Early on the morning of July 1, 1965, lavender farmer Maurice Masse was starting work in his field near Valensole, on the Valensole plateau in Provence, when he said he heard a whistling sound. He then saw an egg-shaped object, about the size of a small car, resting on legs among the lavender, with two small figures beside it.
Masse said one of the beings pointed a tube-like device at him and he found himself unable to move. He watched them, he said, looking at the plants and making grunting sounds, before they climbed back into the craft, which rose and flew off. He remained paralysed for some time afterwards. He later told his wife he had felt some kind of communication from them, and he treated the spot as special for the rest of his life.
The Gendarmerie investigated. Investigators and the press recorded marks in the soil, including a central hole, which Masse said hardened like cement; within days, sightseers had trampled the site. Neighbours and family described him as a private man with no interest in fame, and researcher Jacques Vallée, who also looked into the case, considered it unexplained. France's official UFO office, GEIPAN, never carried out its own study, but in 2015, for the 50th anniversary, it released the three Gendarmerie reports, which it considers the most reliable documents on the case.
A passing military helicopter was suggested at the time; Masse rejected that idea, and French skeptics have argued that he made up the story and the traces. No explanation has been confirmed, and Valensole remains one of the best-known entity cases in Europe.