Maurice Masse

Lavender Farmer

Maurice Masse is the principal and only confirmed eyewitness in the 1965 Valensole Encounter. He was a 50-year-old farmer according to the official GEIPAN witness record (although many secondary accounts give his age as 41), working in his lavender fields near Valensole, France, on July 1, 1965.

Maurice Masse

Masse was working on the Valensole Plateau shortly before 6:00 a.m. when he stopped to smoke a cigarette. At approximately 5:45 a.m., he heard a whistling sound and noticed an unusual object sitting in his field. The French gendarmerie record describes it as roughly the size of a Renault Dauphine, with an unusual rounded or rugby-ball-like shape.

Masse approached the object, eventually reporting that he came within approximately 7 meters (23 feet) of it. He described seeing two small humanoid occupants near the craft. According to his later testimony, one of the occupants pointed a tube-like device toward him, after which he became immobilized while remaining conscious. The two beings then entered the object, which departed rapidly.

The physical traces

This is one of the most significant aspects of Masse's testimony.

After the object departed, Masse reported finding unusual marks where it had been sitting. The following evening, he returned with his daughter and found that the previously soft ground had become unusually hard.

The gendarmes subsequently examined the location. Their July 3 investigation documented and photographed an unusual depression and a cylindrical hole approximately 18 cm in diameter and 40 cm deep, along with several shallow grooves extending from the central area.

That makes Masse's case more interesting than a simple close visual observation: his account was accompanied by physical traces that were investigated by law enforcement.

His reporting to authorities

Another strong point for Masse as a witness is the timing.

He was first interviewed by the local gendarmerie on July 2, 1965 — the day after the encounter. Later that evening, he accompanied officers to the site, where they examined the reported landing area. He was interviewed again that night. A more detailed supplemental statement was provided in August 1965.

The later testimony

Masse's later testimony became considerably more detailed than his initial report. In his August statement, he explained that he had initially withheld some of what he had seen because the experience was so extraordinary that he feared people would think he was crazy. He subsequently described the two occupants in considerably greater detail.