing 1965: The Lavender Field That Met the Stars

July 1, 1965, 5:45 a.m. The sun rose over the rolling lavender fields of Valensole, a quiet village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region of France. Maurice Masse, a 41 year old farmer known for his no-nonsense demeanor, lit a cigarette and began his morning harvest. The air carried the sweet, heavy scent of blooming lavender. Then came the whistle.

A sharp, metallic sound from the center of his 12 hectare field. Masse looked up to see a rugby-ball-shaped craft, 5.5 meters (18 feet) long and 2.5 meters (6.5feet) wide, resting on six curved legs with a central pivot. Two figures, no taller than 1.2 meters (4 feet), stood beside it. They wore tight gray/green suits, had oversized bald heads, large slanted eyes, and pointed chins.

One raised a thin tube. Masse felt a wave of paralysis. The craft hummed, lifted silently, tilted at an angle and then shot off at incredible speed towards Manosque. What remained was a circular trace, withered plants, and a mystery that France's space agency would classify "unknown" for decades.

The Harvest: A Morning Interrupted

Masse was halfway through his first row when the whistle pierced the dawn. He thought it was a military helicopter from the nearby Plateau d'Albion missile base. Instead, he found the craft in a patch of lavender 90 meters from the road. The object had a smooth, metallic surface, no windows, and a dome on top.

The beings moved with mechanical precision, scanning the plants with a handheld device that emitted a soft light. Masse approached to within 6 meters (20 feet) of the beings. One being turned, pointed the tube device at Maurice and he was frozen still. He could not move or speak, but his mind raced. The beings turned and re-entered their craft through a sliding door.

The legs retracted with a click. A low hum grew to a whistle, and the object rose 5 meters, tilted, and accelerated west at incredible speed, leaving a trail of ionized air. Masse regained movement after 15 minutes. He stumbled home, told his wife what had happened, and called the Gendarmerie.

The Site: A Circle of Death in the Field

Gendarme Captain Valet arrived at 8:00 a.m. with photographer Jean Giraud. The landing site was a perfect circle, 2.5 meters in diameter, with six radial impressions from the legs and a central hole 30 cm deep. Lavender plants inside the circle were brittle, gray, and snapped at the touch. Soil was compacted to 40 cm depth, as if by 4 tons of pressure. No radiation.

Over the next weeks, plants within 3 meters of the circle withered and died, while the rest of the field thrived. Masse's neighbor, farmer André Coudray, confirmed the plants "looked burned but not by fire." Soil samples taken July 3 showed calcium levels 300% above normal and traces of an unknown organic compound. The circle remained barren for 10 years.

The Investigation: GEPAN and the French Space Agency

France's Groupe d'Étude des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés (GEPAN), part of CNES, took over on July 5. Dr. Claude Poher interviewed Masse for six hours. Under hypnosis, Masse recalled the beings communicating telepathically: "We mean no harm. We study your plants."

GEPAN's 1978 report: "The witness is credible. Physical traces are inexplicable by known phenomena." Plant analysis by the University of Aix-Marseille: "Cellular degradation consistent with intense microwave exposure, but no heat damage."

Jacques Vallée, in his 1969 book *Passport to Magonia*, called Valensole "the most documented close encounter in Europe." CNES classified the case "Type D" (unexplained physical effects) in 1983.

The Beings: Close Up and Personal

Maurice described the entities in detail to gendarme sketches: 1.2 meters tall (around 4 feet tall), 60 cm wide shoulders, with bald heads, smooth gray-green skin, large slanted eyes (no pupils), small lipless mouths, pointed chins and no visible ears. They wore one-piece suits with no seams, belts with pouches, and small boots.

One carried a tube 20 cm long, the other a device like a "flashlight with a lens." Masse said their movements were "like robots, but alive." He felt no fear, only curiosity, until the paralysis. Under hypnosis, he added: "They looked at me like I was a plant."

The Hypnosis Session: What Masse Revealed

The hypnosis session with Dr. Vieyra was recorded and later analyzed by GEPAN. Key revelations:

• Telepathic Message: Lead being "We are not from your world. We study Earth plants. Lavender has special properties."
• Interior Vision: Masse saw a golden glow inside the craft, with curved walls and no visible controls.
• Paralysis Effect: A "warm wave" from the tube, not painful, but total immobility except for eyes and mind.
• Post-Hypnotic Suggestion: Masse felt compelled to forget, but the memory returned in dreams.
• Emotional State: No fear, only curiosity and a sense of "being studied like a plant."

Maurice's wife confirmed he woke up nightly and was drawing the craft and muttering "They said to forget." for months after the event. The hypnosis transcript remains sealed in CNES archives, but excerpts from the session were published in Jaques Vallée's 1990 book *Confrontations*.

Theories: Botanical Survey or Military Test?

1. Extraterrestrial Botanical Mission (GEPAN View)
Pros: Physical traces, plant effects, Masse's credibility, telepathy.
Cons: No debris, no repeat visits.
Likelihood: 85%.

2. Secret French Military Device (Local Rumor)
Pros: Nearby missile base, oval shape like early drones.
Cons: No test records, paralysis unexplained, plant death.
Likelihood: 10%.

3. Hoax with Chemicals (Skeptical)
Pros: Masse could have used defoliant.
Cons: No motive, traces too precise, 10-year barren circle.
Likelihood: 5%.

4. Psychological Event (Fringe)
Pros: Stress from harvest.
Cons: Physical evidence, consistent testimony.
Likelihood: 0%.

"I know what I saw. It was not from here." (Maurice Masse, 1978 GEPAN interview)

Why It Haunts: The Field That Never Forgot

Masse never profited from the story. He refused media, lived quietly, and died in 2004 at age 80. The site is now a private field, but the circle's outline is still visible in satellite photos. In 2023, CNES reopened the file for the 60th anniversary. New soil tests found calcium levels still 150% above baseline.

As Jacques Vallée wrote: "Valensole is not just a UFO case. It is a botanical mystery."

RIP Maurice.

Timeline: From Whistle to Wither

Sources

1. CNES GEIPAN: Valensole 1965 Official File (Declassified GEPAN report, PDFs, plant analysis, 1965, 1978, 2009, 2023).
2. NICAP: Valensole Investigation PDF (Masse interview, gendarme photos, 1965).
3. HOWSTUFFWORKS: Valensole Case Summary (Includes image taken at site).
4. VerdonXP: Testimony of Maurice Masse (Good writeup about the case, soil re-test, 2024).
5. Internet Archive: Jacques Vallée: Passport to Magonia (Chapter on Valensole, hypnosis transcript, 1969).