Trans-en-Provence Trans-en-Provence Trans-en-Provence (Provençal: "Tranç") is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Trans-en-Provence is famous among the ufologists as the site of an alleged UFO incident called the "Trans-en-Provence Case". The village which was originally located on the hill St Victor took the name Trans (Latin: "beyond") on moving across the river Nartuby. The name appears in 1004, in the proceedings of the cartulary of the Abbey of Saint Victor, Marseille. At the end of the twelfth century, the village came under the authority of the Count of Provence who gave it as
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence of Basses-Alpes was renamed Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Here is an unflattering excerpt from an article called "Basse Alpes" from the Atlas Larousse published at the beginning of the 20th century: ""Scattered whitish rocks stand out like bones, a thin topsoil where bushes languish, some mountain flowers and stunted trees ... these mountains form almost everywhere a dreadful desert which will not have more inhabitants: this is the Sahara without the sun of Africa, with the snows of Siberia."" (P. Joanne). ""On these steep slopes deforestation and flooding have resulted in a lack of fertile soil and agriculture has been the most miserable.