UFO sightings events
UFO sightings
Val Johnson UFO incident
On 27th August 1979 in Stephen, Minnesota Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson was patrolling the area in his squad car. Around 2 AM in secluded area he spotted a bright light source that seemed to be hanging over the road. When Johnson was getting closer the strange object moved towards him with high speed, the strong light filled the car and he heard sound of glass breaking. The engine stopped and Johnson lost consciousness, when he woke up he could hardly see and his car seemed to be damaged. Unable to drive Johnson contacted other policemen over the radio and when they arrived they’ve found Johnson’s car standing sideways on the road, the windshield was shattered, a headlight and red emergency light was damaged and a radio antennae was bent. According to some sources there were also small dents in the car hood and the cables became magnetic.
When the deputies brought Johnson back he was examined by the doctor, who reported that Johnson suffered bruises and eye irritation that was compared to "welder’s burns" (which means that he was exposed to a very strong light) with temporary lost of sight. When asked about the incident Val Johnson described what happened and also stated that his wristwatch and electronic clock in the squad car seemed to have stopped for 14 minutes. The damages done to the police car were never fully explained.
The incident received a lot of publicity around the world since it is one of the most intriguing events involving UFO in the 1970s. A lot of people are sceptic if the events actually took place. Val Johnson himself gave caused a lot of rumours when he refused to take a polygraph test - he stated that this "would only satisfy people’s morbid curiosity". Some authors suggest that Johnson deliberately damaged his car, but due to lack of reliable documentation it is hard to verify those claims. Also this does not explain the eye irritation - even though the doctor compared it to "welder’s burns" it wasn’t fully explained what else could have caused it.
The only weak point in Val Johnson’s story is time. He stated that he has lost the consciousness for 39 minutes and later he noticed that two clocks have stopped for 14 minutes, but it is unclear if the clocks stopped during the time when he was unconscious or after. If during then how can he tell that he was unconscious for exactly 39 minutes and how can he tell that the clocks stopped for 14 minutes? If after were they going when he woke up or were they already stopped? If they already stopped how can he tell they were going alright during the time that he was unconscious? When the deputies have arrived did he checked the time with their watches or did he check it later? At what point have he noticed that both the clocks were 14 minutes behind or did he actually watch them not going for 14 minutes? If he was watching them how can he tell that it was 14 minutes? If both of the clocks stopped with what did he measure those 14 minutes? Those questions does not change the basics of the story, but the lack of the answers to those questions makes Val Johnson’s story more suspicious. Afterall it’s not really a challenge to simply turn back clocks 14 minutes before arrival of the deputies.
For some people it was a hoax (although they can’t point out the way of causing the damage to the car or how Johnson got the temporary blindness) for some the prove for alien abduction (although Johnson did not mention anything that might have happened during the 39 minutes). The story is plausible, especially since Johnson might have lost more on creating the hoax than he gained by the story - the incident put his credibility in question and his future in police force in danger. Some strong light did make him temporarily blind (or at least caused the eye irritation) and something caused damage to his car, if he made it himself where are the tools that he must have used to damage the car or the light source that he must have used to blind himself? If it was a hoax police should have checked the area for such material. After all if he blinded himself he still would have to drive to the road where deputies found him, and it was almost impossible for him to drive in this state.
Can you solve a case like this?
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