Type: Photographs
Source: French Gendarmerie
Photographs were taken by French gendarmes during their examination of the location identified by Maurice Masse as the landing site. The photographs document the unusual ground traces and were incorporated into the official investigation material.
The French Gendarmerie conducted the site examination on July 3, 1965 and documented the reported ground trace with measurements and photographs. This is identified as PV nĀ°105, the site-investigation report. The surviving GEIPAN/CNES release is an 18-page file containing the Valensole gendarmerie material.
The trace itself was described as:
a shallow depression about 1.2 m in diameter
a central cylindrical hole about 18 cm wide and 40 cm deep
four shallow grooves, roughly 2 m long, radiating from the central hole
the grooves forming a roughly cross/star-shaped pattern
compacted soil at the location.