La Burle is a wild highland, sparsely populated, with a harsh environment.

It also holds the French record for unexplained aircraft accidents. Bounded by Mount Pilat, Mount Mézenc, and the town of Le Puy, the Burle Triangle (or “le Triangle de la Burle) is named after the frosty wind blowing in the area, which causes frequent snow storms.

In 1982, l’Eveil (“The Awakening”), a local newspaper of Le Puy-en-Velay city, spoke of a “Triangle of Death” where more than 60 victims died in miscellaneous plane crashes. A number of these incidents are said to be accompanied by strange events and what some believe to be UFO sightings.

In November 1943, a Halifax bomber plane crashed, leaving only one sole survivor. The witnesses who saw the crash reported that the plane was “surrounded by a multitude of small multicolored lights.” However, the Halifax was navigating with all lights off, as was appropriate for the nighttime mission.

Other accounts include the 1963 crash of two English Javelins, one on Jaujac, and the other nearby, the ejected pilots never found, and the 1965 account at Mount Mézenc, where two F104’s went down, and witnesses claimed to have seen six small pinkish spheres surrounding the sight. Another incident in 1971 consisted of a Nord 262 aircraft crashing at Suc du Paradou, killing all 17 passengers. Curiously, 18 corpses were found, and one of them has never been identified.

Adapted with permission from Exploguide.com dedicated to travelers looking for alternative and off the beaten track travel.