Ovnis y policias

Summary: A frightening UFO case which involved physical trace elements occurred in Minnesota on August 27, 1979. This baffling account centers around Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson of Marshall County. Johnson was patrolling near the North Dakota border about 1:40 AM, when he noticed a bright light coming through his side window. Johnson knew it was not typical vehicle lights. He thought it might be a small plane in trouble and about to crash.

Unconsciousness for 39 Minutes: He made a left turn to get a better view of the unknown light, and make a report if needed. All at once, the strange light moved directly toward his squad car, a 1977 Ford LTD. In a second, it was upon his vehicle. He estimated that the light had traveled 1 1/2 miles in an instant. He was blinded by its brilliance, heard the sound of breaking glass, and then lost consciousness. Johnson would later relate that "I was rendered either unconscious, neutralized or unknowing for a period of approximately 39 minutes."

Sent to Hospital: When he came to, his vehicle was sitting off the road, and he could see where he had braked and skidded across the highway. He felt drugged, weak. At 2:19 AM, he radioed police headquarters, and asked for back-up. Another Deputy would soon arrive at the scene, and seeing Johnson's condition, radioed for an ambulance. Soon, he was under a physicians care at Warren Hospital. The doctor found that Johnson was in a state of shock, and his eyes had suffered "mild welders burns."

Baffled by Incident: As the Sheriff's office began to investigate what had happened to Johnson and his vehicle, they were baffled by the unusual damage done. The inside headlight on the driver's side was destroyed but the one to its immediate left was untouched. On the left side of the front hood, there was a circular dent about 1/2 inch in diameter. It was close to the windshield, which was also cracked. The crack was from the top of the shield to the bottom, with four distinctive impact spots.

Clocks 14 Minutes Slow: Another unexplainable fact was that Johnson's wristwatch was, although still running properly, 14 minutes slow. Also, the clock in his vehicle was also 14 minutes behind. The car's radio and Johnson's wristwatch were always synchronized with the official police station time. No explanation could be found for the missing time. Also, beginning at about 6 inches above the base, his car's police antenna was bent at a 60-degree angle. Also there was unexplainable damage to the trunk antenna.

Investigation Finds No Cause: All of the damage to Johnson's 1977 Ford LTD was to the driver's side. The investigation determined that the police cruiser had traveled 950 feet from the initial impact. The Sheriff's Department could not determine what happened to the vehicle, and theories like being hit by a low-flying plane, or another vehicle, or even a hoax were quickly ruled out. The Center for UFO Studies also made an on-site investigation, along with officials from the Ford Motor Company.

Mechanical Forces of Unknown Origin: No one could offer a tenable explanation for the damage, and the damage to the windshield was the most bizarre. Meridan French, from Ford, noted after examining the windshield fractures that "Even after several days of reflection on the crack patterns and apparent sequence of fractures, I still have no explanation for what seem to be inward and outward forces acting almost simultaneously. I can only [conclude]... that all cracks were from mechanical forces of unknown origin."

Conclusions: The incredible sequence of events on August 27, 1979 in Marshall County, Minnesota mark one of the best documented cases of physical trace evidence left by an encounter with an unknown flying object. The incident was investigated by three separate organizations and no hint of a hoax, or an explanation of natural means was forthcoming.

 

They always say that UFOs, just like people, come in all shapes and sizes. Of course, the most common UFO shapes are the disc, or flying saucer shape, the round orbs, and the flying triangles. However, on rare occasion, an unusually shaped object is seen and documented. One of the most compelling cases of an odd-shaped UFO occurred in 1967 between the cities of Okehampton and Holsworthy, in Devon, U.K. The case is known as the "Flying Cross" incident.

The cross itself is often related to the Christian symbol of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, but the Devon case had no religious overtones. The case receives a high degree of credibility because it was witnessed first hand by two policemen, PC Clifford Waycott, and PC Roger Willey. The two officers first spotted the cross-shaped UFO flying just over the treetops between the two aforementioned cities on October 24, 1967.

