FORGOTTEN ENCOUNTERS #1: The Black Beings of Cussac, France (1967)

Welcome to Forgotten Encounters—a blog series dedicated to unearthing the lost, the buried, and the barely-believed stories from the world of UFO and alien encounters. These aren’t your Roswells or Rendleshams. These are the strange and often overlooked cases that slipped through the cracks of mainstream UFO lore—witnessed by the few, dismissed by the many, and now rediscovered by you.

Today, we begin with one of the strangest and most overlooked close encounters of the 20th century—The Cussac Incident, a chilling daytime sighting involving children, hovering craft, and small black beings in rural France.

📍 Location:

Cussac, Cantal, France — a quiet, isolated farming village surrounded by fields and rolling hills.

Date:

August 29, 1967

Witnesses:

 Brother and sister, tending to their family's cattle in the countryside.

• François (13 years old)

• Anne-Marie (9 years old)

  
  

THE ENCOUNTER

It was a clear morning around 8:00 AM when François and Anne-Marie led their herd of cows to pasture near the village. As they reached a hilltop near a grazing field, François noticed four small black figures, roughly 1.2 meters (about 4 feet) tall, standing near a hedge about 80 meters away.

At first, he thought they were children dressed in black, but something was off.

The beings had large heads and slim bodies, and they moved in a strangely jerky manner. One of them was reportedly floating above the ground, and another appeared to be manipulating a shiny object—possibly tools or a communication device.

Suddenly, the beings noticed the children, and one of them made a strange, high-pitched noise—like a sharp whistle or a signal.

Then, in an instant, all four ran toward a nearby craft.

Depiction of the event.

THE OBJECT

Described as a spherical, shiny metallic object, the craft lifted off the ground vertically, spinning as it ascended. It made a soft whistling noise and emitted a strong smell of sulfur that lingered in the air after it departed.

The children stood frozen, terrified. The cows nearby had become restless, reportedly mooing and shifting nervously.

François and Anne-Marie ran back to their farmhouse, shaken and breathless. Their father immediately contacted local authorities.

THE INVESTIGATION

What makes the Cussac case particularly compelling is that the French Gendarmerie took it seriously and launched an official investigation the same day.

Findings included:

• A sulfurous odor still present hours after the sighting

• A dry circular patch of grass where the object had allegedly hovered

• Consistent testimony from both children, even when questioned separately and repeatedly

• No history of exaggeration or dishonesty from either child

The incident was later reviewed by GEPAN, France’s official UFO research agency. Their findings were inconclusive but classified the case as "worthy of further study."

WHY IT MATTERS

Unlike many UFO stories dismissed as hallucinations or hearsay, the Cussac Incident featured physical evidence, corroborated witness accounts, and official interest.

Yet today, it remains nearly unknown outside of France.

There were no movies, no documentaries, no mass media coverage. Only two frightened children, a strange craft, and a smell of sulfur that never quite left the hill that morning.

What Did François and Anne-Marie See?

Were they pranksters? Mistaken? Or did they truly witness an otherworldly event on that lonely French hillside?

The strange jerky movement of the beings, the floating figure, and the sulfuric scent mirror descriptions in other close encounters—particularly those involving so-called “elementals” or non-human intelligence operating beyond our understanding of physics or biology.

This is what Forgotten Encounters is all about—asking questions that were never answered and bringing light to stories lost in shadow.

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