Alais or Allais is the first carbonaceous chondrite meteorite identified. It fell near Alès in 1806 in multiple fragments which together weighed 6 kg (13 lb 4 oz), although only 0.26 kg (9.2 oz) remains. The meteorite contains a number of elements in similar proportions to the Solar System in its primordial state. It also contains organic compounds and water. It has proved to be one of the most important meteorites discovered in France.

At 17:00 on 15 March 1806, two detonations were heard near Alès in Gard, France.^[2] Shortly afterwards, two soft black stones were discovered in the villages of Saint-Étienne-de-l'Olm and Castelnau-Valence, weighing 4 kg (8 lb 13 oz) and 2 kg (4 lb 7 oz) respectively. The fragments were collected by people who observed the impact and given to two scientists that lived locally.^[1] The meteorite was analysed by Louis Jacques Thénard, who published a study in 1807, showing that it had a high carbon content.^[2] It was initially doubted that the fragments were of non-terrestrial origins as their attributes were markedly different to existing meteorites.^[3] However, it was increasingly realised that this was a new, albeit rare, type of meteorite.^[4] The meteorite is also known as Valence.^[1]

The meteorite has been at the centre of controversial claims about an extraterrestrial origin of life since the discovery of organic matter on the meteorite by Jöns Jacob Berzelius.^[12] Organic compounds, amino acids and water have been found in the meteorite. However, studies differentiate between organic and biological matter, the latter not being present.^[4]

• Glossary of meteoritics