The 1965 Socorro-like incident in France

From Wikipedia:

"The Valensole UFO incident took place on July 1, 1965, in a lavender field next to Valensole inAlpes-de-Haute-Provence, France. The witness was Maurice Masse, a farmer who, according to researchers, would have no reason to fabricate his account of the incident.

On the day in question, Masse was doing routine work around his property. When he stopped to rest, he heard a sharp noise, and looked around to see what had caused it.

He found a large spherical object the size of a compact automobile. He then saw two small beings near the object, crouching and observing some plants, and wondered what two "children" would be doing in his field.

As he came closer, one of the beings saw him and both of them stood. One of them pointed a strange object towards Masse, who was immediately paralyzed, although his senses kept working.

The being put down the object it had used to incapacitate Masse, and turning to its companion, began a discussion in an unknown language. This allowed Masse to observe the beings in more detail. They were just above one meter high, with smooth, pale skin. Their heads were large with almost no necks. Their eyes were human-looking, despite the absence of eyelids. They wore dark blue clothing.

While the beings conferred, Maurice says he felt somewhat tranquilized. The beings then entered the object, and through a transparent cupola Maurice could see both of them sitting near its controls. The object climbed a meter, flew towards some hills and then suddenly accelerated and disappeared.

Maurice remained paralyzed for about 15 minutes, then recovered. He looked at the place where the UFO had landed. It was very humid, and there was a small indentation in the ground. Days later, the lavender within 5-6 meters of this place inexplicably began to die. Masse said that he slept 12 to 15 hours a night for several months after the incident."

And this from http://science.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/valensole-ufo.htm

The Valensole case is considered one of the classic UFO reports. Investigations by official and civilian agencies confirmed Masse's sincerity and good character. Laboratory study of the affected soil and plants confirmed the occurrence of an unusual event. Subsequently, Masse confided that in the course of the encounter he experienced some sort of communication with the entities.

A somewhat skeptical but informative piece may be read here:

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread851970/pg1

What interests me is that our British colleague, Barry Peterson, tells us that the "secret" Maurice Masse kept to himself was that he saw a "marking" on the craft, which has never been disclosed although John Spencer hints at that in his book World Atlas of UFOs: Sightings, Abductions, and Close Encounters [Hamlyn Publishing, London, 1991, Page 89 ff.]

RR