The two officers began a hot pursuit of the object, but could never gain ground on it, as it moved across the countryside. The UFO would slow to about 50 miles per hour, and even stop in midair, but as they approached it, the UFO would fly away from them, at times gaining speeds of up to 90 miles per hour. The entire chase covered 14 miles.

Though each policeman had the other to corroborate his own reality, they both decided to stop at a farm house to get a third person to tell them they were not hallucinating. They broke off their chase of the object because of the high speeds they were traveling-afraid they would cause an accident, and injure or kill an innocent pedestrian.

The flying cross would eventually disappear from their view, but before it did, a second one appeared. It was also very bright, yet made no sound that the two officers could hear. They were both amazed at how quickly the objects could accelerate from a hovering position. This fact alone was enough to convince the two policeman that what they were seeing were not conventional airplanes.

Later at a press conference, Waycott would remark: "The light wasn't piercing, but it was very bright. It was star-spangled-just like looking through wet glass and although we reached 90 MPH it accelerated away from us."

In the next couple of days, there would be numerous other sightings of the flying cross UFOs, and remarkably, six police officers in Glossop, Derbyshire reported the sighting of a "fiery" cross. In the ensuing investigation, the closest air base to the incident, RAF Chivenor was queried, but denied having radar confirmation of any "unknown" objects. The flying crosses seemed to make themselves known for a brief period of time, and then disappear quietly into the annals of Ufology.

Introduction to Sighting

Recently, I was contacted by Lawrence Gessner, former Sheriff in Sheridan County, city of McClusky, North Dakota. He related a UFO sighting to me, and sent along copies of the original police report, titled "Unidentified Flying Object Report." The report references an event that occurred on July 10, 2003.

The report reads as follows:

On 07-10-03 at approximately 2300 hours, my wife Kelly went outside on our back deck to have a cigarette. While she was looking up into the southeastern sky, she noticed a small formation of three or four stars.

One of the stars shot straight down and stopped. A series of red lights came on, and the object started moving in a northwest direction. She yelled for me to get out there, and when I got outside I saw what I first believed to be an aircraft, except the red, white, and green lights were in a vertical formation, not horizontal.

Description of Object

I now noticed that the speed of this object was relatively slow. I listened, and heard a muffled sound much like a jet aircraft makes. The object got closer, and I estimated it to be about 1,000 feet in the air.

It was just light enough to make out a silhouette. The object was longer from top to bottom than it was from front to back. It had depth to it, and if I were to associate a shape to it, I would say diamond-shaped.

The craft had two small, red lights on the front of it, and two small, red lights on the rear about in the center of it. When it got closer, I noticed several larger windows that projected light from inside the craft.

Light Configuration

There were three larger red and green lights running vertically along the front edge of the craft. I was trying to pay attention to as many details as I could, and the one thing that stands out in my mind is that the speed was so slow and the muffled jet engine sound did not match and the sound was farther behind the craft.

I also estimated this craft to be around 100 feet long and approximately 200 feet high. It was moving too slowly for its size. The sky was lighter in the west, and I was hoping that when it got in a position that the sky was lighter, I would be able to tell what it was.

Shaped Like a Diamond

As the craft got to this position, I noticed the diamond-shape of this craft, and that it was not flat, but did have some depth to it. We had been watching it for approximately 30 seconds. I knew it was right over my deputy's house, so I ran inside and called him.

It told him to go outside and look up, because there was some sort of UFO over his house. My wife had run out to the front porch, and I went outside and she told me about the same time I said UFO that the craft stopped, the red lights went out, the jet engine sound stopped, there was a soft, white glow around the back of the craft, and the craft shot straight up and disappeared. The craft was approximately 6-10 miles away at this point. My deputy called back to tell me he saw nothing.

Witness Credibility

I have spent 14 years in the U.S. Air Force, all of them around jet aircraft. I cannot explain what we witnessed using any logical means. Our Law Enforcement dispatch center is handled on a state wide basis.

I called State Radio and identified myself by my unit # 4610, and inquired if they had received any reports of strange aircraft or UFO reports. I was told NO. They informed me that if they did, they would notify me.

The report is signed:

Lawrence F. Gessner

Sheriff

Sheridan County