The puzzling case of an unidentified flying object in France has kept ufologists debating for decades. In 1981, a resident of a French town witnessed a strangely-moving machine in the air, whose origins remain a mystery even today. The event has also been labeled as one of the most famous UFO cases in France.
The unusual event took place in early January near Trans-en-Provence near the property of Renato Nicolai, who was 55 years of age at that time. He was the only eyewitness and even though it may sound almost like science fiction, authorities have confirmed that the man was sane at the time of the event and that it was not a figment of his imagination.
On the day which Renato would come to remember for the rest of his life, he had been doing yard work on his property when he was startled by a strange sound coming from the sky. When he turned in the direction of the sound he noticed a strange, disk-shaped flying machine which landed in the field briefly, before again disappearing into the sky. Renato had never seen a flying object like it before in his life. He described it as 2 saucers held together, of a grey color. Its height was about 5 ft (1.5 m), he said.
At the sight of the strange machine, out of excitement, the man rushed toward the place where it had touched the earth. He came across clear signs of the ship's presence and was quick to notify police of the event.
Initially, Renato's story sounded crazy to authorities but after proper analysis of the signs which he showed them, they reached the conclusion that the case was real. To this day, the mystery of what he actually saw remains.
In the area where the machine had landed, researchers found traces reminiscent of radiation exposure. Further, some of the soil seemed to have been heated to temperatures of over 930°F (500 °C). According to researchers, all of these phenomena could not have occurred naturally and it could be no pure coincidence that all of the traces were found only in the zone where the craft had landed.
They are convinced that Renato did indeed witness some kind of unusual machine, although they are unable to say for sure whether it was a craft belonging to an extraterrestrial race or experimental aircraft belonging to secret military programs.
