An account in Var, France

On January 8, 1981, the witness is on the upper terrace of his property and is working on building a small masonry structure to protect a pump. His attention is suddenly drawn by a whistling sound and he sees a craft descending toward the ground, landing below about a few dozen meters from him and leaving again after a few seconds along a vertical trajectory before disappearing at high speed from the witness's sight. Under the craft, the witness sees prominent circular shapes that he identifies as being hatches or feet. The craft, gray in color like zinc, emitted neither flame nor smoke and had a size of about 2.5 meters by 1.70 meters in height; it was circular, with a thicker band across its diameter, the "feet" being the size of "a mason's bucket." The entire observation lasted 30 to 40 seconds. When the witness approaches the landing site, he notes a mark about 2 meters in diameter on the ground with "scuff" marks at certain points on its circumference. The Gendarmerie intervenes on January 9, interviews the witness, notes the mark on the ground, and takes soil samples from the mark itself as well as wild alfalfa plants taken progressively from the mark up to about 10 meters from it. GEPAN intervened on February 17. The marks are still visible and a new series of alfalfa and soil samples is taken. Soil analyses were entrusted to four different laboratories that performed analyses using different techniques, each providing a complementary viewpoint. The synthesis of these analyses highlights three main results: significant compaction of the soil showing the presence of a heavy body that left a slight deposit of iron and iron oxide, but also phosphates and zinc that could come from a paint coating rubbing against the ground; the blackish residues found on the mark may be combustion residues. Significant heating (but below 600°) was also detected. Biochemical analyses of the alfalfa samples were carried out by an INRA biochemistry laboratory. They showed multiple degradations of the plants correlated with their distance from the mark. The causes of these degradations were not determined, but the hypothesis of an intense electric field can be considered. The analyses conducted hardly allowed a quantitative estimate of the phenomenon to be provided, nor proof of the witness's account, which remains unique, although the witness's behavior does not allow his credibility to be doubted. A significant unusual phenomenon occurred that day, and the investigation did not allow its origin to be determined.