The Mushroom Pickers From Outer Space

The mushroom pickers from outer space, Belgium, 1980

Location. Eben-Emael, Liege, Belgium
Date: May 13 1980 Time: 10:00 a.m.
Since the death of his father, the witness, Mr. F. P. has been working along with his wife and two workers, a mushroom farm located near the German border and the Albert Canal. The area is located on the south edge of an important military complex and blockhouse built before World War II.
Busying himself with the preparation of an order, he came out of the tunnel that penetrates deep inside the mushroom plant where his wife and the workers are working. This tunnel leads to a concrete cemented area measuring 20x10m enclosed by high walls and secured by a thick metal gate 2m high surrounded by trees. An electrical power and telephone line crosses obliquely 5 m above the ground. Just as Mr. F. P. walks into the open air he is faced 10 meters away from him by a landed circular object measuring about 5.50m in diameter and 3 m high. This object is not touching the ground but floats about 50cm above it. Its appearance is a dull metallic gray, shaped like an “English helmet” or dome resting on a smaller parallelepiped or if you will “a flattened mushroom”.
From the object comes a low continuous whistling sound barely audible above the two large fan propellers that refresh the tunnel at the entrance. Its surface is smooth and devoid of any identification marks, windows or other details. Suddenly from its summit unfolds a set of stairs without railing, which also abruptly stops at 50cm above the ground. Presumably coming out of an inside latch trap, the silhouette of a small figure emerges from the top. It is almost immediately followed by a second identical looking figure.
The two humanoids then exchange a few phrases in a language that the witness, who has a good knowledge of Spanish, Dutch and German, does not understand. One of them comes down the stairs jumps on the cement floor to stand motionless next to the object.
He then addresses the witness in the same language in a tone that seems more inquisitive than imperative. Still not understanding, Mr. F. P. asks in French what he wanted. After having considered the matter for some seconds, the being turns towards the machine, then to the witness again and asks, this time in French, “What are you (or we) doing here”?
Assuming that the question relates to the nature of his business and eager to rid himself from the eerie situation, the witness replies that he is cultivating mushrooms. The witness describes the humanoids as human-like in appearance, their build was proportional, their size under 5 feet. Their faces are round, with eyes slightly larger than normal and slanting towards the temples, giving them a somewhat Oriental appearance. Their hair was cut short and black. They are dressed in green fatigues and made of dull non-reflecting material, consisting of a jacket and trousers, bib style military helmets “airplane pilot or moped driver style”, but without a visor. They were apparently able to breathe in our atmosphere. Everything else, including ears, nose, mouth, number of fingers seemed “normal”. Their voices were masculine in nature with no apparent accent. Also in French, the second humanoid asked “Can we get some?” (Mushrooms).
Increasingly disconcerted by this unexpected if not surrealistic turn of events, the witness, who now had only one single idea in mind, to rid himself of those strange visitors as soon as possible, replied, “Certainly, I will go and seek some for you.”
He turned back to the cave (tunnel) where the two humanoids followed him after having exchanged a few sentences in their own language. The witness opened the refrigerator where the one who seemed to be the leader had a quick glance. The witness withdrew a box ready for shipping presented it to him. To that the, small humanoid cryptically said, still in French, “No, I want just only one!”
Deciding to put an end to the bizarre charade, the witness withdrew a single mushroom from the box and put it in the hand presented to him. To which the two characters simultaneously turned around and mechanically reintegrated into the machine by the stairs. Without making any noise the stairs folded, the flap closed with a faint clatter, the whistle intensified without any emission of flames or gasses and the object started rising vertically. Speeding up it shot in an angle in the direction of Holland not without skillfully avoiding hitting the electric power lines. Still reeling from the fantastic experience that lasted about 5 minutes, the witness decided not to tell his wife or the workmen working inside the gallery, since they hadn’t seen or heard anything. Around noon, after having lunched with the habitual homemade sandwich and solicited by unanswered questions, he phoned the nearest military base to see if a new experimental flying machine had been tested that morning over the country.
He was transferred from one place to another until an unknown voice told him, “We are unaware of anything of that kind” and that he had “better address elsewhere for that sort of reporting.” Mr. F. P. looked through the phone directory for the nearest radar station (probably Bierset) which he phoned. And the same scenario repeated itself there until he realized that his declarations were not taken seriously. He was finally advised that if he wanted to pursue legal action, he was to contact the nearest police station at Bassenge. As the day was now well advanced while his work (duty) remained in abeyance, he wisely decided to postpone the visit until the next day.
Later that afternoon, a van stopped in front of the open door of his business. Two men dressed in blue military outfits came out of it. The witness, who had not being in the military, could not describe them better. Their intervention was cryptic, without introducing themselves or entering the business (mushroom farm), they bluntly addressed him from afar, saying, “What you saw is nobody’s business. You’d better forget it.” They spoke in French with a local accent and after that immediately departed. The next day at Bassenge, Mr. F. P. was introduced to a young policeman who proved to have a personal interest in the UFO phenomenon and who asked him about “180” questions which he wrote down in a booklet/report.

HC addendum
Source: J. L. Vertongen, & Frank Boitte, in Overmeire Catalog Type: B
High Strangeness Index: 8
Reliability of Source: 8
Comments: Why would the supposed aliens be asking, “Why were they doing there”? Did they somehow drop in accidentally?